Official No:                             120880

Builder:                          Workman, Clarke & Co Ltd., Belfast

Launched:                      6 July 1905

Pennant No:                           Y 2.57 / Y 3.??? / Y 2.133

Into Service:                   3 September 1915

Out of service:                25 December 1917

Fate:                             25 December 1917 torpedoed & sunk

Background Data:  

One of a group of additional ships requisitioned for Admiralty service to augument the RFA during WW1

Career Data:

6 July 1905 launched by Workman, Clark & Co Ltd, Belfast as Yard Nr: 220 named AGBERI for Elder, Dempster & Co Ltd, Liverpool

September 1905 completed

6 June 1906 at Hoko (?) Town, Beinam (?) River Labourer John Lewis discharged dead following an accident

28 July 1906 at sea passenger Herbert S Compton discharged dead having committed suicide

17 September 1906 at Forcados Deck Labourer Peter Newman discharged dead from natural causes

25 March 1908 sailed Liverpool for Grand Canaria and West Africa with 10 passengers. Captain R Button was Master

1 October 1908 sailed Liverpool for Teneriffe and West African ports with 8 adult passengers and 3 children. Captain T S Sale was the Master

10 December 1908 at 5°25N 10°12W at sea 3rd Officer J Stevenson discharged dead from meningitis

18 December 1909 sailed Liverpool for Grand Canaria and West African ports with 12 passengers. Captain J Anderson was Master

7 October 1910 off Lahou Engineers Steward Herbert Sedgwick discharged dead from heart failure following malaria

5 November 1910 sailed Liverpool for West African ports

1911 transferred to Elder Line Ltd (Elder, Dempster & Co Ltd, Managers), Liverpool – name unchanged

15 January 1911 at Sierra Leone Chief Steward H C Andrew discharged dead from hyperperexia following haemorrage

18 February 1911 sailed Liverpool to Grand Canaria and West African ports with 12 passengers. Captain C J Williams as the Master

30 September 1911 sailed Liverpool to Grand Canaria and West African ports with 12 passengers. Captain C J Williams as the Master

27 April 1912 sailed Liverpool to Grand Canaria and West African ports with 6 passengers. Captain J C Shooter as the Master

10 August 1912 sailed Liverpool to Grand Canaria and West African ports with 9 passengers. Captain W Wight was the Master

23 November 1912 sailed Liverpool to Tenneriffe and West African ports with 8 passengers. Captain W Wight was the Master

3 February 1913 at Sierra Leone Deck Boy Fred Coulton, aged 18, discharged dead from syncope following debility due to malaria

13 December 1913 at Sapelo Ordinary Seaman William Goodman discharged dead having drowned

2 May 1914 sailed Liverpool to West African ports with 5 passengers. Captain J H Watson was the Master

13 August 1914 at Liverpool Carpenter Alexander Brown discharged dead from malaria

24 January 1915 off Cape Coast Anderson a native labourer from Sierra Leone discharged dead from peritonitis

3 September 1915 requisitioned for service as an Ammunition Carrier to Northern Russia for Russian Government a/c until 7 October 1915

1915 – 1916 completed four Round Voyages to the Arctic carrying Russian troops to Brest for the Imperial Russian Government

14 September 1915 was challenged by the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS HILARY (M 90) in an approximate position of 62°50 N 12°00 W and was allowed to proceed

8 October 1915 served as a Timber Transport (Collier) for the Office of Works and then returned to the White Sea for winter until 2 November 1915

3 November 1915 served as an Ammunition Carrier to Northern Russia for Russian Government a/c until 27 June 1916

30 April 1916 at Alexander II Hospital, Archangel 2nd Engineer Officer James William Cook discharged dead from congestion of the brain. He had entered hospital the previous day

28 June 1916 served as above until 11 December 1916, but was sub-chartered to Hudson’s Bay Co from 13 August 1916 to 24 September 1916 inclusive

27 August 1916 was challenged by the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS CHANGUIOLA (M 85) in position 59°08 N 19°31 W while in Convoy and was allowed to proceed

1917 transferred to African Steamship Co (Elder, Dempster & Co Ltd, Managers), Liverpool – name unchanged

19 April 1917 with the Liner Section as a Transport until her loss

11 September 1917 sailed Liverpool for Bathurst, Monrovia, Liberia and Dakar with 12 passengers 6 of whom were Royal Naval Gunners. Captain H Lamont was the Master

8 December 1917 sailed Dakar in Convoy HD15 with thirteen other ships under escort of the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS MOTAGUA (M 84)

HMS MOTAGUA

25 December 1917 torpedoed and sunk by the German Submarine U-87 (Kptlt. Freiherr Rudolf von Speth-Schülzburg) in St George’s Channel 18 miles NW½N of Bardsey Island while on passage from Dakar to Liverpool with general cargo and passengers. No casualties. The submarine itself was sunk in a counter attack by the sloop HMS BUTTERCUP which rammed her & also by HMS P 56