SS Berlin (1891)

For other ships with the same name, see SS Berlin.

SS Berlin was a freight vessel built for the Yorkshire Coal and Steamship Company in 1891.^[1]

History
Name	1891–1916: SS Berlin 1916–1933: SS River Ribble
Operator	1891–1895: Yorkshire Coal and Steamship Company 1891–1922: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway 1922–1923: London and North Western Railway 1923–1935: London, Midland and Scottish Railway 1935–1940: Associated Humber Lines, Goole
Port of registry
Builder	Thompson of Dundee
Yard number	106
Launched	1891
Out of service	September 1933
Fate	Scrapped 1933
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,090 gross register tons (GRT)

History

She was built by Thompson of Dundee.^[2] for the Yorkshire Coal and Steamship Company. In 1895 the company was taken over by the Goole Steam Shipping Company which in turn was acquired by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1905.

In 1914 she was in Copenhagen at the outbreak of the First World War and it was decided to leave her there for safety. However, pressure for tonnage required that she leave that port in 1916 under disguise and she crossed the North Sea to Hull, where she was renamed River Ribble.^[3]

In 1922 she became the property of the London and North Western Railway and in 1923, the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.

On 29 November 1931, River Ribble collided with the British steamer Selby at Hamburg, Germany, and was beached at Altona. She was refloated the next day. Selby suffered severe damage.^[4][5]

River Ribble was sold to J.J. King of Garston and scrapped in September 1933 at Gateshead.^[6]

References

1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
2. Haws 1993, p. 68
3. Haws 1993, p. 69
4. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45993. London. 30 November 1931. col D, p. 23.
5. "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 45994. London. 1 December 1931. col E, p. 22.
6. "1098383". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 15 December 2009.

Bibliography

• Haws, Duncan (1993). Merchant Fleets - Britain's Railway Steamers - Eastern & North Western Companies + Zeeland and Stena. Hereford: TCL Publications. ISBN 0-946378-22-3.