SS Georgia
Encyclopedia
SS Georgia was an oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
lost at Haisborough Sands
Haisborough Sands
Haisborough Sands is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, England at Happisburgh. The shoal is long and wide and lies parallel to the North east coast of Norfolk. The shoal is marked to the north-west by north by the Haisbro Light Buoy, North cardinal...
off the coast of Norfolk, England in November 1927.
History
The ship began as hull No. 82 in the shipyard of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock CompanyNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
of Newport News, Virginia
Newport News, Virginia
Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...
in the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was ordered in 1907 by the Texas Co. Inc. of Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Texas
-Demographics:As of the 2000 census, there were 57,755 people, 21,839 households, and 14,675 families residing in the city. The population density was 696.5 people per square mile . There were 24,713 housing units at an average density of 298.0 per square mile...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, U.S.A.
She was first given the name Texas. She was delivered on 18 July 1908 and she successfully made her maiden voyage without incident. She was soon re-named and became the SS Georgia.
In February 1918, while owned by the Texas Oil Company (Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
) of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, the ship was inspected for possible United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
service and assigned the registry ID 2316. Though the Navy ordered her acquisition, this action was cancelled shortly before 11 November 1918 Armistice
Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
brought World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
's fighting to an end, and she remained in commercial service. In 1922 it was reported that the ship's name had been changed to SS Texaco.
She then passed into new ownership and was again re-named back to SS Georgia. Her new owners were the M.V. Dutch Tanker & Oil Company Ltd., of Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Her home port was now Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
.
Final voyage
In September 1927 Georgia was at the port of AbadanAbadan
Abadan is a city in and the capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, Iran. It lies on Abadan Island , from the Persian Gulf, near the Iraqi-Iran border. The civilian population of the city dropped to near zero during the eight-years Iran–Iraq War. In 1992, only 84,774 had returned to live...
in the Khuzestan province in south western Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(Persia). Here she took on a cargo of crude oil and she set off on her voyage bound for the oil refinery at the port of Grangemouth
Grangemouth
Grangemouth is a town and former burgh in the council area of Falkirk, Scotland. The town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkirk, west of Bo'ness and south-east of Stirling. Grangemouth had a resident population of 17,906 according to the 2001...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
By 20 November she was caught in a strong gale in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
with the consequence that the ships steering gear broke. With the crew having no control of her, just before midnight, she ran aground on Haisborough Sands and was stuck solid. So sudden and violent was the impact when she ran aground, the radio operator had been unable to send a distress call out on the radio as the aerials
Antenna (radio)
An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...
had been carried away by the storm. For several hours she was bumped and pounded as the heavy sea battered her hull, and eventually the hull was ripped apart amidships. She was still sounding her siren as a distress signal, but the two halves slowly drifted apart and were soon out of sight of each other, the stern section being carried away by the force of the gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
.
The bow
Bow (ship)
The bow is a nautical term that refers to the forward part of the hull of a ship or boat, the point that is most forward when the vessel is underway. Both of the adjectives fore and forward mean towards the bow...
section remained stuck on the sand bank with huge seas washing over it. The bow section had the captain, Harry Kissing and fourteen of the crew all crouched in the fo’c’s’le
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...
. The other sixteen members of the crew were in the drifting stern
Stern
The stern is the rear or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite of the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Originally, the term only referred to the aft port section...
section. The next morning (21 November) the steamer
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
Trent sighted the drifting stern section and lifted the 16 crewmen to safety. The Trent then steamed on to the bow section stuck on the sand bank. In the meantime the stern section had drifted North West and was spotted off Cromer
Cromer
Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...
.
Henry Blogg
Henry George Blogg GC BEM was a famous lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England.Henry Blogg of Cromer is referred to as "the greatest of the lifeboatmen"...
, coxswain
Coxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...
of the Cromer lifeboat
Cromer lifeboat station
Cromer Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Cromer in the English county of Norfolk. The station operates two lifeboats - one for inshore work and the other for offshore work....
H F Bailey
Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey ON 694
H F Bailey was the second lifeboat at Cromer in the county of Norfolk to bear the name of H F Bailey. She replaced H F Bailey which had been stationed at Cromer until 1924. In 1936 she became the station's reserve lifeboat and was renamed J B Proudfoot.-Description:The lifeboat was built by J....
, attending to the stern reported at 3.15 p.m. that the ship had been abandoned although at this time they were unaware that the ship was in two halves as the stern was creeping higher into the air. The Cromer lifeboat attended the stern section all that night warning shipping of the danger. Back at the bow section the Great Yarmouth coastguard
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station is a RNLI base in Norfolk, England. There were originally two separate stations at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston - two coastal towns either side of the River Yare. These were merged in 1926.-Great Yarmouth:...
had learned of the disaster at 9 p.m. and the Gorleston
Gorleston
Gorleston-On-Sea, also known colloquially as Gorleston, is a settlement in Norfolk in the United Kingdom, forming part of the larger town of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Book. The port then became a centre of fishing for...
lifeboat had been called to assist. Trent had wirelessed a message to warn that it was to dangerous to approach the stricken stern and it made for Cromer to land the rescued men from the stern section.
On the morning of the 22 November the Gorleston lifeboat attempted to rescue the remaining 15 crew, now taking shelter in the chartroom, the highest point on the ship out of the water. Coxswain Billy Fleming tried to use the lee provided by the close by Trent, but with the seas still heavy this proved to be too dangerous, and she stood off to wait until conditions improved. Another attempt was made at midday, and on the fifth attempt they managed to get a line to the stranded section. Hopes were dashed when a huge wave picked up the lifeboat and dropped her in a trough which snapped the line. The Gorleston boat then developed engine trouble and dropped away from the rescue.
It was not until around 4.30 pm that the crew were finally rescued by the exhausted crew of the Cromer lifeboat. Blogg and his crew had stood by the stern section all night, and then after returning to Cromer, were immediately called back out to attend the bow. The H F Bailey was considerably damaged in the rescue, but got her crew and the rescued men safely back to Great Yarmouth by 7 pm. Both sections of Georgia sank beneath the waves in the following days.
Position of the wrecks today
Stern Section at a depth of 17 m (55.8 ft).Bow Section at a depth of 10 m (32.8 ft), on Haisborough Sands.