SS Ionic (1883)

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The RMS Ionic ( 1900: Sophocles ) the shipping company White Star Line, built in 1883 by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, was a slightly larger version of the Asiatic and her sister ship Doric. She was a fast freighter with limited passenger accommodation and was first chartered with the Doric and the Coptic by the New Zealand Shipping Co.. The maiden voyage was from London to New Zealand. They mastered the route around the Cape of Good Hope in a record time of 43 days, 22 hours and five minutes. On February 8, 1893 broke after leaving Cape Town the drive shaft of the propeller. The ship had to return the first start under sail, before it could be towed by the ship Hawarden Castle to Cape Town. In 1894 it was renovated in Belfast, while they received a new impetus through which their speed increased from 14 to 15 knots.

In 1899 she transported on their last trip on the route London - Cape Town - New Zealand cavalry horses for the Boer War. In April 1900, she was chartered to the Spanish government to repatriate troops from Manila after the war with the United States. In the same year she was sold to the Aberdeen Line and renamed Sophocles. After her last voyage on 21 August 1906, she was scrapped in 1908.

Source

• Fleet of White Star Line with an article on Ionic www.red - duster.co.uk. Accessed on 18 November 2013.

• Cargo ship (United Kingdom)
• Steam engines ship
• Ship ( White Star Line )
• Harland & Wolff