Queen of the Southern Seas

The Ceramic was launched in December 1912 as the newest and largest vessel on the White StarLine’s colonial service.  With four masts and a single funnel she had the look of a traditional steamship.  Operated jointly with Shaw, Savill, and Albion, she was designed for moderate speed on long runs to New Zealand and Australia.

Even though she was operated by the White Star Line and Shaw, Savill, and Albion, Ceramic wore White Star Livery.

This joint service competed with ships of the P&O (Peninsular and Orient Line), Aberdeen Line, and Blue Anchor Line on the southern seas.  In the early years of the twentieth century the quality of accommodation and service improved and profits soared.  While not as glamorous (or as swift) as the North Atlantic liners, the colonial route ships were fine vessels.  Competition was just as fierce and the shipping lines needed to innovate in order to attract customers. 

By the time of the Ceramic’s launch in 1912 (which marked a comeback of sorts after the Titanic disaster) White Star operated a small fleet of passenger-cargo liners to Australia and New Zealand including Runic and Suevic.

Ceramic was seven decks high with accommodation for 600 third class passengers and 836,000ft3 of cargo space, nearly half of which was refrigerated.  The four masts supported derricks for hoisting the cargo aboard. In an eerie foreshadowing of events to come two naval guns were concealed on the after decks.

Ceramic in harbor. A Canadian Pacific Empress is docked in the background.

Harland and Wolff fitted combination reciprocating engines with an exhaust turbine similar to—but on a smaller scale—than those in the Olympic-class liners.  The arrangement was fuel efficient and reduced vibration and was especially suited for the long voyages Ceramic would sail.

On July 24, 1913 Ceramic departed Liverpool for Australia via Cape Town and quickly became a popular vessel.  The next year she began war service carrying Australian troops.  During the Great War she had several close calls with U-Boats but each time her crew managed to maneuver quickly and steam away. 

Ceramic at sea.

In 1920 Ceramic resumed her peacetime sailings and became known as the Queen of the Southern Seas making routine and uneventful sailings to and from Australia.   She remained the largest vessel on the route until Shaw Savill’s Dominian Monarch entered service in 1939. She passed into Shaw Savill ownership upon the merger of Cunard and White Star in 1934.  Her new owners modernized Ceramic’s interiors and increased passenger comfort with new single berth cabins, reduced passenger capacity, a new verandah café (which could be fully enjoyed on the southern route), and mechanical improvements.  She was not converted to an oil burner, however, but the updates improved coal-burning efficiency and increased her speed to 16 knots.

Ceramic's large cargo capacity is evident by the numerous cargo booms and hatches.

Ceramic was requisitioned for wartime service in 1940 carrying freight, foodstuffs, and some passengers. She sailed several voyages in convoy.  In November 1942 she departed alone, from Liverpool with 378 passengers and 278 crewmembers.  On December 6 she was steaming west of the Azores when she was torpedoed by U-515.  Ceramic sank before distress signals could be sent and all but one person aboard, engineer Eric Munday, was lost in the sinking.  Munday was rescued by U-515 and taken prisoner.   The true nature of the tragedy was not realized for several months until Munday was able to record his story.

SS Ceramic (1913-1942) Built by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland.  18,481 GRT, 675 feet long, 69.5 feet wide.  Triple expansion reciprocating engines and low pressure turbine.  Triple screw, service speed 15 knots.  As built, 600 (820 maximum) third class passengers.