SS Chesterfield (1913)

For other ships with the same name, see HMS Chesterfield.

History
United Kingdom
NameSS Chesterfield
OperatorGreat Central Railway
Port of registryUnited Kingdom
BuilderSwan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd,[1] Neptune Yard, Low Walker
Yard number924
Launched30 October 1913
Out of service18 May 1918
FateTorpedoed and sunk
General characteristics
Tonnage1,013 gross register tons (GRT)
Length250 feet (76 m)
Beam34.2 feet (10.4 m)
Depth16 feet (4.9 m)

SS Chesterfield was a cargo vessel built for the Great Central Railway in 1913.[2]

History

The ship was built by Swan Hunter and launched in 1913. She was the first of an order of two ships from Swan Hunter, the other being Macclesfield. She was deployed on the Grimsby to Rotterdam service.[3]

She was requisitioned by the British Admiralty in October 1914 for use as a fleet messenger and renamed HMS Chesterfield. On 18 May 1918 she was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea at 36°17′N 15°13′E / 36.283°N 15.217°E / 36.283; 15.217, 42 nautical miles (78 km) northeast by east of Malta, by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-52 with the loss of four of her crew.[4]

SS Chesterfield (1913) is located in Sicily
SS Chesterfield (1913)
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Map of Sicily. Approximate position of wreck of the Chesterfield

References

  1. ^ "SS Chesterfield (1913)". www.tynebuiltships.co.uk. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  2. ^ Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
  3. ^ "Trial Trip of the Macclesfield". Newcastle Journal. England. 23 June 1914. Retrieved 10 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. ^ "Chesterfield". Uboat.net. Retrieved 18 December 2012.