SS Mesaba (1898)

RMS Mesaba between 1898 and 1909
History
United Kingdom
Name	Winifreda (1898) Mesaba (1898–1918)
Owner	Atlantic Transport Line
Port of registry	United Kingdom, London
Builder	Harland & Wolff
Yard number	319
Laid down	1897
Launched	11 September 1897
Completed	17 February 1898
Acquired	17 February 1898
Maiden voyage	3 March 1898
In service	3 March 1898
Out of service	1 September 1918
Identification	Official number: 109392
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk on 1 September 1918
Notes	Call letters: MMV
General characteristics
Type	Passenger ship/cargo ship
Tonnage	6,833 GRT
Length	146.9 m (481 ft 11 in)
Beam	15.8 m (51 ft 10 in)
Depth	9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
Installed power	Triple expansion engine
Propulsion	One screw propeller
Sail plan	Liverpool – Philadelphia
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Notes	Four masts & one funnel

SS Mesaba was a British passenger and cargo ship of 6,833 gross register tons (GRT) in operation between 1898 and 1918. She was torpedoed and sunk by SM UB-118 21 nautical miles (39 km) east of the Tuskar Rock in the Irish Sea on 1 September 1918 with the loss of 20 of her crew, while she was travelling from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Philadelphia, United States.

She is best known as one of the ships that sent warnings of pack ice ahead to the Titanic (which never made it to that liner's bridge).

Construction

Mesaba was launched for the Atlantic Transport Line at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland on 11 September 1897, and completed on 17 February 1898. The ship was 146.9 metres (481 ft 11 in) long, had a beam of 15.8 metres (51 ft 10 in) and a depth of 9.4 metres (30 ft 10 in). She was assessed at 6,833 gross register tons (GRT) and had a triple expansion engine producing 772 nhp, driving a single screw propeller. The ship could reach a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) and had four masts and one funnel. Her sister ships were: Manitou, Marquette, Menominee and Mohegan.

Early career

Winefreda originally sailed from London to New York City from her maiden voyage on 3 March 1898 until June 1898, when she was renamed to Mesaba and continued to operate on that line. She collided with the Wilson Line ship Martello, before colliding with yet another liner, the Zeta, not much later on 4 October 1900 in New York Harbor. Mesaba only received slight damage both times. She also made three trips from Antwerp to Boston and Philadelphia for the Red Star Line between 1912 and 1914. She resumed her usual sailing plan in June 1915. She was however involved in a third collision on 11 August 1918 in the Irish Sea with SS Lizard.

Titanic connection

To Titanic
In Lat. 42 N. to 41.25
Lond 49 W to Long – 50.30 W saw much heavy pack ice and
great number large icebergs also field ice.
Weather good, clear.

Message send to the Titanic from Mesaba, 14 April 1912.

On the night the Titanic struck an iceberg and began to sink on 14 April 1912, she had received a series of warnings from other ships of drifting ice in the area of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. One of those ships to send her a warning, was the Mesaba. At 7.50 pm on 14 April 1912, her wireless operator Stanley Adams sent her the ice warnings, but they never made it to the bridge of the Titanic despite them being received by wireless officer Jack Phillips at 9.40 pm.

Sinking

Mesaba departed Liverpool for Philadelphia in convoy OL32/OE21 on 31 August 1918 under the command of Captain Owen Percy Clarke. The following day, she was torpedoed and sunk by SM UB-118 21 nautical miles (39 km) east of the Tuskar Rock in the Irish Sea. Twenty of her crew were lost, including her captain and chief officer, with the remaining 78 rescued by the gunboat Kildini, commanded by Lieutenant F.J. Silva.

Wreck

The wreck of Mesaba lies at (52°17′N 5°38′W) in 96 metres (315 ft) of water. The wreck, with its bow broken off, was positively identified by a team from the University of Bangor in September 2022 by the use of sonar. Before that, the wreck was believed to be that of SS City of Glasgow, a passenger ship that was sunk on the same day and by the same U-boat while travelling in the same convoy as Mesaba close to her position.