HMS Ben-my-Chree
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HMS Ben-my-Chree
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| History | |
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 United Kingdom
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| Name: | Ben-my-Chree |
| Operator: | Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. |
| Port of registry: |
 Douglas, Isle of Man
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| Route: | England–Isle of Man |
| Builder: | Vickers, Barrow-in-Furness |
| Laid down: | 1907 |
| Launched: | 23 March 1908 |
| Completed: | 8 August 1908 |
| Fate: | Chartered by the Royal Navy, 1 January 1915 |
 United Kingdom
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| Name: | HMS Ben-my-Chree |
| Acquired: | 1 January 1915 |
| Commissioned: | 23 March 1915 |
| Fate: | |
| General characteristics (as passenger ship) | |
| Type: | Packet |
| Tonnage: | 2,651 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 390 ft (118.9 m) (o/a) |
| Beam: | 46 ft (14.0 m) |
| Depth: | 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) |
| Decks: | 5 |
| Installed power: | 4 × cylindrical boilers |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 24.2 kn (44.8 km/h; 27.8 mph) |
| Capacity: | 2,549 |
| Crew: | 119 |
| General characteristics (in RN service) | |
| Type: | Seaplane carrier |
| Displacement: | 3,888 long tons (3,950 t) |
| Length: | 387 ft (118.0 m) (o/a) |
| Draught: | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
| Installed power: | 14,500 shp (10,800 kW) |
| Speed: | 24.5 kn (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph) |
| Crew: | 250 |
| Armament: | |
| Aircraft carried: | 4–6 × seaplanes |
HMS Ben-my-Chree (Manx: "Woman of My Heart") was a packet steamer and a Royal Navy (RN) seaplane carrier of the First World War. She was originally built in 1907 by Vickers for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and was intended for use on the England–Isle of Man route. She was the third vessel to bear her name. To this day Ben-my-Chree holds the crossing speed record from Liverpool to Douglas for a steamship at under three hours.
She was chartered by the RN at the beginning of 1915 and participated in several abortive attacks on Germany in May. The ship was transferred to the Dardanelles in June to support the Gallipoli Campaign. One of her aircraft made the first ship-launched aerial torpedo attack on a ship in August. After Gallipoli was evacuated at the end of the year, Ben-my-Chree became flagship of the East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron that operated in the Eastern Mediterranean, performing reconnaissance missions and attacking Turkish facilities and troops. She was sunk by Turkish artillery while anchored at the recently occupied island of Kastellorizo in early 1917, five members of her crew being injured. The ship was salvaged in 1920 and broken up in 1923. Ben-my-Chree also holds the distinction of being the only aviation vessel of either side to be sunk by enemy action during the war.
SS Ben-my-Chree had a tonnage of 2,651 gross register tons (GRT). The ship was 390 feet (118.9 m) long overall and 375 feet (114.3 m) long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of 46 feet (14.0 m) and a depth of 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) from her main deck to the top of her keel. Ben-my-Chree had five decks and a capacity of 2,549 passengers with a crew of 119.
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