George Plante's ships

Further to my recent review of PAINTING WAR: GEORGE PLANTE'S COMBAT ART IN WORLD WAR II, I decided to do a bit of research into the ships he served aboard.

SS Amelia
She was built as a 357-ton coaster by S McKnight & Co., Ayr, and launched in August 1895. She was originally owned by H Newhouse & Co Ltd, Great Yarmouth, but was sold and operated by several companies operating around the coast of Scotland and the Maritime Provinces of Canada. In 1920 she was bought by W Cooper & Son who ran a cargo service between Leith, Aberdeen, and Kirkwall. She was sold again in 1940 to the North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Shipping Company, who kept her in service until 1955. She was then sold and scrapped in 1956.

SS Sourabaya

SS Sourabaya.

She was built as a 10,107-ton passenger cargo ship by Workman, Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast, and launched in February 1915 as the Carmarthenshire. She was originally owned by Royal Mail Lines Ltd, London, but was bought by Christian Salvesen & Co, Edinburgh, in 1929 and converted into a whale factory ship and renamed.

SS Southern Princess

SS San Patricio.

SS Southern Princess.

She was built as a 12,156-ton tanker by Sir W G Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and launched in May 1915 as the San Patricio. She was originally owned by the Eagle Oil Transport Co Ltd, London, but she was bought by Southern Whaling & Sealing Co Ltd, Liverpool in 1929 and converted into a whale factory ship and renamed. She was owned by Christian Salvesen & Co, Edinburgh, at the time of her sinking.

It is interesting to note that on 27th February 1917 the San Patricio was torpedoed and damaged by U-70 (commanded by Otto Wünsche) … but did not sink. The submarine then surfaced and fired at her, but still failed to sink her. After being repaired, she returned to service, but on 8th May 1917 she was again torpedoed, this time by UC-65 (commanded by Otto Steinbrinck) … but yet again, she did not sink.