HMT Osmanieh
From Our Contribution
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Osmanieh |
| Builder/Built | 1906 Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend |
| Type | Passenger/cargo ship, twin screw |
| Displacement | 4.041 tons |
| Speed | 17 knots |
Remarks
Sometimes spelt as 'Osmanich'. Built for the Khedivial Mail Steamship and Graving Dock Co, Ltd, London, she was at the time of her loss, hired by the British Royal Navy as a troop transport. Her normal beat was the eastern Mediterranean Sea visiting Alexandria, Constantinople, and Syrian ports.
On 23 Jun 1917 the ship evaded two torpedoes fired by a German submarine, but on 31 Dec 1917 she was not as lucky when, with troops and medical personnel from Southampton aboard, she was sunk by a mine from the German submarine UC-34 (Horst Obermüller), at the entrance to the Alexandria Harbour. The ship sank in five to seven minutes, killing 209 people, including Lt. Commander Mason her Captain, two ship officers, 21 crew members, a Royal Navy officer, 166 other ranks and the eight nurses of Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service.