SS Albania (1920)

History
Name:	SS Albania
Owner:	Cunard Line
Operator:	Cunard Line
Port of registry:	Liverpool
Route:	Liverpool to New York (After 1922 Liverpool - Montreal Quebec)
Builder:	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. Greenock, Scotland
Yard number:	479
Launched:	17 April 1920
Completed:	December 1920
Maiden voyage:	18 January 1921
In service:	1921
Out of service:	1925
Fate:	Sunk 11 August 1941
General characteristics
Type:	Cargo liner
Tonnage:	12768
Length:	539 ft
Beam:	64 ft
Depth:	47 ft
Decks:	2
Installed power:	Four steam turbines double reduction geared
Propulsion:	Twin screw
Speed:	15 knots
Capacity:	80 Cabin class passengers

SS Albania was a cargo liner built in 1920 by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd. Greenock, Scotland for the Cunard Line. Designed to maximize cargo capacity, passenger accommodations were limited to the shelter and "tween" decks. Originally intended for the Liverpool New York run, she was transferred in April of 1922 to the Canadian route. Ultimately the vessel proved a disappointment for Cunard and was laid up in 1925 until purchased in 1930 by the Italian company Liberia Triestina who renamed her California.^[1][2] She was converted in a hospital ship in 1935.

Loss

California was sunk by Fairey Swordfish torpedo aircraft of 830 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm off Syracuse on 11 August 1941.^[3]

References

1. Cairis, Nicholas T. (1979). Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893. Bonanza Books. p. 10. ISBN 0517-28875-3.
2. "SS Albania II". Norway Heritage Emigrant Ship Database. Retrieved 3 August 2014.
3. "NAVAL EVENTS, AUGUST 1941, Part 1 of 2, Friday 1st - Thursday 14th". Naval History. Retrieved 15 December 2011.