SS Ionic

Ionic was built in 1902 by Harland & Wolff in Belfast, for Shaw Savill & Albion - White Star joint services to New Zealand. She was a 12,234 gross ton ship with a length of 500 ft and a beam of 63.3 ft. She had one funnel, Four masts, twin screws and a speed of 14 knots. There was passenger accommodation for 121 first class, 117 second class and 450 third class. She was fitted with fully refrigerated holds for the frozen meat trade. Launched on 22nd May 1902, she sailed on her maiden voyage from London to Cape Town and down to Wellington, arriving on the 16th January 1903. In August 1914 she was taken over for use as a troopship for the New Zealand Expeditionary Force. She was narrowly missed by a torpedo in the Mediterranean in 1915, and in 1917 was used under the Liner Requisition Scheme. On 31st January 1919 she resumed New Zealand sailings via the Panama Canal, and rescued the crew of the French Grand Banks fishing vessel "Daisy" in 1927. She was converted to cabin and third class in 1929, and in 1934, with the merger of White Star and Cunard Lines, she was bought Shaw Savill and Albion. Her last Southampton - New Zealand sailing commenced in September 1936 and in 1937 she was scrapped in Osaka, Japan. The ship's bell is in the Auckland War Memorial Museum. References: North Star to Southern Cross by John M. Maber; Merchant Fleets by Duncan Haws, Volume 10.

Arrived Wellington on SS Ionic 10-8-1910
Mr A. B. Power (ref SS 1/511 No 11)