SS Parthia (1870)

SS Parthia/Victoria

SS Parthia of the Cunard Line.
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Parthia
Owner:	Cunard Line 1870–84 John Elder & Co. 1884 Guion Line 1884–92
Operator:	Cunard Line 1870–83 Guion Line 1885–87 Canadian Pacific Railway Company 1887–91
Ordered:	Late 1860's
Builder:	William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton
Cost:	£94,970
Yard number:	148
Laid down:	2 February 1870
Launched:	10 September 1870
Decommissioned:	1883 (by Cunard)
Maiden voyage:	17 December 1870
In service:	1870–83 1885–92
Out of service:	1883–85 1891–92
Renamed:	Victoria
Refit:	1892
Fate:	Rebuilt and renamed Victoria
United Kingdom
Name:	Victoria
Owner:	Guion Line 1892 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1892–98
Operator:	Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1892–98
Route:	Tacoma, Washington to Hong Kong 1892–98
In service:	1892–98
Out of service:	1892 (was undergoing refit)
Fate:	Transferred to American registry in 1898
United States
Name:	Victoria
Owner:	North American Mail Steamship Company 1898–1901 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1901–04 Northwestern Steamship Company 1904–08 Alaska Steamship Company 1908–52 Dulien Steel Products 1952–54
Operator:	North American Mail Steamship Company 1898–99 United States Army 1899–1900 North American Mail Steamship Company 1900–01 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1901–04 Northwestern Steamship Company 1904–08 Alaska Steamship Company 1908–41 U.S. War Administration 1941–47
Route:	Puget Sound to Nome, Alaska (1900–08) San Francisco, California to Nome, Alaska via Seattle, Washington (1908–40?)
Acquired:	1898
In service:	1898–1924 1924–35 1938–47
Out of service:	1924 (major refit) 1935–38 1947–54
Renamed:	Straits No. 27
Reclassified:	Cargo only vessel as of 1940
Refit:	1924
Fate:	Converted into a barge in 1954
Notes:	Extensive refit in 1924, converted to oil fired boilers, taller superstructure and enclosed bridge to the ship's hull.
Canada
Name:	Straits No. 27
Owner:	Straits Towing and Salvage Company 1954–56
Operator:	Straits Towing and Salvage Company 1954–56
Commissioned:	1954
Decommissioned:	1956
In service:	1954–56
Renamed:	Straits Maru
Fate:	Sold to Japanese ship breakers
Japan
Name:	Straits Maru
Owner:	Japanese ship breakers
Port of registry:	Osaka
Fate:	Scrapped at Osaka in 1956
General characteristics
Type:	Ocean liner (1870–1900) Coastal passenger liner (1900–40) Cruise ship (1934–40?) Cargo ship (1940–54) Barge (1954–56)
Tonnage:	3,167 gross tons (as Parthia) 3,868 gross tons (as Victoria)
Displacement:	6,670 tons (as Victoria)
Length:	360.5 ft (110 m)
Beam:	40.3 ft (12 m)
Propulsion:	Compound steam engines driving a single screw propeller. Re-engined with Triple-expansion steam engines in 1885.
Sail plan:	Barque (as Parthia)
Speed:	13 knots
Capacity:	200 First Class Passengers and 1,050 Third Class Passengers (as Parthia)
Notes:	Rebuilt multiple times and renamed three times. Hull aged to 86 years when it was torn apart. Her sister ships were the Abyssinia and the Algeria.

The SS Parthia (1870–1956) was an iron-hulled transatlantic ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton, Scotland. Her sister ships were the Abyssinia and Algeria. Unlike her two sisters, Parthia was smaller, built in a different shipyard and had a slightly different funnel arrangement. The Parthia was retired by Cunard in 1883 and sold to John Elder & Co., who subsequently transferred her to the Guion Line. After serving with the Guion Line and operating on transpacific routes with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, she was refit and renamed Victoria.

Under her new owners, the Northern Pacific Steamship Company, Victoria began operating out of Puget Sound in Washington state. In 1898, she was resold to the North American Mail Steamship Company and transferred to American registry. Due to this, Victoria was used as a troopship in the Spanish American War, carrying troops to Manila in the Philippines. In 1900, she served with various owners along a route from Puget Sound to Nome, Alaska until she ended up with the Alaska Steamship Company in 1908. Victoria was then operated between San Francisco, California to Nome, Alaska, via Seattle, Washington. In 1924, the Victoria, now 54 years old, underwent a massive refit, which added oil fired boilers, larger superstructure and an enclosed bridge to her ageing hull.

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