MS Georges Philippar
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|
| History | |
|---|---|
 France |
|
| Name: | Georges Philippar |
| Namesake: | Georges Philippar |
| Owner: | Cie des Messageries Maritimes |
| Port of registry: | Marseilles |
| Builder: | Soc des Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, St Nazaire |
| Launched: | 6 November 1930 |
| Completed: | January 1932 |
| Out of service: | 15 May 1932 |
| Identification: |
|
| Fate: | Sank |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | |
| Length: | 542.7 ft (165.4 m) |
| Beam: | 68.2 ft (20.8 m) |
| Depth: | 46.9 ft (14.3 m) |
| Installed power: | 3,300 NHP |
| Propulsion: | 2× 10-cylinder 2S SC SA marine diesel engines; twin screws |
| Speed: | Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). |
| Crew: | 347 |
Georges Philippar was an ocean liner of the French Messageries Maritimes line that was built in 1930. On her maiden voyage in 1932 she caught fire and sank in the Gulf of Aden with the loss of 54 lives.
Description
Georges Philippar was a 17,359 GRT ocean liner. She was 542.7 ft (165.4 m) long, with a beam of 68.2 ft (20.8 m) and a depth of 46.9 ft (14.3 m). She was a motor ship with two two-stroke, single cycle single-acting marine diesel engines. Each engine had 10 cylinders of Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). bore by Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value). stroke and was built by Sulzer Brothers, Winterthur, Switzerland. Between them the two engines developed 3,300 NHP,[1] giving the ship a speed of Lua error in Module:Convert at line 452: attempt to index field 'titles' (a nil value)..[2]
History
Georges Philippar was built by Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire, Saint-Nazaire for Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes to replace Paul Lacat, which had been destroyed by fire in December 1928.[3] She was launched on 6 November 1930.[2] On 1 December she caught fire while being fitted out.[4] Named after French shipbuilder Georges Philippar, she was completed in January 1932.[2] She was registered in Marseilles.[1]
Before she started her maiden voyage, French police warned her owners that threats had been made on 26 February 1932 to destroy the ship. The outward voyage took Georges Philippar to Yokohama, Japan, without incident and she started her homeward voyage, calling at Shanghai, China and Colombo, Ceylon. Georges Philippar left Columbo with 347 crew and 518 passengers aboard. On two occasions a fire alarm went off in a store room where bullion was being stored, but no fire was found.[3]
Fire and loss
On 16 May while Georges Philippar was 145 nautical miles (269 km) off Cape Guardafui, Italian Somaliland,[5] a fire broke out in one of her cabins. There was a delay in reporting the fire, which had spread by the time Captain Veig was made aware of it. Veig decided to try and beach the ship on the coast of Aden and increased the ship's speed, which only made the fire burn more fiercely. The order to abandon ship was given and a distress signal sent.[3]
Three ships came in response. The Soviet tanker Sovietskaïa Neft rescued 420 people, who were transferred to the French passenger ship Andre Lebon and landed at Djibouti. They returned to France on the French passenger ship Général Voyron. Another 149 people were rescued by Brocklebank Line's cargo ship Mahsud and 129 were rescued by T&J Harrison's cargo ship Contractor. The two British ships landed their survivors at Aden. Mahsud also took the corpses of the 54 dead, which included journalist Albert Londres.[5] On 19 May Georges Philippar sank in the Gulf of Aden.[3] Her position was Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..[2]
Two survivors of the fire, Mr and Mrs Alfred Isaak Lang-Willar, were killed on 25 May when the aircraft that was flying them from Brindisi, Italy to Marseilles crashed 70 miles (110 km) southeast of Rome.[6]
The November 1932 edition of La Science et la Vie carried an artist's impression of the burning ship on its front cover.[7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ "The fire in a new French liner" The Times (London). Tuesday, 2 December 1930. (45685), col C, p. 25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ La Science et la Vie, November 1932 photo of cover
