Originally ordered as the Statendam for the Holland America Line -
Harland & Wolff (Belfast): Yard Number 436 - and launched on 9th July
1914. Had she served as a liner, her passenger capacity would have been 3,430
(in 3 Classes) - 800 1st Class, 600 2nd Class & 2,030 3rd Class - with
a crew of 600.
Although of modest proportions when compared to the largest vessels on the
Atlantic when she was designed, her public rooms would have been outstanding
in terms of spaciousness and decor. For example, her 1st Class Social Hall
would have been over 20 ft high her 1st Class Dining Room could have served
563 passengers at one sitting and a large area was to be devoted to a Palm
Court. It has been said that these rooms would have displayed a pleasing
and artistically free style of decoration
The outbreak of World War I meant that her fitting out proceeded only very
slowly. Following negotiations with her Dutch owners, she was requisitioned
when almost complete and converted for use as a troopship.
It had been intended to place her in the hands of the Cunard Line as a
replacement for the lost Lusitania. Cunard initially wanted to name
her Neuretania - but finally opted for
Justicia (carrying the connotation of 'Justice' in relation
to the sinking of Lusitania).
However, Cunard did not have enough officers and men to run the new vessel;
but White Star had spare crewmen who had been made available by the loss
of Britannic (2) .
Justicia made her first trooping voyage in April, 1917. Initially
painted grey, she was given a 'Dazzle' paint scheme in early 1918. On 23rd
January, 1918 she was unsuccessfully attacked by U-Boats in the Irish Channel.
But her luck ran out on the (Friday) morning of 19th July, 1918. 20 miles
off the Skerryvore Rock (in the Inner Hebrides), in a convoy bound for New
York, UB64 attacked and Justicia's engine room was struck by a torpedo.
Further attacks failed to sink the troopship; later the same day she was
taken in tow and it was hoped to bring her to Lough Swilly (on North West
coast of Ireland).
Early the following day, U54 attacked unsuccessfully. Around 9.00 am, the
German submarine managed to inflict two torpedo hits on Justicia's port side.
She sank by the stern and finally slid beneath the waves at 12.40 pm. No
passengers or troops were on board at the time, but she was carrying a crew
of 600 - 700 men. 15 ratings and a 3rd Engineer Officer were killed by the
first torpedo strike; after which everybody on board was transferred to escorting
vessels.
During the running battle that ended the career of Justicia, another
German submarine (UB124) - which played no direct part in the attacks - was
sunk by HM Ships Marne, Millbrook & Pigeon. The U-Boat's commander (Lt
Wutsdorf) attempted to elude the depth-charges of the vengeful British warships
by steering his battered and leaking craft underneath the stricken troopship.
The Daily Mirror (25th July 1918) provides a reason for at least
some of the unsuccessful attacks on Justicia. The newspaper reported
that her gunners had managed to destroy 4 out of the 10 torpedoes fired at
her by the U-Boats.
For a time, the Germans were jubilant about sinking Justicia - for
they had mistaken her for Vaterland (the prestigious 54,000 ton
Hamburg-Amerika Line ship interned in New York at the outbreak of war, later
confiscated by the USA and renamed Leviathan). It is unclear whether
the British Authorities intended to return the former Statendam to
the Holland America Line after the war or if they were going to give her
to the Cunard Line or allow White Star to keep her. As things eventually
turned out, her owners were compensated with 60,000 tons of steel from which
a small fleet of modern freighters was constructed.
In 1921, the Holland America Line ordered a new Statendam from Harland
& Wolff; the vessel was launched in 1924 - coinciding with changes in
the USA's immigration laws which so restricted her potential passenger numbers
that her fitting out was suspended. When work resumed, Harland & Wolff
was disrupted by a series of strikes. The ship was towed to the Wilton -
Fijenoord Shipyard at Schiedam (she was the biggest vessel that this yard
had ever handled) and finished there in March, 1929. |
