SS Leasowe Castle

The British passenger steam liner SS Leasowe Castle was built between 1915 and 1917 at Cammell Laird shipyards in Birkenhead.

Leasowe Castle as a troopship during World War I
History
United Kingdom
NameSS Leasowe Castle
Operator Union-Castle Line
BuilderCammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down16 March 1915
Launched5 April 1917
Out of service27 May 1918
FateSunk by SM UB-51
General characteristics
TypeSteamliner
Tonnage9,737 GRT
Length488 ft (149 m)
Beam58 ft (18 m)
Draught27.5 ft (8.4 m)
Installed power1,759 nhp
Propulsion
Speed17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Capacity3,000

The ship was originally to be called Vasilissa Sophia and destined for the National Steam Navigation Company of Greece. During construction though, the ship was commandeered by the British Government through the Liner Acquisition Scheme, to be run by the Union-Castle Line. She was finally launched on 5 April 1917 and named Leasowe Castle (a 16th-century castle on the Wirral Peninsula in North West England).[1]

Leasowe Castle was used as a troopship in World War I.[2]

On 20 April 1917 the ship was torpedoed and damaged by German submarine SM U-35, 90 nautical miles (170 km; 100 mi) north west of Gibraltar. The wake of a torpedo was spotted by the crew approaching from the port side and the ship managed to turn to limit the damage. The torpedo hit the stern and destroyed the rudder. A second torpedo was fired and narrowly missed. The ship managed to reach Gibraltar under her own power for repairs.[3]

Soon after midnight on 27 May 1918 the ship was struck by a torpedo from German submarine SM UB-51 in the Mediterranean Sea, 104 nautical miles (193 km; 120 mi) north west of Alexandria, Egypt (31°30′N 27°56′E). The ship was carrying 2,900 troops en route from Alexandria to Marseilles in France. After about 90 minutes Leasowe had sunk with the loss of 101 lives. Many men spent hours in the water. Survivors were returned to Egypt.[4][5][6] Captain Edward John Holl went down with the ship after urging his officers to save the crew: "Do your utmost; they must be saved".[7]

The troops who died at sea in the Mediterranean in the First World War (without a grave on land) are commemorated by the Shatby Memorial, in the cemetery at Shatby in Alexandria.[8]

References
  1. "Leasowe Castle". www.bandcstaffregister.com. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  2. "LEASOWE CASTLE OCEAN LINER 1917-1918". WRECKSITE. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  3. "The Merchant Navy, Volume 3, by Archibald Hurd - World War 1 at Sea". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. "Passenger steamer Leasowe Castle - Ships hit by U-boats - German and Austrian U-boats of World War One - Kaiserliche Marine - uboat.net". uboat.net. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  5. "Sailing ships and Steamships sunk in World War 1". www.naval-history.net. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  6. "Leasowe Castle Timeline". Radcliffe on Trent WW1. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  7. Knight, Edward Frederick (1920). The Union-Castle and the War 1914-1919. Union-Castle Mail Steamship Company. p. 32.
  8. "ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY". War Graves Commission. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
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