SS Persia (1900)

Postcard of SS Persia at Aden, c.1900
History
United Kingdom
Name:	SS Persia
Owner:	Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company
Port of registry:	London
Builder:	Caird & Company, Greenock
Yard number:	295
Launched:	13 August 1900
Fate:	Torpedoed and sunk, 30 December 1915
General characteristics
Type:	Cargo-passenger ship
Tonnage:	7,974 GRT
Length:	499 ft 8 in (152.30 m)
Beam:	53 ft 3 in (16.23 m)
Draught:	24 ft 5 in (7.44 m)
Propulsion:	Triple expansion steam engine
Speed:	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)

SS Persia was a P&O passenger liner, built in 1900 by Caird & Company, Inverclyde, Greenock, Scotland. It was torpedoed and sunk without warning on 30 December 1915, by German U-boat U-38.

499 feet 8 inches (152.30 m) long, with a beam of 53 feet 3 inches (16.23 m), draft of 24.5 feet (7.5 m) and a size of 7,974 gross register tons (GRT), Persia carried triple expansion steam engines capable of driving the ship at 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).

Persia was sunk off Crete, while the passengers were having lunch, on 30 December 1915, by German World War I U-Boat ace Max Valentiner (commanding SM U-38). Persia sank in five to ten minutes, killing 343 of the 519 aboard. One reason for the large number of casualties, was that only four of the lifeboats were successfully launched. The sinking was highly controversial, as it was argued that it broke naval international law which stated that merchant ships carrying a neutral flag could be stopped and searched for contraband and could only be sunk if the passengers and crew were put in a place of safety (for which, lifeboats on the open sea were not sufficient). In this case the Persia was a British ship presenting itself openly to another belligerent. The U-Boat fired a torpedo and made no provision for any survivors. This action took place under Germany’s policy of unrestricted submarine warfare, but broke the Imperial German Navy’s own restriction on attacking passenger liners, the Arabic pledge.