SS Desabla

History
NameDesabla
OwnerBank Line Ltd., Glasgow
OperatorAndrew Weir Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd.
Port of registry Glasgow
BuilderHawthorn Leslie & Co Ltd, Newcastle
Yard number461
Launched18 September 1913
Identification
  • Official Number: 133159
  • Code Letters: JDKN
  • Wireless Code: GYV (1914)
FateSunk, 12 June 1915
General characteristics
TypeOil tanker
Tonnage
  • 6,047 GRT
  • 5,742 under deck
  • 3,788 NRT
Length420.3 ft (128.11 m)
Beam54.6 ft (16.64 m)
Depth32.4 ft (9.88 m)
Crew35

SS Desabla was built by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. Ltd at Newcastle upon Tyne in 1913 for Bank Line of Glasgow (Andrew Weir Shipping & Trading Co. Ltd). She was the first oil tanker to join the Bank Line fleet and was chartered and operated for approximately one year by General Petroleum Company along the Pacific coast of the United States, Chile, and Canada. In 1914 she was re-chartered to the British Government to transport oil from Texas to the United Kingdom. In 1915 she was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-17 off the coast of Scotland.