TSS ''Normannia'' was a passenger vessel built for the

London and South Western Railway The London and South Western Railway (LSWR, sometimes written L&SWR) was a railway company in England from 1838 to 1922. Originating as the London and Southampton Railway, its network extended to Dorchester and Weymouth, to Salisbury, Exeter ...

in 1911.

History

The ship was built by the Fairfield Govan and launched on 9 November 1911. With her sister ship they were put on the service between Southampton and Le Havre. They were the first cross-channel steamers to be fitted with single-reduction geared Parsons turbines, which gave the vessels a speed of over 20 knots but also cut down on the vibration experienced by cross-Channel passengers. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1914 and operated as a troopship during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she also brought home Elsie Cameron Corbett and others freed from captivity. She was acquired by the Southern Railway in 1923. On 30 May 1940 she was bombed and severely damaged during

Operation Dynamo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...

in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

off Dunkerque by Heinkel aircraft of the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...

. She was beached and abandoned.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Normannia 1911 ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Ships built on the River Clyde Ships of the Southern Railway (UK) Ships of the London and South Western Railway Maritime incidents in May 1940 Shipwrecks of France Ships sunk by German aircraft