History
United Kingdom
NameSS Traffic
Owner
OperatorWhite Star Line (1872–1898)
Port of registryLiverpool
RouteServed in Mersey
Ordered1872
BuilderPhilip Speakman, Runcorn
Yard numberBelvedere Yard
Laid down1872
Launched22 September 1872
CompletedMay 1873
In service1873
Out of service1941
IdentificationUnited Kingdom Official Number 69263
FateScrapped 1955
NotesCan be classified as a steam lighter
General characteristics
TypeShip's tender
Tonnage155 GRT, 83 NRT
Length101.8 ft (31.02 m)
Beam23.6 ft (7.19 m)
Depth9.5 ft (2.9 m)
Installed power40 hp
PropulsionSteam engine by W P Gaulton of Manchester, Single Screw
Speed8 knots

SS Traffic was a baggage tender of the White Star Line, built in 1872 by Philip Speakman in Runcorn and made of English Oak.

General Career

She was launched on September 22nd 1872, and completed by May 1873.[1] She was outfitted with machinery at the Old Quay Dock by Mr. W. P. Gaulton, an engineer from Manchester. Due to being a single person rather than her company, the fitting out took several months to construct her machinery, and she only entered service in May of 1873. She was based at the Port of Liverpool, and maintained a 25-year career with White Star. Traffic sometimes served as a cargo vessel, carrying goods from dock to dock, though mainly she was used to tender to the larger liners.

Traffic was sold to the Liverpool Lighterage Company in 1898,[2] where she served for twenty-one years as an active barge. During 1919, Traffic was repurposed a dumb barge, and in May 1941, she was sunk in the May Blitz at the Canada Dock in Liverpool, and was raised by that October. Due to not appearing on registrations after, it is likely the old and rotten ship was hulked. She was reported to have been broken up at Tranmere in 1955, at an age of eighty-two years. She was the only baggage tender used by the White Star Line until the company's SS Pontic entered service in 1894, where the two would work together.

There are hundreds of ships in similar design to Traffic, as she was a regular steam lighter. This makes confirming any photographs of her difficult, though one so far has been highly suspected to be her.

Incidents

  • On 10 January 1878, Traffic was run into by the steamship Maggie Ann at Liverpool and was severely damaged. The Maggie Ann damaged the bow of the Traffic at King's Dock, where she would need to undergo rapid repairs. .[3] [4]
  • On 5 May 1941 she was sunk in the East Canada No 2. Branch at Liverpool by German aircraft during the 'May Blitz'. She was with a cargo of boxboards and was believed to have burned out, before sinking. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Screw Steamer TRAFFIC built by Philip Speakman & Co. in 1873 for Oceanic Steam Navigation Co., Ltd., Liverpool, Coaster". shippingandshipbuilding.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  2. ↑ Lloyd's Register 1898
  3. ↑ "Disasters at Sea". The Times. No. 29149. London. 11 January 1878. col E, p. 6.
  4. ↑ https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Palmer_s_Index_to_The_Times_Newspaper/Oy9FAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=traffic+maggie+ann+1878&pg=RA1-PA5&printsec=frontcover
  5. ↑ Steam Tug Kerne Preservation Society
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