October’s unknown ship brought few replies most of whom identified her as the Silvia.

The winner of the October competition was Jim Simpson of Fife.

Jim Simpson writes:

This ship is the Silvia, shown when owned by the Bermuda and West Indies Steamship Co. (Furness Withy & Co. Ltd.) between 1929 and 1934. She was built in 1909 by Schichau, Danzig, as the Orel for the Russian Volunteer Fleet Association. In 1921, she was purchased by C.T. Bowring & Co. Ltd. and renamed Silvia. Bowrings placed the vessel in their passenger cargo service from St Johns, Newfoundland to Halifax and New York. The company was known as the Red Cross Line because of Bowring’s funnel colours. In January 1929, C.T. Bowring sold the Red Cross Line to the Bermuda and West Indies Steamship Co. The Silvia and two other ships, the Rosalind and the ‘Nerissa’ passed into the ownership of the new owners and were used in the same service. The Silvia was sold in 1934 to the Douglas Steamship Co. of Hong Kong and the following year passed to Williamson & Co. of Hong Kong, being renamed Haitan. In November, 1941 she is reported as being a depot ship at Rangoon and subsequently at Trincomalee. Presumably, she escaped from Rangoon before the Japanese took the port. In June, 1946 she was returned to Douglas & Co. and laid up at Hong Kong and on 23rd December 1950, she was sold for breaking up at Hong Kong. Incidentally, the last vestiges of the West Indies Steamship Co. passed into history when Furness Withy sold the Fort Avalon in 1960.

Robert Langlois writes:

The unknown ship on page 63 is the Silvia of New York, Newfoundland & Halifax Steamship Co. Ltd. (C T Bowring & Co. Ltd. managers), Liverpool. From 1922 to 1928 she ran on her owners’ Red Cross Line service between New York, Halifax and St John’s, then was sold with her owners to Bermuda & West Indies Steamship Co Ltd (Furness Withy & Co. Ltd. managers), Bermuda, while continuing on her existing route. In September 1934 she was sold to Williamson & Co., Hong Kong, then in 1935 transferred to subsidiary Douglas Steamship Co. Ltd. (Douglas Lapraik & Co managers) and refitted for the China coast trade as the Haitan. After being strafed by Japanese aircraft at Foochow on 2 June 1939, and damaged by a mine off the coast of Fukien on 25 July 1939, she was chartered in 1940 to British India for service in the Bay of Bengal. In November 1941 she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for use as a depot ship at Rangoon, and later at Trincomalee. In June 1946 she was returned to her owners in a deplorable condition, and laid up at Hong Kong. The company accepted a cash settlement from the Ministry of Transport in lieu of her reconditioning. After swinging idle at her buoy in Kowloon Bay for several years, Haitan was sold to local breakers in December 1950.

The ship had started life as the Orel, completed for the Vladivostok- Shanghai trade of the Russian Volunteer Fleet Association, Vladivostok in August 1909 by F Schichau, Danzig. Her gross tonnage was 3,462, and dimensions 336.7 feet (347 feet overall) by 45.3 feet. Her single screw was driven by a coal-fired triple-expansion engine of 644 nominal horse power, giving a service speed of 12 knots. She had accommodation for about 250 passengers as built. In September 1914 she was commissioned as an auxiliary cruiser, but used mainly for training. In January 1920 she escaped from Vladivostok loaded with White Russian refugees, arriving a month later in Calcutta via Shanghai and Hong Kong. She was then temporarily employed in the Saigon rice trade to pay off debts and buy coal to reach the Mediterranean, eventually reaching Dubrovnik in August 1920. In October 1920 she was decommissioned and returned to the RVFA (White Administration, Paris managers). In August 1921, she was sold to Bowrings, refitted on the Tyne (including conversion to oil-firing) and renamed Silvia preparatory to taking up the Red Cross Line service in 1922, as noted above.

Truly a ship with a varied and eventful career, not conducive to being summarised in a couple of lines!

Geoff Holmes writes:

The Mystery ship is the s.s. Sylvia of the Bermuda & West Indies S.S. Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Furness Withy. Built in 1909 by F. Schichau, Danzig, as Orel for the Russian Volunteer Fleet Association and registered at Vladivostok. She was 3,425 tons gross. She was requisitioned in August 1914 by the Russian (Tsarist) navy and served as an auxiliary cruiser. She remained in White Russian hands after the revolution and escaped from Vladivostok after the defeat of the White Russians and ended up at Dubrovnik under the ownership of a White Russian group based in Paris. In 1921 she was purchased by the New York, Newfoundland and Halifax Steamship Co. Ltd., (C.T. Bowring & Co.) renamed Sylvia and registered at Liverpool. This was known as the Red Cross Line from the Bowring funnel colours of a Black Funnel with a broad White band bearing a Red St. Patrick’s Cross. In 1929 the Red Cross Line and its ships were sold to Furness Withy who retained the name Sylvia. In 1935 she was sold to the Douglas S.S. Co., of Hong Kong and renamed Haitan. From 11/1941 until 06/1946 she served as a depot ship for the Royal Navy at Rangoon and Trincomalee. Returned to owners and laid up at Hong Kong. She was broken up at Hong Kong in 1950.

John Jordan writes:

I feel this vessel may have seen grander days with 8 lifeboat positions and two funnels. She may have been a coastal Packet running for Belfast Steam/ Coast Lines or similar Railway steamer group. She looks like her passenger accommodation above deck level was removed fore and aft to give four hatches as shown. She may have been built in 1895/ 1905 period. She could be from the SS Killarney, SS Magic, and SS Classic Stables. Just a shot in the dark?