View source for SS Runic (1900)

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image               =SS Runic at dock. (crop).png  
| Ship caption             =SS ''Runic'' at harbour
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
| Ship name                =*''Runic'' (1900–1930)
| Ship owner               =*[[White Star Line]] (1900–1930)
| Ship operator            =
| Ship registry            =
| Ship route               =
| Ship ordered             =
| Ship builder             = [[Harland and Wolff]], Belfast, [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|UK]]
| Ship original cost       =
| Ship yard number         =332
| Ship way number          =
| Ship laid down           =
| Ship launched            = 25 October 1900 
| Ship completed           = 22 December 1900
| Ship christened          =
| Ship acquired            =
| Ship maiden voyage       = 19 January 1901
| Ship in service          =
| Ship out of service      = 
| Ship identification      =
| Ship fate                = 
| Ship notes               =
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=Norway
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|Norway}}
|Ship name= ''New Sevilla''
|Ship owner=[[A/S Sevilla]]
|Ship operator=
|Ship route=
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|Ship builder=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= 
|Ship completed=
|Ship christened=
|Ship acquired=1930
|Ship maiden voyage=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship registry= [[Oslo]], Norway
|Ship fate=Sold, 1931
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header              =
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}}
| Ship name                =''New Sevilla'' (1931–1940)
| Ship owner               =[[Christian Salvesen]] (1931–1940)
| Ship operator            =
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| Ship route               =
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| Ship original cost       =
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| Ship laid down           =
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| Ship completed           = 
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| Ship in service          =
| Ship out of service      = 20 September 1940
| Ship identification      =
| Ship fate                = Torpedoed and sunk by [[German submarine U-138 (1940)|''U-138'']], 21 September 1940
| Ship notes               =
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= {{sclass2|Jubilee|ocean liner}}
|Ship tonnage={{GRT|12482}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length={{convert|550|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam={{convert|63.4|ft|m|abbr=on}} 
|Ship height=
|Ship draught=
|Ship depth= 
|Ship decks=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship power=Two [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|four-cylinder quadruple-expansion steam engines]]
|Ship propulsion=Two propellers
|Ship speed= {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} service speed
|Ship capacity=*400 third class passengers 
*100,000 carcasses of mutton
*20,000 bales of wool
|Ship crew=
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

The '''SS ''Runic''''' was a steamship built at [[Harland and Wolff]] in [[Belfast]] for the [[White Star Line]] which entered service in 1901. ''Runic'' was the fourth of five {{sclass2|Jubilee|ocean liner}}s built for White Star's Australia service along with her [[sister ship]] {{SS|Suevic}}, where she ran on the [[Liverpool]]–[[Cape Town]]–[[Sydney]] route.<ref name="NHRunic2">{{cite web |title=S/S Runic (2), White Star Line |url=http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=runi2 |publisher=Norway Heritage |accessdate=9 July 2018}}</ref> She served this route until she was requisitioned for use as a war transport between 1915 and 1919, before returning to the Australia service.

She was the second White Star ship to be named ''Runic'', an earlier [[SS Imo|ship of that name]] had served the company between 1889 and 1895.

In 1930 ''Runic'' was sold and converted into a [[whaling]] [[factory ship]] and renamed ''New Sevilla'', she remained in service in this role until September 1940 when she was torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast with the loss of two lives.<ref name="NHRunic2"/>

==Design and construction==
When [[White Star Line|White Star]] inaugurated service from [[Liverpool]], England to [[Sydney]], Australia in the late 1890s, they commissioned five [[steamship]]s to be built for that route:&nbsp; the first three all entered service in 1899: {{SS|Afric||2}}, {{SS|Medic|1899|2}} and {{SS|Persic||2}}. All three were single-[[Funnel (ship)|funnel]] liners which measured just under {{GRT|12,000|disp=long}} and were configured to carry 320 third class passengers. Because the commissioning of these ships coincided with the [[Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria]], they were referred to as the "{{sclass2|Jubilee|ocean liner|4}}". The next two ships of the class would be slightly larger than the first three. The first of these was ''Runic'' at {{GRT|12482|link=off}}, launched on 25 October 1900. The second, and largest of the class, was ''Suevic'', at {{GRT|12531|link=off}} launched on 8 December 1900. ''Runic'' and ''Suevic'' had several minor design changes, the most noticeable of which were the lengthening of the [[poop deck]], and the moving of the [[bridge (ship)|bridge]] closer to the [[Bow (ship)|bow]]. These ships could carry 400 passengers in third class on three decks. They also had substantial cargo capacity with seven cargo holds, most of which were refrigerated with the capacity for the stowage of 100,000 carcasses of [[mutton]]. There was also a hold designed for the transport of up to 20,000 bales of [[wool]].<ref name="Kerbrech">{{cite book|last1=Kerbrech|first1=Richard De|title=Ships of the White Star Line|date=2009|publisher=Ian Allan Publishing|pages=78–89|isbn=978-0-7110-3366-5}}</ref>

