 SS Californian on the morning after Titanic sank.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | SS Californian |
| Namesake | State of California |
| Owner |  Leyland Line |
| Port of registry | Liverpool, UK |
| Route | Atlantic Ocean crossings |
| Builder | Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee, Scotland |
| Cost | £105,000 (equivalent to about £14,400,000 in 2023)[1] |
| Yard number | 159[1] |
| Launched | 26 November 1901 |
| Acquired | 30 January 1902 |
| Maiden voyage | 31 January 1902 |
| In service | 1902–1915 |
| Out of service | 9 November 1915 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Sunk by German U-boats, 9 November 1915, 61 miles (98 km) southwest of Cape Matapan, Greece. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo liner |
| Tonnage | 6,223 gross, 4,038 net |
| Length | 447 ft (136 m) LOA |
| Beam | 53 ft (16 m) |
| Draught | 30.5 ft |
| Decks | 6 (3 on superstructure [flying bridge, promenade deck and shelter deck] and 3 below deck) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed |
|
| Boats & landing craft carried | 6 (4 lifeboats, 1 gig and 1 pinnace) with total capacity for 218 people. |
| Capacity | 47 passengers |
| Crew | 55 officers and crew |
SS Californian was a British Leyland Line steamship. She is thought to have been the only ship to see the Titanic, or at least her rockets, during the sinking,[2][3] but despite being the closest ship in the area, the crew took no action to assist. The United States Senate inquiry and British Wreck Commissioner's inquiry into the sinking both concluded that the Californian could have saved many or all of the lives that were lost, had a prompt response been mounted to the Titanic's distress rockets.[4] The U.S. Senate inquiry was particularly critical of the vessel's captain, Stanley Lord, calling his inaction during the disaster "reprehensible".[5]
Despite this criticism, no formal charges were ever brought against Lord and his crew for their inaction. Lord disputed the findings and would spend the rest of his life trying to clear his name. In 1992, the UK Government's Marine Accident Investigation Branch re-examined the case and while condemning the inaction of the Californian and Captain Lord, also concluded that due to the limited time available, "the effect of Californian taking proper action would have been no more than to place on her the task actually carried out by RMS Carpathia, that is the rescue of those who escaped ... [no] reasonably probable action by Captain Lord could have led to a different outcome of the tragedy".[6][7]
Californian was later sunk on 9 November 1915, by the German submarines SM U-34 and U-35, in the Eastern Mediterranean during World War I while serving as a transport ship.
- ^ a b "Caledon Built – Dundee Ships", Friends of Dundee City Archives
- ^ "Abandoning the Titanic ~ About the Film | Secrets of the Dead | PBS". PBS. 6 October 2020.
- ^ Ringle, Ken (30 June 1991). "THE SHIP THAT PASSED IN THE NIGHT". Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "Circumstances in Connection with the SS Californian". British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. 30 July 1912. Archived from the original on 6 May 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
- ^ "United States Senate Inquiry Report: Pleas for Help; Steamship "Californian's" responsibility". Titanic Inquiry Project. 30 July 1912. Retrieved 28 April 2016.
- ^ Clarke, Jim (11 April 2012). "Titanic disaster: How history has judged Bolton's sea captains". BBC News. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
- ^ "RMS "TITANIC" Reappraisal of Evidence Relating to SS "CALIFORNIAN"" (PDF). Marine Accident Investigation Branch. 2 April 1992. p. 18. Retrieved 25 January 2018.