SS Burdigala
SS Burdigala in 1912 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Kaiser Friedrich III |
| Owner | Compagnie de Navigation Sud-Atlantique (Csa) |
| Port of registry | |
| Builder | Ferdinand Schichau Werft |
| Cost | £525,000 |
| Yard number | 587 |
| Launched | 5 October 1897 |
| Completed | 12 May 1898 |
| Maiden voyage | 7 June 1898 |
| In service | 7 June 1898 |
| Fate | Sunk by mine, 14 November 1916 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 12,480 GRT |
| Length | 183 m (600 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 19.4 m (63 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power | 5-cylinder reciprocating steam engines with quadruple expansion |
| Propulsion | Twin propellers |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 420 |
SS Burdigala was an ocean liner that was built and operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) before then serving under Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) and subsequently Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT). The ship was built as Kaiser Friedrich in 1898 for NDL, a German shipping line. Designed to break the speed record for a transatlantic liner and thereby win the Blue Riband, Kaiser Friedrich never achieved the necessary speeds. After a short career with NDL and an equally short period of service with NDL's main German competitor, HAPAG, the ship was mothballed for a decade. After being sold to the French shipping line CGT, the vessel re-entered service as Burdigala. In 1916, while en route from Thessaloniki to Toulon, the liner struck a naval mine laid by the German U-boat U-73 in the Aegean Sea and sank near Kea, Greece.