SS Parthia (1870)

SS Parthia/Victoria

SS Parthia of the Cunard Line.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Parthia
Namesake	Parthia
Owner	Cunard Line 1870–84 John Elder & Co. 1884 Guion Line 1884–92
Operator	Cunard Line 1870–83 Guion Line 1885–87 Canadian Pacific Railway Company 1887–91
Ordered	Late 1860s
Builder	William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton
Cost	£94,970
Yard number	148[1]
Laid down	2 February 1870
Launched	10 September 1870
Decommissioned	1883 (by Cunard)
Maiden voyage	17 December 1870
In service	1870–83 1885–92
Out of service	1883–85 1891–92
Renamed	Victoria
Refit	1892
Fate	Rebuilt and renamed Victoria
United Kingdom
Name	Victoria
Owner	Guion Line 1892 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1892–98
Operator	Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1892–98
Route	Tacoma, Washington to Hong Kong 1892–98
In service	1892–98
Out of service	1892 (was undergoing refit)
Fate	Transferred to American registry in 1898
United States
Name	Victoria
Owner	North American Mail Steamship Company 1898–1901 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1901–04 Northwestern Steamship Company 1904–08 Alaska Steamship Company 1908–52 Dulien Steel Products 1952–54
Operator	North American Mail Steamship Company 1898–99 United States Army 1899–1900 North American Mail Steamship Company 1900–01 Northern Pacific Steamship Company 1901–04 Northwestern Steamship Company 1904–08 Alaska Steamship Company 1908–41 U.S. War Administration 1941–47
Route	Puget Sound to Nome, Alaska (1900–08) San Francisco, California to Nome, Alaska via Seattle, Washington (1908–40?)
Acquired	1898
In service	1898–1924 1924–35 1938–47
Out of service	1924 (major refit) 1935–38 1947–54
Renamed	Straits No. 27
Reclassified	Cargo only vessel as of 1940
Refit	1924
Fate	Converted into a barge in 1954
Notes	Extensive refit in 1924, converted to oil fired boilers, raised superstructure and enclosed bridge to the ship's hull.
Canada
Name	Straits No. 27
Owner	Straits Towing and Salvage Company 1954–56
Operator	Straits Towing and Salvage Company 1954–56
Commissioned	1954
Decommissioned	1956
In service	1954–56
Renamed	Straits Maru
Fate	Sold to Japanese ship breakers
Japan
Name	Straits Maru
Owner	Japanese ship breakers
Port of registry	Osaka
Fate	Scrapped at Osaka in 1956
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner (1870–1900) Coastal passenger liner (1900–40) Cruise ship (1934–40?) Cargo ship (1940–54) Barge (1954–56)
Tonnage	3,167 GRT
Length	360.5 ft (110 m)
Beam	40.3 ft (12 m)
Propulsion	Compound steam engines driving a single screw propeller. Re-engined with Triple-expansion steam engines in 1885.
Sail plan	Barque (as Parthia)
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Capacity	200 first class passengers and 1,050 third class passengers (as Parthia)

SS Parthia (1870–1956) was an iron-hulled transatlantic ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton, Scotland. Her sister ships were the Abyssinia and Algeria. Unlike her two sisters, Parthia was smaller, built in a different shipyard and had a slightly different funnel arrangement. The Parthia was retired by Cunard in 1883 and sold to John Elder & Co., who subsequently transferred her to the Guion Line. After serving with the Guion Line and operating on trans-Pacific routes with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, she was refitted and renamed Victoria.

Under her new owners, the Northern Pacific Steamship Company, Victoria began operating out of Puget Sound in Washington state. In 1898, she was resold to the North American Mail Steamship Company and transferred to American registry. As a result of this, she was used as a troopship in the Philippine–American War, carrying troops to Manila in the Philippines. In 1900, she served with various owners along a route from Puget Sound to Nome, Alaska until she ended up with the Alaska Steamship Company in 1908. Victoria was then operated between San Francisco, California, and Nome, Alaska, via Seattle, Washington. In 1924, the Victoria, now 54 years old, underwent a refit, which added oil-fired boilers, larger superstructure and an enclosed bridge to her superstructure. A 1933 brochure by The Alaska Steamship Company gives the following information. Length: 370 feet (110 m). Breadth: 40 ft (12 m). Displacement: 6,670 tons. Gross: 3,868 gross register tons (GRT).^[2]

In 1934, Victoria inaugurated the first Alaskan cruise for her owners, calling to Nome and Kotzebue in Alaska. In 1935, Victoria was laid up in Seattle for three years and was converted to cargo only in 1940. From 1941 to 1947, the U.S. War Administration used her on 46 voyages to Alaska.

In 1952, she was sold for scrap to Dulien Steel Products, a firm on Lake Washington. Instead, she was converted into a barge and used by the Straits Towing and Salvage Company as the Straits No. 27 until 1956. Later that year she was renamed Straits Maru and scrapped in Osaka.^[3]