TSS Roebuck (1897)

TSS Roebuck was a passenger vessel built for the Great Western Railway in 1897.[1]

1897 view of the new twin screw ship, described as having been tested at 20 knots and with a breadth of 24½ feet
History
Name:
  • 1897-1914: TSS Roebuck
  • 1914-1915: HMS Roedean
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder: Naval Construction and Armaments Company, Barrow-in-Furness
Launched: 6 March 1897
Maiden voyage: 1 July 1897
Out of service: 1915
Fate: Sunk
General characteristics
Tonnage: 1,281 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 280 feet (85 m)
Beam: 34.4 feet (10.5 m)
Draught: 16.66 feet (5.08 m)
Installed power: 643 hp
Speed: 12 kts

History

This ship was one of a pair, the other being TSS Reindeer, built by the Naval Construction and Armaments Company in Barrow-in-Furness in 1897. She was launched on 6 March 1897 by Mrs Bryce, wife of Annan Bryce, director of the Naval Construction and Armaments Company.[2] Her maiden voyage from Weymouth to Guernsey and Jersey was on 1 July 1897 which she completed in a record time of 3 hours 20 minutes.[3]

On 26 January 1905 she caught fire while moored at Milford. The weight of water used to put out the fire caused her to sink but she was raised nine days later and returned to service in June.

She ran aground after leaving St Helier on 19 July 1911 during dense fog, refloated on 28 July and returned to service four months later. The master had his certificate suspended for three months.[4]

In 1914 she was converted for minesweeping and renamed HMS Roedean. On 13 January 1915 she dragged her anchor at Scapa Flow and sank following a collision with HMS Imperieuse, the first railway ship to be lost on war service.[5]

References
  1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
  2. "Weymouth & Channel Islands". Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. Bath. 11 March 1897. Retrieved 14 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  3. "A New Steamer". Sheffield Independent. Sheffield. 2 July 1897. Retrieved 14 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  4. "Stranding of the Roebuck. Master's Certificate Suspended". Aberdeen Journal. Aberdeen. 16 September 1911. Retrieved 14 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. Lucking, J.H. (1971). The Great Western at Weymouth. Newton Abbot: David and Charles. ISBN 0-7153-5135-4.
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