SS Frederica was a passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1890 for the London and South Western Railway.[1] In 1912 she was sold to Ottoman owners who renamed her Nilufer. In 1914 the Ottoman Navy used her as a minelayer. A mine sank her in November 1914.
In 1890 J & G Thomson Ltd at Clydebank in Glasgow built a set of three sister ships for the LSWR's fast mail and passenger service between Southampton and the Channel Islands: Frederica, and . Frederica was built as yard number 250 and was the first of the trio to be built, being launched on 5 June 1890.[2] [3]
Fredericas registered length was, her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were and .[4] She had twin screws, each powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. Between them her two engines were rated at 360 NHP.[4]
The LSWR registered Frederica at Southampton. Her United Kingdom official number was 97212 and her code letters were LTSV.[4]
Frederica was in Southampton and dressed for the opening of the new deep-water dock by Queen Victoria on 26 July 1890.[5] The ship's arrival in Guernsey on 31 July 1860 at 6:23 a.m. was witnessed by many observers, and she then left at 7:00 a.m. and went to Jersey, with her arrival there at 8.33 a.m. witnessed by a thousand people on the pier.[6] On 4 September 1890 she broke the record for the fastest passage from Guernsey to Southampton, leaving at 10.15 a.m. and arriving in Southampton Docks at 3.30 p.m., a time of 5 hours 15 minutes.[7] In October 1890 she made the same voyage in 5 hours 8 minutes.[8]
In 1911 she was sold to Idarei Massousieh in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire. In 1912 she was sold to the Administration de Navigation a Vapeur Ottomane, who renamed her Nilufer and registered her in Constantinople. After the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War I at the end of October 1914, the Ottoman Navy took her over as a minelayer, commanded by Hasan Murad.[9] She was sunk by a Bulgarian mine on 22 November 1914[2] in the Black Sea near Rila, Bulgaria.[10]