SS ''Ivernia'' was a British

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

owned by the

Cunard Line Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...

, built by the company Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson of

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and launched in 1899. The ''Ivernia'' was one of Cunard's intermediate ships, that catered to the vast immigrant trade. Together with her sister ship RMS ''Saxonia'', the ''Ivernia'' worked on Cunard's service from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

to Boston and then later on the immigrant run the Cunard Line had established from Rijeka, Fiume and Trieste to New York City.Neil McCart, ''Atlantic Liners of the Cunard Line'' (1990), pp. 35-36. Following the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the ''Ivernia'' was hired by the British government as a troop transport. In autumn of 1916, William Thomas Turner (made famous for being the captain of at the time of her sinking) was given command. On 1 January 1917, the ''Ivernia'' was carrying some 2,400 British troops from Marseille to Alexandria, when at 10:12am she was torpedoed by the German submarine SM UB-47, ''UB-47'' 58 miles south-east of Cape Matapan in Greece, in the Kythira Strait. The ship went down fairly quickly with a loss of 36 crew members and 84 troops. Captain Turner, who had been criticised for not going down with the ''Lusitania'' (even though he had believed he was the last person on board), remained on the bridge until all aboard had departed in lifeboats and rafts "before striking out to swim as the vessel went down under his feet." rescued a number of survivors and armed trawlers towed the bulk, who had taken to lifeboats, to Suda Bay in Crete. Today Ivernia Road in Walton, Liverpool, Walton in

still bears the name of the doomed vessel.

References

External links

Photograph of ''Ivernia''

Wrecksite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivernia Ocean liners Maritime incidents in 1917 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I World War I shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea Ships of the Cunard Line 1899 ships Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Tyne