SS Frederica (1890)

SS Frederica was a passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1890 for the London and South Western Railway.^[1] In 1912 she was sold to Ottoman owners who renamed her Nilufer. In 1914 the Ottoman Navy used her as a minelayer. A mine sank her in November 1914.

Frederica
History
Name	1890: Frederica 1912: Nilufer
Owner	1890: London & South Western Rly 1911: Idarei Massouseih 1912: Administration de Navigation a Vapeur Ottomane
Operator	As owner except: 1914: Ottoman Navy
Port of registry	1890: Southampton 1912: Constantinople
Builder	J & G Thomson, Clydebank
Yard number	250
Launched	5 June 1890
Identification	UK official number 97212 1890: code letters LTSV
Fate	Sunk by mine, 1914
General characteristics
Tonnage	1,059 GRT, 193 NRT
Length	253.0 ft (77.1 m)
Beam	35.1 ft (10.7 m)
Draught	15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
Depth	14.8 ft (4.5 m)
Decks	2
Installed power	360 NHP
Propulsion	2 × screws 2 × triple expansion engines
Crew	as minelayer: 73
Notes	sister ships: Lydia, Stella

Building and registration

In 1890 J & G Thomson Ltd at Clydebank in Glasgow built a set of three sister ships for the LSWR's fast mail and passenger service between Southampton and the Channel Islands: Frederica, Lydia and Stella. Frederica was built as yard number 250 and was the first of the trio to be built, being launched on 5 June 1890.^[2][3]

Frederica's registered length was 253.0 ft (77.1 m), her beam was 35.1 ft (10.7 m) and her depth was 14.8 ft (4.5 m). Her tonnages were 1,059 GRT and 193 NRT.^[4] She had twin screws, each powered by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine. Between them her two engines were rated at 360 NHP.^[4]

The LSWR registered Frederica at Southampton. Her United Kingdom official number was 97212 and her code letters were LTSV.^[4]

Career

Frederica was in Southampton and dressed for the opening of the new deep-water dock by Queen Victoria on 26 July 1890.^[5] The ship's arrival in Guernsey on 31 July 1860 at 6:23 a.m. was witnessed by many observers, and she then left at 7:00 a.m. and went to Jersey, with her arrival there at 8.33 a.m. witnessed by a thousand people on the pier.^[6] On 4 September 1890 she broke the record for the fastest passage from Guernsey to Southampton, leaving at 10.15 a.m. and arriving in Southampton Docks at 3.30 p.m., a time of 5 hours 15 minutes.^[7] In October 1890 she made the same voyage in 5 hours 8 minutes.^[8]

In 1911 she was sold to Idarei Massousieh in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire. In 1912 she was sold to the Administration de Navigation a Vapeur Ottomane, who renamed her Nilufer and registered her in Constantinople. After the Ottoman Empire entered the First World War I at the end of October 1914, the Ottoman Navy took her over as a minelayer, commanded by Hasan Murad.^[9] She was sunk by a Bulgarian mine on 22 November 1914^[2] in the Black Sea near Rila, Bulgaria.^[10]

References

1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
2. "Frederica". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
3. "The London and South Western Company". The Star. London. 14 June 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
4. "Steamers". Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping. London: Lloyd's Register. 1897. FRA–FRE. Retrieved 20 August 2022 – via Internet Archive.
5. "The Queen at Southampton". The Morning Post. London. 28 July 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
6. "The London and South-Western new steamer Frederica". The Star. London. 31 July 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
7. "Fastest Passage across the Channel". Hampshire Advertiser. Southampton. 6 September 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
8. "A Quick Passage". The Star. London. 21 October 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
9. Gömleksiz, Eda Gülşen (2020). "Nilüfer Mayın Gemisi" (PDF). Ankara University: 65–84. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
10. "Turkish Mine-Layer Blown up in the Black Sea". The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer. Leeds. 27 November 1914. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.