SS Dresden (1897)

For other ships with the same name, see SS Dresden.
History
United Kingdom
Name:
  • SS Dresden (1897-1915)
  • HMS Louvain (1915-18)
Owner:
  • Great Eastern Railway (1897-1915)
  • Royal Navy (1915-18)
Port of registry:
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Harwich (1897-1915)
  • United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Royal Navy (1915-18)
Route: Harwich - Hook of Holland (1897-1915)
Builder: Earle Company
Launched: 1897
Out of service: 21 January 1918
General characteristics
Tonnage: 1,830 GRT

The SS Dresden was an English passenger ship which operated, as such, from 1897 to 1915. She is known as the place of the 1913 disappearance of German engineer Rudolf Diesel, inventor of the Diesel engine. The ship was built in 1897 by the Earle Company at Hull for the Great Eastern Railway. She operated on the North Sea route between Harwich and the Hook of Holland.[1] She was renamed HMS Louvain in 1915 and was used by the Royal Navy in World War I.[1] until her loss in 1918.

Diesel's Disappearance

On 29 September 1913 Rudolf Diesel, German engineer who invented the Diesel engine, boarded the Dresden at Antwerp, Belgium on his way to a meeting in London.[2] He retired to his cabin about 22:00 with a request to be called at 06:15 in the morning, but he was not seen alive again. Later a Dutch ship found a body floating in the sea and from the items and clothes recovered the remains were identified as Diesel's.[2]

Royal Navy

In 1915 Dresden was taken over by the admiralty as an armed boarding steamer and renamed HMS Louvain.[1] On 21 January 1918, she was torpedoed by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-22 in the Aegean Sea[3] with the loss of seven officers and 217 men.[1] There were only 16 survivors.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Naval Vessel Sunk. Louvain Torpedoed In Mediterranean., Loss Of 224 Lives". News. The Times (41704). London. 4 February 1918. col F, p. 6.
  2. 1 2 "Dr. Diesel's Disappearance. Discovery Of A Body In The Scheldt". News. The Times (40342). London. 14 October 1913. col F, p. 8.
  3. ↑ "Great Eastern Railway". The Ships List. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  4. ↑ "HMS Louvain Commemorative Page". Gaunt and Salway. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
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