SS Imo

For other ships with the same name, see SS Runic.

History
Name
  • 1889: Runic
  • 1895: Tampican
  • 1912: Imo
  • 1920: Guvernøren
Owner
Operator1889: White Star Line
Port of registry
BuilderHarland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number211
Launched1 January 1889
Completed16 February 1889
Maiden voyage21 February 1889
Refit1912
Identification
FateWrecked 30 November 1921
General characteristics
Type
Tonnage
  • 1889: 4,649 GRT, 3,046 NRT
  • 1912: 5,043 GRT, 3,161 NRT
Length430.7 ft (131.3 m)
Beam45.2 ft (13.8 m)
Depth30.0 ft (9.1 m)
Installed power424 NHP
Propulsion
Speed12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Capacity1889: 1,000 cattle, 48 passengers
Crew40

SS Imo[1] was a merchant steamship that was built in 1889 to carry livestock and passengers, and converted in 1912 into a whaling factory ship. She was built as Runic, renamed Tampican in 1895, Imo in 1912 and Guvernøren (The Governor) in 1920.

In 1917 the Belgian Relief Commission chartered Imo to take humanitarian supplies to German-occupied Belgium. On 6 December 1917 she was involved in a collision in Halifax Harbour with the French cargo ship Mont-Blanc, which was carrying munitions. The resultant fire aboard Mont Blanc caused the historic and catastrophic Halifax Explosion, which levelled the Richmond District in the North End of the city. Although Imo's superstructure was severely damaged by the blast, the ship was repaired and returned to service in 1918.

The ship was renamed Guvernøren (The Governor) in 1920. On 30 November 1921 she ran aground off East Falkland [28] and was abandoned.

  1. ^ The ship had been named with the initials – JMO – after the senior owner of the company, Johan Martin Osmundsen (aka Jurgens M. Osmond), but people started calling her Imo and the name stuck. Source: Methods of Disaster Research by Robert A. Stallings (International Research Committee on Disasters ©2002), pp. 281–282.