SS ''Ultonia'' was a British passenger-cargo vessel built in 1898 in

Wallsend-on-Tyne Wallsend is a town in North Tyneside, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of Segedunum. This fo ...

by C. S. Swan & Hunter. It was sunk by a German torpedo in 1917.

History

SS ''Ultonia'' launched on 4 June 1898, measuring by by , 8,845 gross tonnage with engines by Sir C. Furness, Westgarth & Co, Middlesbrough. Originally launched for cargo and cattle, it was fitted with third-class accommodation for 675 passengers in 1899, launching its first passenger voyage on 28 February 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 Queenstown to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. Departing Boston on one of these voyages on 5 August 1899, the ''Ultonia'' hit a ledge just outside the main channel of

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History Since ...

at Nantasket Roads, which was the typical route at the time. This area is now called the Ultonia Ledge, located a mile and a half southeast of

Boston Light Boston Light is a lighthouse located on Little Brewster Island in outer Boston Harbor, Massachusetts. The first lighthouse to be built on the site dates back to 1716, and was the first lighthouse to be built in what is now the United States. The c ...

, and is as shallow as at mean lower low water according to modern nautical charts. This event spurred the alteration of ships' courses in the area to avoid the ledge, the dredging of Nantasket Roads to a depth of to be safe for large steamships, and also the later dredging of the wider northern approach via President Roads, which is the now the main channel for large ships entering or exiting Boston Harbor. In 1902, it was refitted to accommodate 120 second-class passengers, and 2,100 third-class passengers, increasing its tonnage to 10,402 gross. In 1915, it was refitted to carry up to 2,000 horses. On 27 March 1917, ''Ultonia'' collided with the British collier in the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

(). ''Don Benito'' sank.

Sinking

During

World War I 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 ...

, ''Ultonia'' was torpedoed and sunk in the

190 miles from Fastnet,

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, on 27 June 1917 by the

Imperial German Navy The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Wilhel ...

submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...

SM ''U-53'' under Captain Hans Rose. One life was lost in the attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ultonia Ships built by Swan Hunter Ships built on the River Clyde 1898 ships Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships of the Cunard Line Maritime incidents in 1917 Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean

History

Sinking

See also

References