SS Georgia (1908)

{{Short description|Oil tanker lost at Haisborough Sands off the coast of Norfolk, England}} {{other ships|SS Georgia}} {{More footnotes needed|date=September 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox ship |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image= Profile of the SS Georgia.jpg |image_caption= Profile of SS ''Georgia'' }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |name= *1908: ''Texas'' *by 1917: ''Georgia'' |namesake= |owner= *1908: [[Texaco|The Texas Company]] *1927 NV Dutch Tanker & Oil Co |operator= |registry= *1908: {{flagicon|US}} [[Port Arthur, Texas]] *1927: {{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Port of Amsterdam|Amsterdam]] |route= |ordered= |awarded= |builder= *[[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News SB & DD Co]], *[[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]] |original_cost= |yard_number= 82 |way_number= |laid_down= |launched= 24 April 1908 |sponsor= |christened= |completed= |acquired= |commissioned= |decommissioned= |maiden_voyage= 18 July 1908 |in_service= |out_of_service= |renamed= |refit= |identification= *'''1908:''' US [[official number]] 205362 *[[code letters]] KWQL *{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Lima}} *'''1918:''' [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] KUR *'''1927:''' code letters NTBH *{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Bravo}}{{ICS|Hotel}} |fate= grounded 20–21 November 1927 |notes= |badge= }}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type= [[oil tanker]] |tonnage= *1910: {{GRT|5106}}, {{NRT|3746}} *1927: {{GRT|5111|link=off}}, {{NRT|3194|link=off}} |displacement= |length= {{cvt|389.4|ft|abbr=on}} |beam= {{cvt|52.1|ft|abbr=on}} |height= |draught= |depth= {{cvt|29.1|ft|abbr=on}} |decks= 1 |power= 391 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]] |propulsion= *1× [[Propeller|screw]] *1 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] |speed= |range= |capacity= |crew= 31 (when lost) |notes= }} }}

'''SS ''Georgia''''' was an [[oil tanker]] that was built in the [[United States]] in 1908 as '''''Texas''''' and spent most of her career in the [[United States Merchant Marine]]. In 1917 she was renamed ''Georgia''. In 1927 she was transferred to [[Netherlands|Dutch]] ownership, and shortly thereafter ran aground and was lost on [[Haisborough Sands]] off the coast of [[Norfolk, England]].

==History== [[Newport News Shipbuilding|Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company]] built the ship at [[Newport News, Virginia]] as hull number 82. She was launched as ''Texas'' on 24 April 1908 and delivered to her owners, The Texas Company (now [[Texaco]]) on 18 July 1908.

The Texas Company [[Ship registration|registered]] the ship at [[Port Arthur, Texas]]. Her US [[official number]] was 205362 and her [[code letters]] were KWQL.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1910|loc=TEU–THA}}

By 1917 the ship had been renamed ''Georgia'' and was equipped for [[wireless telegraphy]].{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1917|loc=GEO–GER}} By 1918 her [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] was KUR.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1918|p=773}}

In February 1918 she was inspected for possible [[United States Navy]] service and assigned the Identification Number (ID) 2316. The Navy ordered her acquisition, but it was cancelled shortly before the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918]], and she remained in commercial service.

In 1922 it was reported that the ship's name had been changed to ''Texaco''.

By 1927 the NV Dutch Tanker & Oil Company Ltd owned her, and had registered her in [[Amsterdam]]. Her Dutch code letters were NTBH.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1927|loc=GEO}}

==Final voyage== In September 1927 ''Georgia'' loaded a cargo of [[crude oil]] at [[Abadan]] in Persia (now [[Iran]]). She left the [[Persian Gulf]] bound for the oil refinery at [[Grangemouth]], [[Scotland]].

By 20 November she was in the [[North Sea]] when a strong gale broke her steering gear. Just before midnight she ran aground on Haisborough Sands and stuck fast. The storm carried away her radio [[Antenna (radio)|aerial]], so her wireless telegraphist was unable to send a [[distress signal]]. For several hours the heavy sea battered her hull, eventually ripping her apart amidships. Her after section was sounding her siren as a distress signal, but the two halves slowly drifted apart and lost sight of each other, the stern section being carried away by the force of the [[gale]].

