HMS Hilary (1908)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | SS Hilary |
| Owner: | Booth Steamship Company |
| Builder: | Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee, Scotland |
| Cost: | £124,000 |
| Launched: | 31 May 1908 |
| In service: | 8 August 1908 |
| Fate: | Requisitioned by Royal Navy in 1914 |
| |
| Name: | HMS Hilary |
| Commissioned: | 7 December 1914 |
| Fate: | Torpedoed 40 mi (64 km) west of Lerwick, Shetland Islands, 25 May 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 6,329 long tons (6,431 t) |
| Displacement: | 3,033 long tons (3,082 t) |
| Length: | 418 ft 6 in (127.56 m) |
| Beam: | 52 ft 2 in (15.90 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft 2 in (8.28 m) |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Armament: | 6 × 6 in (152 mm) guns, 2 × 6-pounder guns[1] |
HMS Hilary was a combined passenger/cargo vessel and originally named SS Hilary. During the First World War, it was commissioned into the Royal Navy and in 1917 was sunk by a German submarine.
The ship was constructed in 1908 for the Booth Steamship Company to operate on the Europe/South America route, and carrying 200 first-class and 300 third-class passengers.
On the outbreak of the First World War, the ship was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for conversion to an armed merchant cruiser and assigned to the 10th Cruiser Squadron. She formed part of the Northern Patrol blockading trade to Germany. It was torpedoed and sunk 40 nmi (74 km) west of Lerwick, Shetland Islands by the German submarine U-88 whilst Hilary was leaving her patrol area to refuel at the naval base at Scapa Flow.
References
- ↑ Gray 1985, p.101
- Gray, Randal (editor) (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906-1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5.
- "Booth Line's S.S. "Hilary" 2". Blue Star on the Web. Retrieved 2008-09-17.