SS Albania (1920) explained
-- commercial vessels -->| Ship Image: | SS Albania.jpg | | Ship Caption: | SS Albania |
| Ship Country: | United Kingdom | | Ship Name: | SS Albania | | Ship Owner: | Cunard Line | | Ship Operator: | Cunard Line | | Ship Registry: | Liverpool | | Ship Route: | Liverpool to New York (After 1922 Liverpool - Montreal Quebec) | | Ship Builder: | Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. Greenock | | Ship Yard Number: | 479 | | Ship Laid Down: | 1914 | | Ship Launched: | 17 April 1920 | | Ship Completed: | December 1920 | | Ship Maiden Voyage: | 18 January 1921 | | Ship In Service: | 1921 | | Ship Out Of Service: | 1925 | | Ship Fate: | Sold 1930 |
| Ship Country: | Italy | | Ship Name: | SS California | | Ship Owner: | Liberia Triestina | | Ship In Service: | 1930 | | Ship Out Of Service: | 1941 | | Ship Fate: | Sunk 11 August 1941 |
| Ship Type: | Cargo liner | | Ship Tonnage: | 12768 | | Ship Length: | 539 ft | | Ship Beam: | 64 ft | | Ship Depth: | 47 ft | | Ship Decks: | 2 | | Ship Power: | Four steam turbines double reduction geared | | Ship Propulsion: | Twin screw | | Ship Speed: | 15 knots | | Ship Capacity: | 80 Cabin class passengers |
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SS Albania was a
cargo liner laid down in 1914 by
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. Greenock, Scotland for the
Cunard Line. Owing to the
First World War, she wasn't completed until 1920. Designed to maximize cargo capacity, passenger accommodations were limited to the shelter and "tween" decks. Originally intended for the Liverpool New York run, she was transferred in April of 1922 to the Canadian route. Ultimately the vessel proved a disappointment for Cunard, being too small to operate effectively as a passenger liner and too big for a freighter,
[1] and was laid up in 1925 until purchased in 1930 by the Italian company
Liberia Triestina who renamed her
SS California.
[2] [3] She was converted for use as a hospital ship in 1935.
Loss
On 11 August 1941, California was torpedoed and sunk off Syracuse by a Fairey Swordfish aircraft of 830 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, operating out of Malta.[4]
Notes and References
- Book: Wills. Elspeth. The Fleet1840-2010. 2010. The Open Agency. London. 9780954245184. 67.
- Book: Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893 . Bonanza Books . Cairis, Nicholas T. . 1979 . 10 . 0517-28875-3 .
- Web site: SS Albania II . Norway Heritage Emigrant Ship Database . 3 August 2014.
- Web site: Naval Events, August 1941, Part 1 of 2, Friday 1st - Thursday 14th . Naval History . 15 December 2011.
