SS Norwich City
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry | 1911 London |
| Builder | William Gray & Co. Ltd., West Hartlepool |
| Yard number | 792 |
| Laid down | 9 February 1911 |
| Launched | 12 July 1911 |
| Completed | August 1911 |
| Out of service | 1929 |
| Identification | British ON 132596 |
| Fate | Ran aground |
| Status | Wrecked 4°39′39″S 174°32′40″W / 4.66083°S 174.54444°W |
| Notes | Ship history [1] |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 4,219 GRT |
| Displacement | 8,730 tons |
| Length | 397.0 ft (121 m) |
| Beam | 53.5 ft (16 m) |
| Depth | 23.0 ft (7 m) |
| Installed power | 412 NHP |
| Propulsion | Oil-fired, triple expansion steam |
| Speed | 9 knots |
| Crew | 35 |
| Notes | [1][2] |
The SS Norwich City was an oil-fired steam freighter powered by a triple expansion steam engine.
History
She was built in 1911 by William Gray & Company, Ltd., West Hartlepool, England, with engines by the company's Central Marine Engine Works.[3]
On 23 or 24 April 1928 (sources differ), the ship ran into the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada,[1][4] and lost her funnel and masts.[5]
Wreck
In November 1929, Norwich City, carrying a crew of 35, left Melbourne bound for Vancouver via Honolulu. During a storm on 29 November, the unladen freighter ran aground in darkness on the reef at the northwest end of the small central Pacific atoll known as Gardner Island. A fire broke out in the engine room, and all hands abandoned ship in darkness, having to make their way across the wide and dangerous coral reef being pounded by dangerous storm waves. In total, 11 men lost their lives. The survivors camped near collapsed structures from a late 19th-century coconut-planting project and were rescued after several days on the island.
The devastated wreck of the Norwich City was a prominent landmark on the reef for 70 years, though by 2007, only the ship's keel, engine, and two large tanks remained. By 2010, only the engine remained above water on the reef.[6] In 2016, storm activity washed one of the two large tanks shoreward and the two-story engine was broken off and dropped over the edge of the reef into deep water.[7]
See also
- Gardner Island hypothesis of Amelia Earhart's last days (organization claims radio transmission referred to SS Norwich City)
References
- ^ a b c "Normanby". Shipbuilding on the River Tees. The Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ Mercantile Navy List. 1915. p. 423. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ "SS Norwich City [+1929]". www.wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "The History of Metropolitan Vancouver — 1928". vancouverhistory.ca. Retrieved 4 September 2015.
- ^ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 44877. London. 26 April 1928. col G, p. 27. template uses deprecated parameter(s) (help)
- ^ "Nikumaroro, 0530 Local Time, June 2010". Tighar Tracks. 26 (2): 17.
- ^ TIGHAR Earhart Project Research Bulletin #80, January 9, 2017.
External links
- Photo of SS Norwich City taken about twenty months before the shipwreck
- Historical record of SS Norwich City
- Photo of what was left of the wreckage in 2007
- http://tighar.org/Projects/Earhart/Archives/Documents/Norwich_City/NorwichCity.html Reports from the Board of Trade’s Inquiry into the Wreck of the Norwich City
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1928 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1929 | |
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| Shipwrecks |
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| Other incidents |
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