SS Belgenland (1914)

Painting of Belgenland in 1931 by Alfred J Jansen
History
Name	1914: Belgenland 1917: Belgic 1923: Belgenland 1935: Columbia
Namesake	1914: Belgium 1917: Belgae 1923: Belgium 1935: Columbia
Owner	1917: International Navigation Co 1927: Frederick Leyland & Co 1935: Atlantic Transport Co of West Virginia
Operator	1917: White Star Line 1923: Red Star Line 1935: Panama Pacific Line
Port of registry	1917: Liverpool 1935: New York
Route	1917–21: Liverpool – New York 1923–30: Antwerp – Southampton – Cherbourg – New York (April–December) 1924–31: around the World westbound from New York (December–April) 1931–35: short cruises & occasional Antwerp – New York crossings
Ordered	March 1912
Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number	391
Launched	31 December 1914
Completed	21 June 1917
Maiden voyage	as an ocean liner: 4 April 1923
Refit	1923
Identification	UK official number 140517 code letters JQDG (until 1933) call sign GMQJ (by 1930) US official number 233677 call sign WLFG (from 1935)
Fate	Scrapped 1936
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner
Tonnage	1917: 24,547 GRT, 15,440 NRT 1923: 27,132 GRT, 15,352 NRT 1935: 24,578 GRT, 13,130 NRT
Length	670.4 ft (204.3 m)
Beam	78.4 ft (23.9 m)
Draught	36 ft 3 in (11.0 m)
Depth	44.7 ft (13.6 m)
Decks	9
Installed power	2,653 NHP, 18,500 ihp
Propulsion	3 × screws 2 × triple expansion engines 1 × low-pressure steam turbine
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Capacity	44,400 cubic feet (1,257 m3) refrigerated cargo 1923: 500 × 1st Class, 500 × 2nd class & 1,500 × 3rd class passengers
Troops	3,000
Crew	1932: 361 1935: 535
Sensors and processing systems	as built: submarine signalling by 1923: wireless direction finding

SS Belgenland was a transatlantic ocean liner and cruise ship that was launched in Belfast, Ireland in 1914 and scrapped in Scotland in 1936. She was renamed Belgic in 1917, reverted to Belgenland in 1923, and renamed Columbia in 1935.

Throughout her career the ship was owned and operated by the International Mercantile Marine Company or its subsidiaries. IMM ordered Belgenland as a new flagship for its Belgian-based Red Star Line, but the First World War delayed her completion. Germany occupied Belgium in the First World War, so IMM had Belganland completed in 1917 as a cargo ship, transferred to the UK-based White Star Line and renamed Belgic. In 1918 she was converted into a troop ship.

In 1922 the ship was at last fitted out as a passenger liner. In 1923 she was transferred back to Red Star Line and her name was changed back to Belgenland. From 1924 onward she made her name making annual cruises around the World, leaving New York in November or December and returning in April the next year. She pioneered cruise ship visits to destinations including Bangkok and Bali, and steamed almost 250,000 miles without defect.

In 1927 IMM transferred Belgenland's ownership to the UK-based Frederick Leyland & Co, but kept Red Star Line as her managers. In 1935 IMM transferred her ownership to the US-based Atlantic Transport Line, renamed her Columbia, and made Panama Pacific Line her managers.

In 1930–31 Belgenland took part in successful tests of a long-range ship-to-shore radiotelephone. The Great Depression led IMM to cease her cruises around the World from 1931 and reduce her transatlantic crossings. That year she made six-day cruises and one-day trips from New York. In 1932 she made short cruises and at least one transatlantic crossing. In 1933 she made a Caribbean cruise and at least one transatlantic crossing. In 1934 she made European cruises from England, and then was laid up.

As Columbia in 1935 the ship ran Caribbean cruises: four in spring to the West Indies, and then four in summer to Panama and Venezuela. By autumn she was laid up again, and in 1936 she returned to Britain to be scrapped.

Belgenland was by far the largest ship Red Star Line ever owned. In her heyday she was the largest liner in transatlantic service between Antwerp and New York, and the largest liner to cruise around the World. As Columbia she was the largest ship then registered in the US.

Harland & Wolff built Belgenland. She shared the same hybrid propulsion system as several other H&W liners of her era including Laurentic and Justicia. However, she was a unique ship with no sister.^[1] She had a reputation for stability in the worst North Atlantic weather, and for reliability.^[2]

Belgenland had strong links with Belgium, although she was never registered there. Her more notable passengers included Eleanor Roosevelt in 1929, Douglas Fairbanks in 1931, and Albert Einstein in 1930 and 1933.