MV Struma

MV Struma was a small ship with a long history that included a number of changes of use and many changes of name. She was built in 1867 as a British marquess's luxury steam yacht and ended 75 years later as a Greek and Bulgarian diesel ship for carrying . She was launched as Xantha, but subsequently carried the names SS Sölyst, SS Sea Maid, SS Kafireus, SS Esperos, SS Makedoniya and finally MV Struma. As Struma she tried to take nearly 800 Jewish refugees from Romania to Palestine in December 1941. Turkey detained her in Istanbul because Britain refused to admit her passengers to Palestine. In February 1942 a Soviet submarine torpedoed and sank Struma in the Black Sea after Turkish authorities had towed her out to sea and cast her adrift.

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company of Jarrow in North East England built her in 1867 as the iron-hulled yacht Xantha for Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey, who was a courtier to Queen Victoria and Lord Lieutenant of Anglesey in North Wales. She had a quadruple-expansion steam engine built by Ernest Scott & Co of Newcastle upon Tyne, and three schooner-rigged masts.

At some date an owner renamed her Sölyst. In 1898 she was acquired by a JL Phipps, who renamed her Sea Maid. After 1902 Sea Maid's ownership is unclear. At some date she sailed to Greek waters, and one source suggests that in 1913 during the Balkan Wars the Kingdom of Greece requisitioned her as a troopship to take soldiers from Chalkidiki to Amphipolis.

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