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SS Megantic (1909)
Encyclopedia
SS Megantic was an ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
built by Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
, Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, and operated by the White Star Line
White Star Line
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
. The liner was launched in 1908 and was . The ship was attacked by a German U-boat during 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...
, but survived. Megantic was taken out of service in 1931 and scrapped in 1933.
Career
The Dominion Line steamship company operated liners on the LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
-Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
route in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Their ships had become outdated, so in 1907 two new liners were ordered from Harland and Wolff, the SS Albany and SS Alberta. However, while they were being built they were transferred to the White Star Line and with them the White Star Line itself entered the Canadian passenger trade.
The Albany was renamed Megantic (after Lake Megantic
Lac-Mégantic, Quebec
Lac-Mégantic is a town in Estrie on Lac Mégantic, a freshwater lake for which the town was named. Situated in the former Frontenac County in the historic Eastern Townships, Lac-Mégantic is the seat of Le Granit Regional County Municipality and of the judicial district of...
in Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
), and the Alberta became the Laurentic. At the time, the two were the largest ships yet built for Canadian service and were used as a form of full-scale experiment to decide on the machinery for the Olympic and her sisters, the Megantic being a conventional twin propellered ship with quadruple expansion engines while the Laurentic, with the same hull and boiler power, was given three propellers and engines of a revolutionary design.
Megantic was launched on 10 December 1908 and made her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Montréal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on 17 June 1909. She remained on that route until the Great War
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...
, when she was briefly placed on White Star's Liverpool-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...
service until being called into service as a troopship in 1915. She was attacked in 1917 by the German submarine, , but managed to escape unharmed. She was returned to White Star in December 1918 and after a refit in 1919 to enlarge her 1st class accommodations, returned to the Canadian service from Liverpool. She had another refit in 1924 and after 1928 operated from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
. Off-season, Megantic was often used for cruising from New York to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
and in the 1930s, for economy cruises.
After his arrest in Canada, Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen
Hawley Harvey Crippen
Hawley Harvey Crippen , usually known as Dr. Crippen, was an American homeopathic physician hanged in Pentonville Prison, London, on November 23, 1910, for the murder of his wife, Cora Henrietta Crippen...
was returned to England via Megantic, where he was hanged for murder.
Megantic made her last Atlantic crossing in May 1931 and was then laid up until 1933, when she was sold for scrapping in Osaka.
The Megantic had a gross tonnage of 14,878 and a net of 9,183 tons. The deadweight was 8,790 tons and load displacement on a draft of 27 ft. 6 in. was 20,470 tons. The overall length was about 570 ft.