 Postcard representing the sister ships
Gelria and Tubantia | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Netherlands | |
| Name | Tubantia |
| Owner | Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd |
| Port of registry | Amsterdam |
| Route | Amsterdam – Buenos Aires |
| Builder | A Stephen & Sons, Glasgow |
| Cost | £300,000 |
| Yard number | 455 |
| Launched | 15 November 1913 |
| Completed | 11 March 1914 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk by torpedo, 16 March 1916 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 13,911 GRT, 8,561 NRT, 9,215 DWT |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 65.8 ft (20.1 m) |
| Depth | 35.3 ft (10.8 m) |
| Decks | 2 |
| Installed power | 1,725 NHP, 11,000 ihp |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Capacity | |
| Crew | 194 |
| Sensors and processing systems | submarine signalling |
| Notes | sister ship: Gelria |
SS Tubantia was a Dutch-owned ocean liner that was launched in Scotland in 1914. She and her sister ship Gelria were the largest and swiftest ships in the Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd (KHL) fleet. They were also the first KHL ships to have quadruple-expansion steam engines.
A U-boat sank Tubantia in the North Sea in 1916. She was the largest neutral ship sunk in the First World War. Germany variously tried to claim that a British mine or a British torpedo had sunk her, or even a German torpedo that had been astray by itself for ten days. The Dutch public was outraged at both the sinking and the German disinformation campaign. KHL's compensation claim against Germany was not settled until 1922.
Tubantia was reputed to be carrying £2 million in specie when she was sunk. Between 1924 and 1927 a British salvage diving operator tried to recover the gold, without success. However, the decision by an English court on a legal dispute between two rival salvors wishing to attempt the salvage remains a leading part of the case law of marine salvage.