The [[Bow (watercraft)|bow]] section remained stuck on the sand bank with huge seas washing over it. The bow section had the captain, Harry Kissing and 14 of the crew all crouched in the [[forecastle]]. The other 16 members of the crew were in the drifting [[stern]] section. The next morning (21 November) the [[steamship]] ''Trent'' sighted the drifting stern section and rescued the 16 crewmen. ''Trent'' then found the bow section stuck on the sand bank. In the meantime, the stern section had drifted North West and was sighted off [[Cromer]].

[[File:The Wreck of the SS Georgia.jpg|thumb|upright|Position of the two halves of SS ''Georgia'']] [[Henry Blogg]], [[coxswain]] of the [[Cromer Lifeboat Station|Cromer lifeboat]] {{ship|RNLB|H F Bailey|ON 694|2}}, attending to the stern reported at 3.15 p.m. that the ship had been abandoned although at this time they were unaware that the ship was in two halves as the stern was creeping higher into the air. The Cromer lifeboat attended the stern section all that night warning shipping of the danger. Back at the bow section, the [[Great Yarmouth]] [[HM Coastguard|Coastguard]] had learned of the disaster at 9 p.m. and had called the [[Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station|Gorleston lifeboat]] to assist. ''Trent'' had signalled by wireless that it was too dangerous to approach the stern section, and she made for Cromer to land the rescued men from the stern section.

On the morning of 22 November the Gorleston lifeboat tried to rescue the remaining 15 crew, now sheltering in the chartroom, the highest point on the ship out of the water. Coxswain [[William Fleming (Lifeboatman)|Billy Fleming]] tried to use the lee provided by the close by ''Trent'', but with the seas still heavy this proved to be too dangerous, and she stood off to wait until conditions improved. Another attempt was made at midday. On the fifth attempt they got a line to the stranded section, but a huge wave picked up the lifeboat and dropped her in a trough, snapping the line. The Gorleston boat then developed engine trouble and retired from the rescue.

At about 4.30 pm the remaining crew were finally rescued by the exhausted crew of the Cromer lifeboat. Blogg and his crew had stood by the stern section all night, and then after returning to Cromer, were immediately called back out to attend the bow. ''H F Bailey'' was considerably damaged in the rescue, but got her crew and the rescued men safely back to Great Yarmouth by 7 pm. Both sections of ''Georgia'' sank in the following days.

==Positions of the wrecks== '''Stern section''' * {{coord|52|58|36|N|001|21|37|E}} at a depth of {{convert|17|m|ft|abbr=on}}. '''Bow section''' * {{coord|52|52|54|N|001|46|16|E}} at a depth of {{convert|10|m|ft|abbr=on}}, on Haisborough Sands.

==References== {{reflist}}

==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last=Jolly |first=Cyril |year=1981 |title=The Loss of the English Trader |publisher=Acorn Editions |isbn=0-906554-06-3}} * {{cite book |last=Jolly |first=Cyril |year=2002 |title=Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen |publisher=Poppyland Publishing |edition=new |isbn=0-946148-59-7}} * {{cite book |last1=Leach |first1=Nicholas |last2=Russell |first2=Paul |year=2004 |title=Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |isbn=0-7524-3197-8}} *{{cite book |year=1910 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1911ST/page/n1016/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]] |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1910}} }} *{{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1918ST/page/n385/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1917}} }} *{{cite book |year=1927 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I–Steamers and Motorships |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1928ST/page/n451/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1927}} }} *{{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1918 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The Wireless Press, Ltd}} * {{cite book |last=Tikus |first=Ayer |year=2004 |title=The Ship-wrecks off North East Norfolk |publisher=Ayer Tikus Publications |oclc=654937740}}

==External links== * {{cite web |url= https://rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/cromer-lifeboat-station |title=Cromer Lifeboat Station |publisher=RNLI}} * {{cite web |url= https://www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/1446/h-f-bailey |title=H F Bailey |publisher=National Historic Ships UK}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090712123629/http://freespace.virgin.net/david.cragie/cromershed.html The Old Cromer Lifeboat Shed]

[[Category:1908 ships]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1927]] [[Category:Merchant ships of the Netherlands]] [[Category:Oil tankers]] [[Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia]] [[Category:Shipwrecks of Norfolk]] [[Category:Shipwrecks in the North Sea]] [[Category:Steamships of the Netherlands]] [[Category:Steamships of the United States]] [[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United States]]