Yard number 826 Draught 28.8 feet (8.8 m) Length 84 m Beam 12 m | Tonnage 2,143 GRT Launched 1910 Draft 8.78 m | |
Name Esturia (1910-1928)Loukia (1928-1937) Identification UK Official Number 129151 Fate Sank after hitting a mine in 1937 Builder Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne |
Esturia was a 2,143 gross register ton oiler, built by Armstrong Whitworth & Company, Walker in 1910. She operated as an oil tanker for the Burmah Oil Company, before being chartered by the Royal Australian Navy on 11 September 1914, during the First World War, as an oiler and stores ship. She served as the destroyer depot ship for HMAS Swan, Huon, and Torrens in Australian and Malayan waters. After being dispatched to Port Said, Egypt with the destroyers, she was transferred to the Admiralty.
After serving with the Admiralty, she was sold in 1918 to Shell Tankers UK, who operated her until 1928 when she was sold to the Greek company Mavris Bros Piraeus and renamed Loukia.
Fate
Loukia was lost on 4 March 1937, during a storm, after hitting a mine off Cape San Sebastian, Catalonia, Spain, during the Spanish Civil War. Loukia exploded, killing 22 of the 23 crew.