RMS Ivernia (1899)

Cunard Liner Ivernia
History
United Kingdom
Name	RMS Ivernia
Namesake	Iverni
Owner	Cunard Line
Operator	Cunard Line
Port of registry	Liverpool, United Kingdom
Route	1900–1911 Liverpool–Boston Liverpool–New York City 1911–1914 Liverpool–Boston Liverpool–New York City Trieste/Fiume–New York City 1914–1917 Government war service
Builder	C. S. Swan & Hunter, Tyne and Wear
Yard number	247 [4]
Laid down	6 December 1898 [3]
Launched	21 September 1899 [3]
Christened	The Countess of Ravensworth[3]
Maiden voyage	14 April 1900, Liverpool to New York [7]
Refit	July-October 1911 following major flooding from a collision[6]
Identification	UK Official Number 110643[1] Code letters "RNJD"[1] Marconi Radio Call Letters "MIA"[2]
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk, 1 January 1917
Notes	Completed deep-sea trials 27 March 1900, off Liverpool [5]
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	Designed[3][5][10] 13,900 GRT Before refit[1] 14,058 GRT 9,052 NRT After refit[11] 14,278 GRT 9,165 NRT
Displacement	24,400 long tons  [8]
Length	600 ft (180 m) total[3] 582 ft (177 m) between perpendiculars[3][1]
Beam	64.5 ft (19.7 m)[3][1]
Height	140 ft (43 m) from keel to top of funnel[3]
Draught	37.8 ft (11.5 m) [1]
Depth	41.5 ft (12.6 m) (depth moulded to Upper Deck)[3]
Decks	6 passenger decks 8 decks overall[9]
Installed power	9 single-ended scotch boilers Steam pressure of 210psi 12,000 indicated horsepower[12]
Propulsion	Steam quadruple-expansion engines geared to twin propellers
Speed	16.8 knots (31.1 km/h; 19.3 mph) (achieved on trials)[5] 16.25 knots (30.10 km/h; 18.70 mph) (contract stipulation)[5]
Capacity	1,964 passengers (164 First Class, 200 Second Class, 1,600 Third Class)
Notes	sister ship to RMS Saxonia half-sister to RMS Carpathia

RMS Ivernia was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line, built by the company C. S. Swan & Hunter of Newcastle upon Tyne, England, and launched in 1899. The Ivernia was one of Cunard's intermediate ships, that catered to the vast immigrant trade. Like her sisters, she saw military service during World War I, and was sunk in 1917 after being struck by a torpedo.

Saxonia was the larger sister ship of Ivernia, and was launched three months later at John Brown & Company of Clydebank, leaving Ivernia the largest Cunard steamer during those months.

Carpathia was a smaller half-sister of Ivernia and Saxonia, built at the same yard as Ivernia and launched in 1902, to a modified design based on her older half-sisters. Carpathia was made famous for her role in the aftermath of the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.

In 1898, the Cunard Line commissioned C. S. Swan & Hunter, based on the North bank of the River Tyne in Wallsend, to construct one of two new intermediate-sized liners intended to work the Liverpool-Boston route across the North Atlantic. Unlike the leading Cunard liners at the time, RMS Campania and RMS Lucania, the new Ivernia class would focus on cargo and economy. Space otherwise taken by larger engine and boiler machinery would instead be freed for cargo at the cost of some speed. She would target 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) compared to Lucania's 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph).^[9]

Cunard produced a plan on 3 August 1898 at their Derby Road works in Liverpool to accompany a contract specification for Swan & Hunter, and this was reviewed by William Denton, director of the yard, three days later with some adjustments that led to the appearance of Ivernia diverging from that of her sister Saxonia. The design was of a 580 ft (180 m) vessel with passenger and cargo capacity over 8 decks.^[13]

On December 6th 1897, the keel of Ivernia was laid in the west slipway of a large shed in the shipbuilder's East Yard. Alongside her were two other ships already under construction, the 500 ft (150 m) SS Ultonia and the smaller 460 ft (140 m) SS Idaho on the slipways to Ivernia's east. All three slipways were eqipped with electric overhead cranes, which were a new innovation in the shipbuilding industry.^[3]

Construction was rapid and nine months later, on 21 September 1898, Ivernia was christened by Emma, Countess of Ravensworth and released into the Tyne.^[3] The fitting out quay was by the slipways, and work continued into early 1900 to complete the superstructure and fit Ivernia's machinery, including her engines and boilers.

