SS Harpalion (1910)

A painting by Willy Stöwer of Harpalion sinking
History
United Kingdom
NameHarpalion
NamesakeHarpalion
OwnerJ&C Harrison
Port of registryLondon
BuilderWm Gray & Co, West Hartlepool
Yard number779
Launched4 October 1910
CompletedNovember 1910
Identification
Fatesunk by torpedo, 24 February 1915
General characteristics
Typecargo steamship
Tonnage5,867 GRT, 3,669 NRT
Length428.0 ft (130.5 m)
Beam53.5 ft (16.3 m)
Depth29.1 ft (8.9 m)
Decks2
Installed power1 × triple expansion engine, 574 NHP
Propulsion1 × screw
Speed12 knots (22 km/h)
Notessister ships: Harpagus, Harpalyce

SS Harpalion was a British cargo steamship. She was built in 1910 for J&C Harrison of London, and sunk by a U-boat in 1915. She is one of at least three cargo ships to have borne the name Harpalion from Greek mythology. J&C Harrison had a later steamship of the same name that was built in 1932 and sunk in 1942.[1][2] The National Steamship Co had a motor ship of the same name that was built in 1947 and scrapped in 1979.[3]

Building and registration

In 1910 and 1911, William Gray and Company of West Hartlepool, County Durham, built three sister ships for J&C Harrison. Yard number 771 was launched in April 1910 as Harpagus, and completed that June.[4] Yard number 779 was launched on 4 October 1910 as Harpalion, and completed that November.[5] Yard number 789 was launched in May 1911 as Harpalyce, and completed that June.[6]

Harpalion's registered length was 428.0 ft (130.5 m), her beam was 53.5 ft (16.3 m), and her depth was 29.1 ft (8.9 m). Her tonnages were 5,867 GRT and 3,669 NRT. She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple expansion engine made by the Central Marine Engine Works in West Hartlepool. It was rated at 574 NHP,[7] and gave her a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h).[8]

J&C Harrison registered Harpalion at London. Her UK official number was 129152, and her code letters were HRWF.[9]

Loss

In February 1915, Harpalion left London in ballast for Cape Henry, Virginia. On 24 February she steaming west in the English Channel, when SM U-8 torpedoed her, 6.5 nautical miles (12 km) west of the Royal Sovereign lightship.[10][11] The explosion burst one of the boilers in her stokehold, killing three of her Chinese stokers, and badly scalding her third engineer.[8]

Harpalion did not immediately sink, and various merchant ships and warships sighted her. A tugboat from Le Havre to take her in tow, but Harpalion sank shortly after the tug reached her. All of Harpalion's surviving crew were rescued, and her third engineer was hospitalised at Newhaven.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "Harpalion". Tyne Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  2. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit by U-boats: Harpalion". uboat.net. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  3. ↑ "Harpalion". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Harpalyce". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Harpalion". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 19 January 2025.
  6. ↑ "Harpalyce". Tees Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  7. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1911, HAR.
  8. 1 2 3 "SS Harpalion [+1915]". Wrecksite. Retrieved 26 March 2026.
  9. ↑ Mercantile Navy List 1911, p. 228.
  10. ↑ Helgason, Guðmundur. "Ships hit during WWI: Harpalion". uboat.net. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  11. ↑ "February 24, 1915". Diary of the Great War.

Bibliography

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