SS Delamere was a British cargo steamship built during the First World War. Completed in 1915, she was intended for the West African trade and was sunk by the German submarine SM U-70 in April 1917 with the loss of 10 crewmen.
Construction and specifications
Delamere was built by the Sunderland Shipbuilding Co. at its shipyard in Sunderland, England, as yard number 288. She was launched on 4 March 1915 and completed on 13 April 1915. The ship had an overall length of 267.3 feet (81.5 m), a beam of 38.8 feet (11.8 m), and a draught of 16.8 feet (5.1 m). She was assessed at 1,525 gross register tons (GRT) and 878 net register tons (NRT). Her propulsion consisted of a vertical triple-expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller, rated at 224 nominal horsepower and producing 1,120 indicated horsepower (840 kW), giving her a maximum speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph).
Ownership and career
The ship was built for the Watson Steamship Co. of Manchester. She was named for either Delamere, Cheshire, or Delamere Forest. On 11 May 1916, she was sold to the Bromport Steamship Co., a company newly formed by Lever Brothers.
Loss
On 30 April 1917, while en route from Matadi, Belgian Congo, to Liverpool with a general cargo, Delamere was torpedoed by the German submarine U-70 approximately 110 miles (180 km) west of the Fastnet Lighthouse, at coordinates 51°04′N 13°00′W. Ten crewmen were lost in the sinking.