A longitudinal section plan of the Ivernia at launch in 1899, showing deck and bulkhead layout

From top to bottom:

• Promenade Deck, containing first class saloons and access to lifeboats.
• Bridge Deck, 280 ft (85 m) long and consisting of a main house accommodating first-class cabins, a separate rear house for second-class cabins, and a small forward house for the officers mess.
• Shelter Deck, spanning the full length of the ship and mainly housed the second class passengers, along with the first and second class dining saloons within a central house under the Bridge Deck.
• Upper Deck, fully enclosed and housed crew, some cargo, and the third class promenade.
• Main Deck, which housed third class cabins forward, and third class dormitory accommodation aft.
• Lower Deck, housing cargo and refrigerated goods.
• Orlop Deck, forward of the boiler room only, housing further cargo and refrigerated goods.
• Boiler room and engine room sat back-to-back in the middle of the ship on top of the double bottom, and between deep cargo and ballast holds forward and aft.

The lower portion of the ship had 10 watertight bulkheads extending up to the Upper Deck, and dividing Ivernia in 11 watertight compartments. The ship was designed to stay afloat with any two of her compartments flooded.^[13]

Four staysails and two jibs were included in the rigging plan for Ivernia. Sails were unlikely to see use on twin-propeller steamships of this era, and would not have been able to propel the large steel ship.^[13][9]

Once installed, the antenna for the Marconi wireless radio system was strung between the masts of Ivernia.^[14] The halyard that would have orginally been between these masts, allowing signal flags to be hoisted from the bridge, would have been moved lower on the second mast.^[13]

A plan of the lifeboats on RMS Ivernia. Boats 5 and 6 were often left swung out over the water when the ship was underway to enable a quick deployment in an emergency.

At launch, Ivernia was equipped with 18 lifeboats, with 8 on the Promenade Deck, two just forward of the bridge on the Bridge Deck, four atop the second class accommodation on the Bridge Deck (paired and served by only two, not four, davits), and four at the aft of the Shelter Deck.

As was common at the time, and is now part of the regulations^[15], lifeboats were given even numbers on the port side and odd numbers on the starboard side. They were numbered from 1 & 2 aft to 17 & 18 forward.^[16]

Each boat was about 28 ft (8.5 m) long^[13] with a capacity of around 55-60 people.^[17][18] This meant Ivernia had space for about 1,050 people in her boats, less than half her maximum passenger capacity.

Lifeboats 5 & 6 above the second class cabins at the rear of the bridge deck were used as emergency cutters. They were often left swung out during voyages to allow quick action in case of an incident like a man overboard.

The engines were designed and built by Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, neighbours of C. S. Swan & Hunter on Tyneside, and were quadruple-expansion engines. The designer was Andrew Laing, who also designed the triple-expansion engines that powered the RMS Lucania to capture the Blue Riband accolade for fastest average speed crossing the Atlantic in 1894. The quadruple-expansion design could output 12,000 indicated horsepower, with cylinders of 28, 41, 58.5, and 84 inches in diameter, from high to low pressure, and a common stroke of 54 inches. These were fed by nine single-ended scotch boilers 15.5 ft (4.7 m) in diameter and 11.5 ft (3.5 m) deep and equipped with the Howden forced draught system with air drawn into the furnaces with use of a fan. The two engines were connected by Armstrong Whitworth shafts to twin three-bladed manganese bronze propellers on a pair of steel bosses.^[12]

Starting and reversing of the direction of the propeller shaft was conducted by a separate, small engine. An additional larger donkey boiler was situated behind the funnel across the Main and Upper decks to provide steam for deck machinery and other uses.^[12]

These engines allowed Ivernia to achieve a speed of 16.8 knots when completing her deep-sea trials in late March 1900, after fitting-out was complete. This exceeded the design contract stipulation of a 16.25 knots top speed, and made Ivernia the fastest of the three sisters.^[5]

Electric lighting throughout the ship was fed from a dynamo generator providing direct current from a dynamo room just behind the funnel on the Upper Deck.^[13]

Ivernia arrived on the River Mersey on 27 March 1900, after a five-day journey from the Tyne, and her passengers complimented her stability in rough weather during her delivery voyage.^[19][20]

Ivernia undertook her maiden transatlantic voyage on 14 April 1900^[7] from Liverpool to New York City, as the liners that were intended to work that route were conducting troop transport duties for the Second Boer War.^[5] On board for this maiden voyage was Charles Sheriton Swan, son of Charles Sheridan Swan, co-founder of the builder's yard.^[7] Two months later, on 12 June, the Ivernia began working on Cunard's service from Liverpool to Boston, together with her sister ship RMS Saxonia.

