Maiden voyage 6 April 1905 Length 164 m | Launched 22 December 1904 Beam 19 m | |
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Name RMS Virginian
1920 Drottningholm
1948 Brasil
1951 Homeland Owner 1904 Allan Line
1920 Swedish American Line Route 1905–1914 Liverpool – Montreal
1920–1948 Gothenburg – New York City Fate Feb 1955 scrapped at Trieste Type Passenger liner and cargo Builder Alexander Stephen and Sons | ||
RMS Virginian was a steam turbine powered transatlantic ocean liner, launched in 1904 for the Allan Line. She operated from 1920 to 1948 for the Swedish American Line as SS Drottningholm.
Contents
Career
Built in 1905 by Alexander Stephen and Sons in Glasgow for the Allan Line of Canada. Commissioned as SS Virginian, she served the Allan Line, as a sistership to RMS Victorian from 1905 until 1920. In 1912, she was one of several ships in wireless radio communication with RMS Titanic, giving iceberg warnings, and at one point erroneous wireless messages had Virginian towing Titanic to Halifax, Nova Scotia and that all on board Titanic were safe. Such a report appeared in the Daily Mirror on 16 April 1912.
World War I
During World War I she served as a troop transport ship for Canada and Armed Merchant Cruiser for Royal Navy. On 21 August 1917 she was damaged by the German submarine U-102.
In 1920, she was sold to the Swedish American Line and renamed SS Drottningholm. In 1922-1923 she was refurbished, re-engined and her superstructure enlarged.
She served Sweden until 1948, notably under the command of Captain John Nordlander.
World War II
From March 1942 the ship was chartered by the U.S. State Department. Its first voyage was from New York to Lisbon on 7 May. The Drottningholm carried Red Cross supplies for distribution to other nationals still in Japanese controlled territory. One Japanese national jumped overboard and drowned causing the exchange to be halted until an American offered to stay in captivity.
A 1943 description "M. S. Gripsholm is painted white with the name of the vessel, the Swedish flag and the words Sverige and Diplomat painted prominently on port and starboard. The vessel will travel fully lighted at night with identifying markings fully illuminated."
On 16 March 1944 she docked in New York after an exchange voyage that took 750 Germans to Europe in exchange for 600 wartime internees, including Mary Berg.
In September 1944 it was being used by the Red Cross to transport POW's and civilians being repatriated from Germany to the UK via Sweden, under the command of Captain John Nordlander. Another voyage in April 1945 docked in Liverpool that included 212 ex-interned Channel Islanders.
From 1948–1955 she sailed for the Home Lines of Italy, first as SS Brasil and from 1951 as SS Homeland.