SS Norwich City

History
Name	Norwich City
Port of registry	England
Route	Melbourne, Australia to Vancouver, Canada
Laid down	9 February 1911
In service	1911
Out of service	1929
Fate	Ran aground
Status	Wrecked 4°39′39″S 174°32′40″W
Notes	Ship history [1]
General characteristics
Tonnage	5,587.08 tons
Displacement	8,730 tons
Length	397 feet
Beam	53 feet, 5.5 inches
Installed power	412 BHP
Propulsion	Oil-fired, triple expansion steam
Speed	9 knots
Crew	35

The SS Norwich City was an oil-fired steam freighter powered by a triple expansion steam engine.

History

She was built in 1911 by Central Marine Engine Works in England.

In 1928, the ship ran into the Second Narrows Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Wreck

During a storm on 29 November 1929, the unladen freighter was carrying a crew of 35 men when it ran aground on the reef at the northwest end of the small central Pacific atoll known as Nikumaroro Island (then 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.

External links

• Photo of SS Norwich City taken about twenty months before the shipwreck
• 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