Transatlantic passenger ship in service 1895?1924
SS
Birma
1914 postcard
|
History
|
Name
|
- Arundel Castle
(1894?1905)
- Birma
(1905?1913, 1918?1921)
- Mitava
(1913?1918)
- Josef Pilsudski
(1921?1923)
- Franck Hellmers
(1923?24)
- Wilbo
(1924)
|
Owner
| |
Port of registry
| |
Builder
| Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
|
Yard number
| 377
|
Launched
| 2 October 1894
|
Completed
| 1894
|
Maiden voyage
| 1895
|
In service
| 1895?1924
|
Out of service
| 1924
|
Identification
| SBA
|
Fate
| Broken up 1924
|
General characteristics
|
Type
| Merchant ship
|
Tonnage
| 4588 grt; 2879 nrt
|
Length
| 126.49 m
|
Depth
| 8.50 m
[1]
|
Propulsion
| Steam
|
SS
Birma
was a British-built transatlantic passenger ship. She was built in 1894 by
Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
in
Govan
,
United Kingdom
, as
Arundel Castle
and later went through numerous ownership and name changes, including coming into the hands of the
Russian American Line
. In 1912,
Birma
was one of the ships to respond to the
sinking of RMS
Titanic
. She was broken up in 1924 following acquisition by a German line after a liquidation sale.
Early history
[
edit
]
Birma
was built in Glasgow in 1894, originally as
Arundel Castle
, for
Donald Currie
's
Castle Mail Packet Company
(later renamed the Union-Castle Line). She made her maiden voyage from London to
Port Natal
in the
Colony of Natal
in 1895.
In 1905,
Arundel Castle
was sold to the
East Asiatic Company
(EAC) in
Denmark
and renamed
Birma
.
[2]
Birma
was chartered as a troop transport ship for Russia from 1905 to 1906.
[3]
In late 1906 and early 1907, she carried the Danish princes
Valdemar
and
George
on their tour of the Far East, travelling with EAC founder
Hans Niels Andersen
.
[4]
In July and August, the ship served as a royal yacht for King
Frederik VIII
's visit to Iceland,
[3]
and near the end of the year, for King
Chulalongkorn
of
Siam
during the Mediterranean leg of his visit to Europe.
[5]
The ship was transferred in 1908 to EAC's associate company, Russian East Asiatic Steamship Company (Russian American Line).
[2]
During this time,
Birma
was mostly used as a ship working on routes between the United States and
the Netherlands
.
[6]
Titanic
[
edit
]
In April 1912,
Birma
was sailing from New York to
Rotterdam
and was fitted with a
De Forest
Wireless Telegraphy system. On 14 April, the ship received
CQD
and
SOS
distress messages from
Titanic
.
Birma
'
s wireless operator, Joseph Cannon, quickly noted down the location, as given by
Titanic
, of 41°46'N. 50°14'W.
[7]
He asked what had happened and
Titanic
responded that they were sinking after having struck an iceberg.
Birma
'
s captain, informed of the situation, relayed a message to the stricken vessel that his ship was 100 nautical miles away and expecting to arrive at the given location at approximately 6:30 am on 15 April. Initially,
Birma
did not know that the ship in distress was
Titanic
, as the latter's
call sign
of "MGY" was so new that it was not in
Birma
'
s identification books. They were later informed by the nearby
SS
Frankfurt
that "MGY" was
Titanic
.
[7]
Birma
eventually reached the given co-ordinates at 7:30 am, but realised the position given by
Titanic
must be incorrect because of the large amount of
pack ice
in the vicinity; they were still 13 nautical miles from where
Titanic
actually sank.
Birma
'
s telegraphy room picked up messages from
RMS
Carpathia
reporting that they had rescued
Titanic
survivors, and
Birma
offered supplies. The response from
Carpathia
was "shut up".
[7]
[8]
This was attributed by Cannon to be part of a
Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company
policy not to provide information to ships that did not use Marconi wireless sets.
[7]
Further attempts at communication with
Carpathia
resulted in similar rebuttals aside of a standard
Ship's Salute
from their flags. As a result,
Birma
returned to her planned course and on 15 April, passed what her crew believed to be the iceberg that sank
Titanic
and photographed it.
[9]
The crew held a memorial service on board and flew the flags of the United States and Russia at half-mast. Though they did not carry a British flag, the passengers made one and it was also flown at half-mast.
[9]
Ships with Marconi sets started passing messages to each other that
Birma
had picked up five lifeboats, a claim the ship's crew denied.
Birma
gave signed testimony about the disaster to Britain's
Daily Telegraph
on 25 April;
[9]
this was controversial as it occurred before members of the crews of
SS
Californian
and
SS
Mount Temple
had given their own evidence.
[10]
The later
British inquiry
ignored
Birma
'
s testimony, based upon prior testimony from the crew of the
Californian
who denied hearing
Birma
being told to "shut up".
[7]
The
American inquiry
only briefly considered the charge, to which the general manager of
Marconi in the United States
responded that it was never company policy or general orders to ignore requests made by non-Marconi ships during emergencies.
[7]
Copies of telegrams sent by
Titanic
that were received by
Birma
relating to the sinking were later placed in
The National Archives
in the United Kingdom.
[11]
Later service and fate
[
edit
]
Birma
was renamed
Mitava
(
Russian
:
Митава
, usually
romanised
as
Mitau
)
[12]
in 1913 by the Russian American Line, who used her as an
immigrant ship
between
Libau
and New York.
[13]
In 1914, she was laid up at
Kronstadt
during the
First World War
and remained there for the duration (despite being painted as a
hospital ship
) and returned to East Asiatic Company ownership after the end of the war.
[13]
In 1921, the Polish Navigation Company bought her and refitted her with a new name of
Josef Pilsudski
.
[2]
The maiden voyage under the new name was planned for later in the year but the ship was impounded in
Kiel
,
Germany
, for non-payment of $200,000 worth of repair bills.
[13]
A German company bought the ship and named it
Wilbo
after the Polish Navigation Company was liquidated.
[13]
However, in 1924
Wilbo
was broken up in
Genoa
,
Italy
.
[1]
[14]
Gallery
[
edit
]
-
As
Arundel Castle
(right), in Cape Town, 1896
-
Arriving in Bangkok in 1906
-
Carrying King Frederik VIII on his visit to Iceland, 1907
-
As Hospital Ship
Mitava
in 1918
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]