SS Frederica (1890)

History
Name:	1890-1912:SS Frederica 1912-1914:SS Nilufer
Operator:	1885-1911:London and South Western Railway 1911-1912:Idarei Massouseih, Constantinople 1912-1914:Administration de Navigation a Vapeur Ottomane, Constantinople
Port of registry:
Builder:	J and G Thomson, Clydebank
Yard number:	250
Launched:	5 June 1890
Fate:	Sunk by a mine 22 November 1914
General characteristics
Tonnage:	1,059 gross register tons (GRT)
Length:	253 feet (77 m)
Beam:	35.1 feet (10.7 m)
Draught:	14.8 feet (4.5 m)

SS Frederica was a passenger vessel built for the London and South Western Railway in 1890.^[1] She later served in the Ottoman Navy as the minelayer Nilufer and was sunk during World War I.

History

Frederica was built by J and G Thomson of Clydebank, Scotland, and launched on 5 June 1890^[2] for the fast mail and passenger service between Southampton and the Channel Islands. She was one of an order of three ships, the others being Lydia and Stella. She was in Southampton and dressed for the opening of the new deep-water dock by Queen Victoria on 26 July 1890.^[3] Her arrival in Guernsey on 31 July 1860 at 6:23 a.m. was witnessed by many observers, and she then departed at 7:00 a.m. and travelled to Jersey, with her arrival there at 8.33 a.m. witnessed by a thousand people on the pier.^[4] On 4 September 1890 she broke the record for the fastest passage from Guernsey to Southampton, departing at 10.15 a.m. and arriving in Southampton Docks at 3.30 p.m., a time of 5 hours 15 minutes.^[5] In October 1890, she made the same voyage in 5 hours 8 minutes.^[6]

In 1911, she was sold to Idarei Massousieh in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire, and in 1912 she was sold to the Administration de Navigation a Vapeur Ottomane, Constantinople, and renamed Nilufer. After World War I broke out in 1914, the Ottoman Navy deployed her as a minelayer, and she was sunk by a Bulgarian mine in the Black Sea near Rila, Bulgaria, on 22 November 1914.^[7]

References

1. Duckworth, Christian Leslie Dyce; Langmuir, Graham Easton (1968). Railway and other Steamers. Prescot, Lancashire: T. Stephenson and Sons.
2. "The London and South Western Company". The Star. England. 14 June 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
3. "The Queen at Southampton". Morning Post. England. 28 July 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
4. "The London and South-Western new steamer Frederica". The Star. England. 31 July 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
5. "Fastest Passage across the Channel". Hampshire Advertiser. England. 6 September 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
6. "A Quick Passage". The Star. England. 21 October 1890. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
7. "Turkish Mine-Layer Blown up in the Black Sea". Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligncer. England. 27 November 1914. Retrieved 14 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).