SS ''St Petersburg'' was a

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 ...

passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1908 for the Great Eastern Railway (GER). In the 1923 railway grouping she passed to the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She was sunk by enemy action in 1941. The

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

requisitioned her in both world wars as a

troop ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

. In 1915 she was renamed ''Archangel''.

Building

''St Petersburg'' was the third of three sister ships that

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and the ''Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of ...

of Clydebank,

Dumbartonshire Dunbartonshire ( gd, Siorrachd Dhùn Breatann) or the County of Dumbarton is a historic county, lieutenancy area and registration county in the west central Lowlands of Scotland lying to the north of the River Clyde. Dunbartonshire borders Per ...

built for the GER. She was preceded by , launched in 1907, and , launched in 1908. Brown built ''St Petersburg'' as yard number 397. A Miss Green launched her on 25 April 1910. She was the daughter of Frederick Green, a GER director. ''St Petersburg''s registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . Her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically r ...

s were and . She had three

steam turbines A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...

and three screws. Each turbine drove its respective screw by

direct drive A direct-drive mechanism is a mechanism design where the force or torque from a prime mover is transmitted directly to the effector device (such as the drive wheels of a vehicle) without involving any intermediate couplings such as a gear train o ...

. She was equipped with submarine signalling and

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...

Career

The GER registered ''St Petersburg'' at Harwich. Her

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

official number was 123940 and her code letters were HRFS. Her regular route was between Harwich and

Hook of Holland Hook of Holland ( nl, Hoek van Holland, ) is a town in the southwestern corner of Holland, hence the name; ''hoek'' means "corner" and was the word in use before the word ''kaap'' – "cape", from Portuguese ''cabo'' – became Dutch. The English t ...

. By 1913 ''St Petersburg''s wireless telegraph

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assign ...

was PQP. By 1914 it had been changed to GPK. In 1915 the Admiralty requisitioned ''St Petersburg'' as a cross- Channel troop ship, and renamed her ''Archangel''. After 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 was returned to the GER, which in 1923 was absorbed by the new LNER. On 20 January 1925 she ran aground at the Hook of Holland. Three tugs brought her passengers ashore. By 1930 ''Archangel''s call sign was GRNV. By 1934 this had superseded her code letters.

Loss

In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

''Archangel'' was again requisitioned as a troop ship. On 16 May 1941 she embarked 182 and 196 batteries of 65th (The Manchester Regiment) Anti-Aircraft Brigade at

Kirkwall Kirkwall ( sco, Kirkwaa, gd, Bàgh na h-Eaglaise, nrn, Kirkavå) is the largest town in Orkney, an archipelago to the north of mainland Scotland. The name Kirkwall comes from the Norse name (''Church Bay''), which later changed to ''Kirkv ...

to take them to

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. The destroyer escorted her. Just before midnight that night, three German Heinkel He 111 bomber aircraft attacked the two ships in the

at position . One aircraft, flying at an altitude of , dropped two bombs, one of which hit ''Archangel'' in her

engine room On a ship, the engine room (ER) is the compartment where the machinery for marine propulsion is located. To increase a vessel's safety and chances of surviving damage, the machinery necessary for the ship's operation may be segregated into var ...

and boiler room, caused a

boiler explosion A boiler explosion is a catastrophic failure of a boiler. There are two types of boiler explosions. One type is a failure of the pressure parts of the steam and water sides. There can be many different causes, such as failure of the safety val ...

, and severed communication between the fore and aft of the ship. The same aircraft returned at an altitude of to strafe ''Archangel'', as the other two He 111s engaged ''Blankney''. Both ships returned fire, and ''Blankney'' circled ''Archangel'' at speed. The He 111 that attacked ''Archangel'' made three runs, and was then damaged and crashed into the sea. The other two aircraft then withdrew. ''Blankney'' launched her boats to rescue survivors, and went alongside ''Archangel'' to complete the evacuation. ''Blankney''s surgeon came aboard to assist ''Archangel''s

medical officer A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. ''Blankney'' reached Aberdeen about 0800 hrs on 17 May. Casualties included 38 killed and 18 wounded in 182 battery; and three killed and 24 wounded in 196 battery; all suffering from burns. ''Archangel''s

Master Master or masters may refer to: Ranks or titles * Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans *Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...

, Captain AP Sutton, was badly wounded. Accounts differ as to the number of casualties in his crew. Also on 17 May, either ''Blankney'' or a tug (accounts differ) took ''Archangel'' in tow. The troop ship beached at

Blackdog Blackdog is a hamlet approximately 2 miles north of the city limits of Aberdeen, Scotland. The nearby area serves as a shooting ground,

, just north of Aberdeen, and broke into four pieces.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:St Petersburg 1910 ships Ferries of England Maritime incidents in 1925 Maritime incidents in May 1941 Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built in Glasgow Ships of the Great Eastern Railway Ships of the London and North Eastern Railway Ships sunk by German aircraft Steamships of the United Kingdom Troop ships of the United Kingdom World War I ships of the United Kingdom World War II ships of the United Kingdom