SS Laurentic (1908)

Laurentic
History
United Kingdom
Name	Laurentic
Namesake	Laurentia
Owner	Ismay, Imrie & Co
Operator	White Star Line 1909–14 Royal Navy 1914–17
Port of registry	Liverpool
Route	Liverpool – Quebec City – Montreal
Ordered	1907
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	394
Launched	10 September 1908
Completed	15 April 1909
Commissioned	As AMC, 25 November 1914
Maiden voyage	29 April 1909
Identification	UK official number 127959 Call sign MIC Pennant number (as AMC) M71
Fate	Sunk by mines 25 January 1917
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	14,892 GRT, 9,255 NRT
Length	550.4 ft (167.8 m)
Beam	67.3 ft (20.5 m)
Depth	41.2 ft (12.6 m)
Decks	3
Installed power	1,492 NHP
Propulsion	2 × Triple-expansion steam engines 1 × Low-pressure steam turbine 3 × screws
Speed	19.5 kn (36.1 km/h)
Capacity	230 1st class 430 2nd class 1,000 3rd class
Crew	In civilian service: 387 as AMC: 470
Armament	(as AMC): 8 × QF 6-inch naval guns 2 × 6-pounder guns

SS Laurentic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Belfast, Ireland, and launched in 1908. She is an early example of a ship whose propulsion combined reciprocating steam engines with a low-pressure steam turbine.

Laurentic was ordered in 1907 with her sister ship Megantic by the Dominion Line but completed for the White Star Line. Her regular route was between Liverpool and Quebec City.

In 1914 Laurentic served briefly as a troop ship, and then served for more than two years as an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). As an AMC she saw service off West Africa, Singapore, the Bay of Bengal and the Far East.

In 1917 two German mines sank Laurentic off the northern coast of Ireland. Her crew successfully abandoned ship, but 354 of them died of hypothermia in her lifeboats. Laurentic was carrying about 43 tons of gold bars when she sank. Most of the 3,211 bars were salvaged by 1924; three more bars were found in the 1930s, while 22 remain unaccounted for. Laurentic's wreck is in the territorial waters of the Republic of Ireland and protected by Irish law.