SS NORSEMAN / BRASILIA 1898
10,222 gross tons, length 516ft x beam 62ft, one funnel, four masts, twin screw, speed 12 knots. Built with accommodation for 300-2nd and 2,400-steerage class passengers. Launched on 27th Nov.1897 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast as the BRASILIA for the Hamburg America Line, she started her maiden voyage from Belfast to New York on 21st Mar.1898. Her first Hamburg - Baltimore sailing started on 4th May 1898 and in Feb.1900 she was sold to Harland & Wolff and then taken over by the Dominion Line, Liverpool who renamed her NORSEMAN and refitted her for cargo and emigrant work on the North Atlantic. Chartered by the Aberdeen Line in 1910 she started London - Cape Town - Melbourne - Sydney voyages with 3rd class passengers on 7th June and continued this service until starting her last voyage on 30th Jan.1914. On 22nd Jan.1916 she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U.39 off Salonika while carrying a cargo of mules and munitions. Towed to Mudros where she was beached and later sold to Italy for scrapping. [North Star to Southern Cross by John Maber] [Great Passenger Ships of the World by Arnold Kludas, vol.1 (photo)] [Merchant Fleets by Duncan Haws, vol.4, Hamburg America Line]