Builder S.P. Austin & Son Ltd. Launched 4 August 1906 Draft 6.1 m | Yard number 237 Length 94 m | |
Name SS Lady Cory-Wright (1906–14);
RFA Lady Cory-Wright (1914–18) Namesake either Lady Mima Cory-Wright or Lady Elizabeth Cory-Wright Owner Wm. Cory & Son (1906–14);
Admiralty (1914–18) Operator Wm. Cory & Son (1906–14);
Royal Fleet Auxiliary (1914–18) | ||
RFA Lady Cory-Wright was a cargo ship that had been built as a civilian collier in 1906, became a Royal Fleet Auxiliary mine carrier in 1914 and was torpedoed and sunk with significant loss of life in 1918.
History
S.P. Austin & Son Ltd. of Sunderland built her in 1906 for William Cory and Son. She was named Lady Cory-Wright after either Lady Mima, wife of Sir Cory Cory-Wright, 1st Baronet or Lady Elizabeth, wife of Sir Arthur Cory-Wright, 2nd Baronet.
In August 1914 the War Department requisitioned Lady Cory-Wright for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, who used her as a mine carrier. On 26 March 1918 she was in the English Channel steaming from Plymouth to Malta laden with a cargo that included 2,762 mines, 370 depth charges, 2,100 torpedo detonators and 1,000 primers B.E. when the German submarine UC-17 torpedoed her about 14 miles off The Lizard. Lady Cory-Wright's Master and all but one of her crew were killed.
After Lady Cory-Wright sank many of her mines were left floating in the area, and her one survivor reportedly was found clinging to a floating mine. In 2009 her wreck still contained many unexploded mines and detonators.