==White Star Line career==
''Runic'' started her maiden voyage from Liverpool to Sydney on 19 January 1901, she quickly proved to be popular on the route. On 25 November that year she went to the assistance of the [[Union-Castle Line|Union-Castle]] liner {{RMS|Dunottar Castle||2}} which had broken down, and towed the liner to the port of [[Dakar]] in West Africa.<ref name="Kerbrech"/>
[[File:Runic (ship, 1900) - SLV H91.250-532 (crop).jpg|thumb|left|''Runic'' at sea]]
''Runic'' initially remained in commercial service after the outbreak of the [[First World War]] in August 1914, but on 21 January 1915 she was commissioned by the Australian government as a transport ship and was given the designation HMAT (His Majesty's Australian Transport) A54.<ref name="Kerbrech"/><ref>{{cite web |title=His Majesty's Australian Transports [HMAT] Ships |url=http://alh-research.tripod.com/ships_lh.htm |accessdate=10 July 2018}}</ref> On 1 May that year ''Runic'' collided with the 954-ton [[Collier (ship)|collier]] ''Horst Martini'' in fog whilst in the [[English Channel]], the smaller ship sank, but there were no deaths.<ref name="Kerbrech"/><ref>{{cite web |title=HORST MARTINI |url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1238727 |publisher=Historic England |accessdate=20 July 2018}}</ref> On 28 November 1917 she was commandeered under the [[Liner Requisition Scheme]] and remained so until she was released back into commercial service on 10 April 1919, when she returned to the Australian service.<ref name="Kerbrech"/>

In October 1921 ''Runic'' was sent back to Harland & Wolff for her passenger accommodation to be reconditioned. She spent most of the rest of the 1920s operating on the Australia service in tandem with ''Medic'', ''Suevic'' and {{SS|Ceramic||2}}. On 3 November 1928 when she was on an extended voyage to [[Glasgow]], Scotland she collided with {{HMS|London|69|6}} causing minor damage to her stern.<ref name="Kerbrech"/>

''Runic'' made her last voyage to Australia for White Star in December 1929, following her return she was laid up for disposal after nearly 29 years of service.<ref name="Kerbrech"/>

==''New Sevilla''==
[[File:A-01674d Hvalkokeri NEW SEVILLA.jpg|thumb|The stern of ''New Sevilla'' showing the stern ramp used to haul whale carcases onto deck, installed as part of the conversion to a whale factory ship.]]
[[File:At Cape Town (MP) 2018 190.jpg|thumb|right|A model of the ship at the [[South African Maritime Museum]]]]
In July 1930 ''Runic'' was sold to the Sevilla Whaling Co. Of London, a subsidiary of [[A/S Sevilla]] of Norway, who converted her into a whaling factory ship at the Germania shipyard in [[Kiel]]. She was renamed ''New Sevilla''. Following the rebuild she had an increased gross tonnage of 13,801. Soon after she entered service in her new role A/S Sevilla was taken over by the Scottish firm [[Christian Salvesen]] in April 1931.<ref name="Kerbrech"/>

After nearly a decade in this role, on 20 September 1940 during [[World War II]] ''New Sevilla'' was sailing as part of the [[convoy]] [[Convoy OB 216|OB 216]] from Liverpool to [[Antarctica]] when she was torpedoed by the German submarine {{GS|U-138|1940|2}}. She initially remained afloat and was taken in tow, but sank the next day, {{convert|30|mi}} off [[Malin Head]], [[Galway]], Ireland at the position ({{coord|55|48|N|07|22|W}}). 282 crew were saved, but two people died. The survivors were picked up by {{HMS|Arabis|K73|6}} and the Icelandic trawler ''Belgaum'' and landed at [[Belfast]].<ref name="uboat">{{cite web |title=New Sevilla British Whale factory ship |url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/535.html |publisher=uboat.net |accessdate=10 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="Kerbrech"/>

==References==
{{commons category|Runic (ship, 1900)}}
{{commons category|New Sevilla (ship, 1900)}}
{{reflist}}

{{Jubilee-class ocean liners}}
{{White Star Line ships}}
{{September 1940 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Runic}}
[[Category:1900 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in September 1940]]
[[Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff]]
[[Category:Ships built in Belfast]]
[[Category:Ships of the White Star Line]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Whaling ships]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]