SS Nerissa
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Name: | SS Nerissa |
| Operator: | New York, Newfoundland and Halifax Steamship Company, Limited |
| Builder: | William Hamilton & Co. Ltd., Port Glasgow |
| Laid down: | November 1925 |
| Launched: | 31 March 1926 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 30 April 1941 by U-552 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Passenger and cargo steamer |
| Tonnage: | 5,583 tons gross |
| Length: | 349.5 ft (106.5 m) |
| Beam: | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Draught: | 20 ft 8 in (6.30 m) |
| Depth: | 33 ft (10 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) maximum; 14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph) cruising |
| Capacity: |
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The SS Nerissa was a passenger and cargo steamer which was torpedoed and sunk on 30 April 1941 during World War II by the German submarine U-552 following 39 wartime voyages between Canada and Britain. She was the only transport carrying Canadian troops to be lost during World War II.
Nerissa was the final ship built for the Bowring Brothers' "Red Cross Line" service between New York City, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. John's, Newfoundland. Due to the arduous winter conditions to be expected on her routes, Nerissa was designed with a strengthened hull to cope with ice floes and an icebreaker style sloping stern.
She was built in Port Glasgow by the shipbuilding company William Hamilton & Company Ltd in a remarkably short time; her owners only signed the contract for her construction on 3 November 1925, yet she was launched on 31 March 1926 in time for the 1926 sailing season. After preliminary trials she departed on her maiden voyage to New York on 5 June 1926.
The Red Cross Line relied mainly on American tourist traffic and this was much affected by the Depression, until by 1927 it was decided to abandon the service, and at the end of 1928 the Line along with its three ships Nerissa, Rosalind, and Silvia was sold to Furness Withy.
The ships then became part of the Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co. Ltd., and the Nerissa continued on the New York, Halifax and St. Johns route until 1931 when she was switched to the New York to Bermuda run and also made voyages to Trinidad and Demerara.
In late 1939 Nerissa was modified as an auxiliary transport with accommodation for 250 men and was fitted with a 4-inch gun and a Bofors gun, with gun crews drawn from the Maritime Regiment of the Royal Artillery. Due to her capability to steam at a higher speed than the usual 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) of escorted convoys, Nerissa sailed alone, since she was considered capable of outrunning enemy submarines.
On 7 September 1940, she left Liverpool bound for Halifax, with 34 evacuated children under the Children's Overseas Reception Board, their final destination was British Columbia.
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Wikipedia