In 1901, Cunard began outfitting its ships with a Marconi wireless system, beginning with RMS Lucania on 21 May, followed by RMS Campania, RMS Umbria and RMS Etruria.^[14]

With a longer-than-usual stopover in Liverpool of 14 days between February 4th & 18th 1902, construction of a hut for a wireless operator would have been possible in preparation for Ivernia's Marconi equipment.^[21] Two months later, Ivernia arrived from Boston on April 10th, when the Cunard engineers at Liverpool had the opportunity to complete the fitting of the wireless aparatus.^[22] Ivernia sailed with a Marconi system installed and operational for the first time on 15 April 1902, with her first broadcast from 30 miles off shore reporting "All well" back to Liverpool.^[23]

In 1909, sending a message to the United States from Ivernia would cost a passenger 8s. 4d. for a ten-word message, or 6s for 12 words to the UK.

Ivernia departed Boston on a routine voyage on 16 May 1911, under the command of Captain Thomas Potter, and was approaching Queenstown harbour on 24 May.^[24] Heavy fog closed in around noon, and she struck Daunt Rock only 9 mi (14.48 km) from the port. The forward hull of the ship was badly damaged in multiple places, but Ivernia successfully made it into the inner harbour while taking on water. All passengers were disembarked to Queenstown while Ivernia was at anchor in the Kinloch Channel, but as dusk approached and the forward holds continued to take on water, Captain Potter made the decision to have the ship towed to the mud banks near Corkbeg Island on the eastern side of the harbour. Divers assessed the damage, and powerful pumps brought aboard, but the water continued to slowly rise.^[25] The Admiralty tug Hellespont, as well as the tugs Flying Fox and Flying Sportsman of the Clyde Shipping Company, assisted with the tow. The Clyde company later secured £1,000 for the work, through the courts, from Cunard, who also made a voluntary award of £500 to the captain and crew of Hellespont.^[26][27]

728 passengers were on board at the time of the accident, and the crew were able to remain on board throughout the salvage process. An unnamed first-class passenger reported they had felt the impact from the smoking room, and emerged onto the deck to see the Captain and officers calmly discussing the matter at the bridge. So calm was the atmosphere that lunch was still served, with an orchestra playing for entertainment. Nevertheless it was apparent to the passenger that the ship was slowly sinking by the head.^[28]

Lloyd's Register surveyor Herbert W Dove inspected the ship on 1 June, and reported flooding as high as the Main Deck and even the Shelter Deck at high water. The vessel was to be moved to Haulbowline for temporary repair and then returned to Liverpool for full repair and refurbishment, should she be refloated.^[29]

Nearly a month after she struck the reef, Ivernia was successfully refloated on 23 June 1911, the pumps finally able to keep pace with incoming water enough to enable temporary repair.^[30]

A Board of Trade Inquiry found that Captain Potter was responsible for the accident, finding him guilty of "navigating the vessel at too great a rate of speed in increasingly thick weather". They were satisfied that the course set for the vessel was appropriate, but that the compass was at fault for leading the ship towards Daunt Rock. The court decided Captain Potter's master's certificate did not need to be revoked, allowing him to continue captaining vessels, but he was "censured" and made to pay £50 (equivalent to £6,432 in 2023) towards the costs of the inquiry.^[31][32] However, on 8 July an address was read out, signed by prominent figures from Cork and Queenstown, praising Captain Potter's success in handling the incident and his skill in sailing the stricken vessel to port, avoiding both loss of life and loss of the vessel herself.^[33]

The still-damaged liner departed Queenstown for Liverpool under her own steam on 6 July, accompanied by tugs and salvage vessels from the Liverpool Salvage Association that had assisted in refloating her.^[34] Ivernia was placed in Brocklebank Graving Dock in Liverpool, and Cunard staff began refitting and furnishing the ship. The ship repairers, H & C Grayson Ltd, were assigned the task of repairing the structural damage.^[35]

Ivernia returned to service on 17 October 1911, with much of her interior refitted,^[6] with William R D Irvine in command, and carrying 872 passengers out of Liverpool towards Queenstown and Boston.^[36]

