SS Woodville

SS Woodville in Liverpool docks
History
Name	Woodville (1892–1927) Volgas (1927–1937)
Owner	Woodville SS Co Ltd (Balls & Stansfield) (1892–1916) Southern Whaling & Sealing Company (1916–1924) African and Eastern Trade Corporation (1924–1927) BJ Andreadakis & A Stavridis (1927–1937)
Port of registry	United Kingdom (1892–1927) Greece (1927–1937)
Builder	John Readhead & Sons, South Shields
Yard number	285
Launched	22 October 1892
Acquired	November 1892
Identification	Official number: 102028
Fate	Wrecked 11 January 1937
General characteristics
Tonnage	2,513 GRT, 1,593 NRT
Length	91.1 m (299 ft)
Beam	12.4 m (41 ft)
Draught	5.7 m (19 ft)
Propulsion	Triple expansion steam engine, single screw, 232 hp (173 kW)

The 2,500-ton steamship Woodville was built in 1892 for Woodville SS Co Ltd (Balls & Stansfield) of North Shields, England. She was then sold during World War I to the Southern Whaling and Sealing Company, Liverpool.

She was one of three ships bought by the African and Eastern Trade Corporation in 1924. She was sold to Greek owners BJ Andreadakis & A Stavridis, (Piraeus) in 1927, shortly before African and Eastern merged with the Royal Niger Company to form United Africa Company (UAC).^[1]

In March 1922, Leonard Hussey accompanied the body of Ernest Shackleton from Montevideo, Uruguay, to South Georgia for burial at Grytviken, aboard Woodville.^[1]

Whilst under her latest name of SS Volgas and with a Greek flag, she ran aground on the small Greek island of Milos in the Aegean Sea on 11 January 1937. She came ashore near the lighthouse on Paximadia, southwest of Milos, during a voyage from Mersin, Turkey, to Hamburg, Germany, with a cargo of grain. Salvage was abandoned on 16 January and she was declared a total loss.^[2]

References