SS Drottningholm

SS ''Drottningholm'' was one of the earliest steam turbine ocean liners. She was designed as a transatlantic liner and mail ship for Allan Line, built in Scotland, and launched in 1904 as RMS ''Virginian''. Her sister ship, , was built in Ireland, launched four months earlier, and was the World's first turbine-powered liner.

In the First World War ''Virginian'' spent a few months as a troopship and was then converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). In August 1917 a U-boat damaged her with a torpedo.

In 1920 she was sold to the Swedish American Line and remnamed ''Drottningholm''. As a neutral passenger ship during the Second World War she performed notable service repatriating thousands of civilians of various countries on both sides of the war.

In 1948 ''Drottningholm'' was then sold to a company in the Italian Home Lines group, who changed her name to ''Brasil''.

In 1951 Home Lines chartered her to Hamburg America Line, and the line her name changed again, this time to ''Homeland''.

''Homeland'' was scrapped in Italy in 1955.

Background

The World's first steam turbine merchant ship, , was launched in 1901. She was a technological and commercial success, but was only a excursion steamship making short-sea trips in and around the Firth of Clyde, and her running costs – and hence passenger fares – were higher than those of her competitors with conventional reciprocating engines.

However, in October 1903 Allan Line announced that it had ordered a pair of new liners, that they would be turbine-powered, and that they would have the same three-screw arrangement as ''King Edward''. And on 28 January 1904, seven months before ''Victorian'' was launched, the Government of Canada announced it had awarded Allan Line a transatlantic mail contract.

The Canadian contract required a regular scheduled service with four ships. Allan Line allocated the new ''Victorian'' and ''Virginian'', which were still being built, and its existing liners ''Bavarian'' and ''Tunisian''. The subsidy would be $5,000 per trip for ''Bavarian'' and ''Tunisian'', and $10,000 per trip for each of the new turbine ships.

Design and building

Allan Line ordered both ''Victorian'' and ''Virginian'' from Workman, Clark and Company in Belfast. But Workman, Clark did not find enough labour to build both ships in time, so the order for ''Virginian'' was transferred to Alexander Stephen and Sons at Linthouse on the River Clyde.

''Virginian'' was launched on 25 August 1904, four months after ''Victorian''. But ''Victorian'' completion was then delayed by performance problems with her turbines. Both sisters were completed in March 1905.

As built, ''Virginian'' had three Parsons turbines. A high-pressure turbine drove her middle screw. Its exhaust steam was fed to a pair of low-pressure turbines that drove her port and starboard screws. The three turbines combined gave her a total power output of 12,000 IHP.

''Virginian'' was long, her beam was and her depth was . She had berths for 1,912 passengers: 426 in first class, 286 in second class and 1,000 in third class. Her holds had of refrigerated space for perishable cargo. As built, her tonnages were and .

RMS ''Virginian''

''Virginian'' began her maiden voyage from Liverpool on 6 April 1905, a fortnight after ''Victorian''. She called at Moville in Ireland the next day and reached Halifax, Nova Scotia on the morning of 14 April. Two months later ''Virginian'' set a westbound record, leaving Moville at 1400 hrs on 9 June and reaching Cape Race at 2100 hrs on 13 June. This was despite having to slow down for a bank of fog.

The speed at which steam turbines run efficiently is several times faster than the speed at which marine propellers work efficiently. But the turbines in ''Victorian'' and ''Virginian'', like those in ''King Edward'', drove the propellers directly, without reduction gearing. As a result ''Virginian'' suffered cavitation, which not only impedes propulsion but also damages propellers.

''Virginian'' also tended to roll violently in heavy seas.

''Titanic'' sinking

By 1912 ''Virginian'' was equipped for wireless telegraphy, operating on the 300 and 600 metre wavelengths. Her call sign was MGN.

When RMS ''Titanic'' sank on 15 April 1912, ''Virginian'' was about north of her, steaming in the opposite direction. At 2310 hrs (0040 hrs ship's time) the Marconi Company radio station at Cape Race relayed ''Titanic''s distress messages to ''Virginian'', whose Master, Captain Gambell changed course to try to reach ''Titanic''. ''Virginian'' also received ''Titanic''s distress signals. The last signal ''Virginian'' received from ''Titanic'' was at 0027 hrs (0157 hrs by ship's time), and "these signals were blurred and ended abruptly".

reached the position of the sinking and rescued 705 survivors. There was a false report that ''Virginian'' rescued some passengers and transferred them to ''Carpathia''. In fact ''Virginian'' did not arrive in time to assist.

There was also a false report that ''Virginian'' had taken ''Titanic'' in tow, that all of ''Titanic''s passengers were safe, and that Herbert Haddock, Master of , was the source of the report. Haddock, however, dismissed the report as "a flagrant invention".

Captain Gambell said ''Virginian'' passed where ''Titanic'' sank "at a distance of six or seven miles", but could get no closer as "The ice was closely packed... and there would have been great danger in going nearer. No boats, packages or wreckage were to be seen." Gambell said ''Virginian'' steamed toward ''Titanic'', until at 1000 hrs ''Carpathia'' signalled ''Virginian'' "Turn back. Everything O. K. Have 800 on board. Return to your northern track".

Substitute for ''Empress of Ireland''

On 29 May 1914 Canadian Pacific lost the liner in a collision with the collier , and 1,024 people were killed. Canadian Pacific chartered ''Virginian'' from Allan Line to replace her. The charter was cut short by the First World War, which began on 28 July.

First World War

From August 1914 the UK Government used ''Virginian'' as a troop ship. Then in December the British Admiralty requisitioned her and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). Initially her armament was eight 4.7-inch QF guns and her pennant number was M 72. She was commissioned as HMS ''Virginian'' on 10 December 1914.

''Virginian'' joined the 10th Cruiser Squadron, with which she was on the Northern Patrol from December 1914 until the end of June 1917. She patrolled mostly around the Faroe Islands and the northern part of the Western Approaches. In 1915 she occasionally patrolled the Norwegian Sea and the east and south coasts of Iceland.

By October 1915 two of ''Virginian''s 4.7-inch guns were replaced with six-pounder guns. On 16 June 1916 ''Virginian'' arrived in Canada Dock in Liverpool to have her remaining 4.7-inch guns were replaced with six BL 6-inch and QF 6-inch naval guns. She was there for just over two months, until 18 August, and the Admiralty became concerned that the conversion took an inordinately long time.

By October 1916 ''Virginian''s armament also included depth charges.

Convoy escort

From the beginning of July 1917 ''Virginian'' escorted transatlantic convoys.

On 19 August 1917 ''Virginian'' left Liverpool escorting a convoy, which called at Lough Swilly on 20–21 August. U-boats attacked the convoy off the coast of Donegal. torpedoed Leyland Line's liner ''Devonian'' at 1152 hrs, and she sank at 1245 hrs about northeast of Tory Island