From late 1911, Ivernia served on the route the Cunard Line had established from Fiume and Trieste to New York, carrying migrants from across the Mediterranean.^[37] During the winter months, she returned to the Liverpool to Boston service.^[38]

In total, 14 voyages were made from New York to Trieste, with a trial run in 1911 followed by five summer voyages each in 1912 and 1913. Three more voyages took place in 1914, including one extended voyage that also visited Alexandria in Egypt in March 1914.^[38]

On 28 July 1914, RMS Ivernia was in Trieste, then in Austria-Hungary. While she was in port, her hosts declared war on Serbia, beginning World War I. She immediately left port, and did not stop in Fiume as she normally would have, instead continuing to Patras in Greece.^[39] The voyage towards New York City reached Gibraltar, a British port, on 5 August, by which point Britain had entered the war. Ivernia and 23 other steamers were held in Gibraltar while Cunard, the British Government, and other ship managers decided how to act.^[40]

The situation in Gibraltar was tense, and Ivernia departed for the United States a few days later. The atmosphere on board prompted Captain H M Benison to post a notice to passengers on 14 August.^[41]

For the benefit of the irresponsible parties who were very busy at Gibraltar in getting up petitions against the captain which were not signed, passing remarks about what the captain should do and what he should not do, and since leaving Gibraltar have laughed at the ship being in darkness at night, allow me to tell them, although I knew it when I left Gibraltar, that I received reliable information last night that there are at present five German cruisers in the Atlantic seeking British merchant steam-ships. Some people may be able to run a motor boat on a small river, but please allow an experienced captain to run a liner.

— Captain Horace Mills Benison, "Notice", Quote in 'Trip of the Ivernia', Cambrian News (5 August 1914)

On 4 August 1914, following her arrival in North America, the Ivernia was hired by the British government. Initially she brought Canadian Soldiers to Europe.^[42] In March 1915 she was in use as a prison ship moored off Southend-on-Sea and holding around 1,500 German prisoners of war.^[43]

Now known as HMT Ivernia, the liner began operating as a troopship in support of the Gallipoli campaign once she had offloaded her prisoners. The ship departed Devonport on 12 May 1915, carrying the Collingwood Battalion of the 63rd Royal Naval Division. She called at Gibraltar in 16 May, and Malta on 19 May, arriving at Lemnos on 22 May. Due to submarines in the Mediterranean Sea, Ivernia ran with no lights at night.^[44] The soldiers on this voyage would go on to fight in the Third Battle of Krithia.

In autumn of 1916, William Thomas Turner (made famous for being the captain of RMS Lusitania at the time of her sinking) had taken command of Ivernia from Arthur Rostron (made famous himself for being the captain of the RMS Carpathia during the rescue of the survivors of the Titanic).^[45][46]

On 1 January 1917, the Ivernia was carrying some 2,400 British troops from Marseille to Alexandria, when at 10:12 am she was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-47 58 miles south-east of Cape Matapan in Greece, in the Kythira Strait. The ship went down fairly quickly with a loss of 36 crew members and 84 troops. Captain Turner, who had been criticised for not going down with the Lusitania (even though he had believed he was the last person on board), remained on the bridge until all aboard had departed in lifeboats and rafts "before striking out to swim as the vessel went down under his feet."^[46]

HMS Rifleman rescued a number of survivors and armed trawlers towed the bulk, who had taken to lifeboats, to Suda Bay in Crete.

Over her lifetime, thirteen people acted as captain of RMS Ivernia, with several commanding her over two separate periods. Her longest serving captains were W T Turner and H M Benison, both serving extensive time as her commanding officer before World War I, and both also serving on her during the war.^[38]

Cunard resurrected the Ivernia name, launching a second RMS Ivernia in 1955. She followed a sister, a second RMS Saxonia, launched in 1954, echoing the two sisters from 1899. The 1955 Ivernia was renamed Franconia in 1963.

Ivernia Road in Walton in Liverpool still bears the name of the vessel. Neighbouring streets include Saxonia Road, Lusitania Road, and Mauretania Road, after the Cunard fleetmates of Ivernia.

The wreck of Ivernia lies off the coast of the Greek island of Antikythera.

• List of Cunard Line ships

• Ivernia history Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• Wrecksite

35°42′N 23°19′E / 35.700°N 23.317°E / 35.700; 23.317