White Star steamship Germanic, North Atlantic
Germanic / Ottawa / Gul Djemal / Gulcemal 1874
The GERMANIC was a 5,008 gross ton ship, built for the White Star Line
in 1874 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast (engines by Maudslay, Sons &
Field, London). Her details were length 455ft x beam 45.2ft, two
funnels, four masts (rigged for sails), iron construction, single
screw and a speed of 15 knots. There was passenger accommodation for
220-1st and 1,500-3rd class. Launched on 15th Jul 1874, she sailed
from Liverpool on 20th May 1875 on her maiden voyage to Queenstown
(Cobh) and New York. In July 1875 and Apr 1877 she made record
passages between Queenstown and New York and in Feb.1876 between New
York and Queenstown. She was rebuilt to 5,066 tons in 1895, had an
extra deck added, triple expansion engines fitted by Harland & Wolff
and her funnels lengthened. On 13th Feb 1899 she capsized at her berth
in New York due to the weight of snow and ice which had accumulated on
her upperworks during a particularly severe voyage. She was salvaged
and resumed Liverpool - Queenstown - New York sailings on 7th
Jun 1899. Her last voyage on this service started 23rd Sep 1903 and
she was chartered to the American Line and commenced Southampton -
Cherbourg - New York sailings on 23rd Apr 1904. Her sixth and last
voyage on this service started 2nd Oct 1904 and in 1905 she was sold
to the Dominion Line and renamed OTTAWA. Refitted to carry 250-2nd and
1,500-3rd class passengers she commenced Liverpool - Quebec - Montreal
voyages on 27th Apr 1905. Her last voyage on this route started on 2nd
Sep 1909 and on 15th Mar 1911 she sailed from Liverpool for
Constantinople. Renamed GUL DJEMAL for Turkish owners, she was
torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine E.14 in the Sea of Marmora
on 3rd May 1915. She was later salvaged and commenced her first
Constantinople - New York voyage on 6th Oct 1920. Her fourth and last
voyage on this service commenced 21st Oct 1921, and in 1928 her name
was amended to GULCEMAL. She was finally scrapped in 1950 at
Messina. (North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.2,p.757-8)
From another source:
GERMANIC was built in 1874 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a
tonnage of 5008grt, a length of 455ft, a beam of 45ft 2in and a
service speed of 16 knots. Sister of the Britannic she was launched on
15th July 1874, the drop propeller shaft having been removed during
construction. After spending 3 months at Belfast before she was
finished and painted due to the fact that White Star did not require
her until the start of the Summer season when she replaced the
Oceanic, her maiden voyage to New York commenced on 30th May 1875. In
the following July she broke the eastbound record when she completed
the crossing in 7 days 11 hrs 17 mins at an average speed of 15.76
knots. By February 1876, when the New York - Queenstown record was
broken again, both ships were recognised as the best liners on the
North Atlantic. In January her propeller shaft snapped and she was
forced to resort to sail to complete her voyage to Waterford. Being
before the days of wireless her problem was reported by Donald
Currie's Westmoreland whose offer of a salvage tow was refused. Triple
expansion engines and new high pressure boilers were fitted in 1895
and on 15th May she was the first ship to embark passengers at
Liverpool's new floating landing stage. On 13th February 1899, whilst
coaling at New York in a blizzard, her port side coaling doors were
open and she half capsized due to snow and ice on the upper decks
causing her to heel over and came to rest almost upright and leaning
against the dock wall. Had her sodden passenger accommodation been
damage she would have been scrapped but in the event she was refloated
on 23rd February and sent to Belfast where she remained out of service
for four months. On 23rd September 1903 she made her final voyage for
the White Star Line before being laid up for the winter. In 1904 she
was transferred to the International Mercantile Marine Company and
became American Line's Germanic. On 24th April she commenced the first
of six voyages from Southampton to New York before being transferred
again to the Dominion Line for carrying emigrants. She was renamed
Ottawa on 5th January 1905 and deployed on the Liverpool - Halifax
service during the winter months and from 27th April between Quebec
and Montreal for the summer. At the end of the summer season in
October 1909 she was laid up and in the following year was sold to the
Turkish Government for use as a transport. On 15th March 1911 she
sailed from Liverpool as the Gul Djemal operated by the Administration
de Nav. a Vapeur Ottomane of Istanbul and commenced carrying troops to
the fighting in the Yemen. She was transferred to the Black Sea in
1912 and, although too big for that area, was a prestigious
deployment. In April 1915 she was used to carry troops to the
Gallipoli Peninsular following the Anglo-French landings and on 3rd
May was torpedoed whilst at anchor in shallow water in the Sea of
Marmara, by the submarine E-14. She settled with her superstructure
above water and the majority of the 4000 men said to be aboard were
lost. When she was raised the submarine shared a bounty of £31,000
based on £5 per Turk plus assessed value. In November 1918 she was
used to repatriate German troops from Turkey and arrived at the Allied
control point off Dover totally unannounced with 1500 armed troops on
board which caused much confusion. She was, however, disarmed and sent
to Germany. In 1920 she was transferred to the Ottoman - America Line
for deployment on an emigrant service from Istanbul to New York and on
10th October 1921 commenced her first voyage. She later operated along
Turkey's Black Sea coast to Trabzon. By 1928 and still government
owned she was being operated by Turkiye Seyrisefain Idaresi as the
Gulcemal. In 1931 she grounded in the Sea of Marmara and by 1949 she
was being used as a store ship at Istanbul. She briefly became a
floating hotel in 1950 before being towed to Messina on 29th October
where she was broken up after 40 years service with the Turkish
Government.
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