SS Devonian was a British cargo liner that was launched in Ireland in 1900. She was designed to carry a large number of cattle or other livestock, and a smaller number of passengers. When she was built, she had a small amount of refrigerated space in her holds. This was increased twice in her career. She spent her whole career with Frederick Leyland & Co, mostly on a scheduled route between Liverpool and Boston.
Devonian survived two fires in Boston. In 1907, her cattle feed caught fire, some of her cargo was destroyed, but she avoided serious damage. In 1908, part of East Boston caught fire, including warehouses where she was docked, but she avoided damage by being warped away from the quayside.
Devonian took part in three North Atlantic rescues. In 1910, she rescued 16 survivors from the British cargo ship West Point, which had burned and sunk. In 1913, she rescued 59 survivors from the emigrant ship , which caught fire in a storm. Also in 1913, she towed to safety the French cargo ship Mexico, which had lost its propeller.
In the First World War, Devonian brought thousands of horses from Boston to Liverpool for the British Army. A U-boat sank her in 1917 off the north coast of Ireland.
Building In 1899 and 1900, Harland & Wolff (H&W) in Belfast launched a pair of cargo liners for Frederick Leyland & Co. Yard number 324 was launched on 11 March 1899 as , and completed on 8 July. Yard number 331 was launched on 28 April 1900 as Devonian, and completed on 6 September. They were similar to , Victorian and Cestrian, which H&W had launched for Leyland in 1895, but longer, and with a more powerful engine.
Devonians registered length was , her beam was , and her depth was . She had eight cargo hatches, and could carry 900 head of cattle and 125 passengers. She was a one-class ship, offering second-class accommodation only. As built, of her cargo space was refrigerated. Her tonnages were and .
She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 847 NHP or 5,500 ihp, and gave her a speed of . She had two double-ended and two single-ended boilers, with a total of 18 corrugated furnaces. The furnaces' total grate area was and her boilers' total heating surface area was . Her boilers' working pressure was 200 psi. She also had four masts, and could be rigged as a schooner.
Leyland registered Devonian at Liverpool. Her United Kingdom official number was 113399 and her code letters were RTVD. On 15 September 1900, Devonian left Liverpool on her maiden voyage, which was to Boston.
More refrigerated capacity By July 1903, her refrigerated cargo capacity had been increased to . By that November, the cargo holds of Devonian and several other Leyland ships had been fitted with an electric fan ventilation system to keep them cool enough to carry cargoes such as apples. As well as serving Boston, in 1903 Devonian made two calls at Portland, Maine. On the first, she left Portland for Liverpool on 26 September. On the second, she was due to reach Portland on 25 October and leave for Liverpool on 31 October. Leyland's main aim was to attract seasonal freight, but the company also advertised passenger fares at $65 for the September sailing, and $50 for the October sailing.
Aground at Scitaute On 5 February 1906, Devonian left Liverpool with a cargo of about 2,000 tons of machinery and Egyptian cotton. She carried crew of 82, and four passengers. In a heavy snowstorm on the night of 14–15 February, her crew were unable to see Minot's Ledge Light. She overshot the mouth of Boston Harbor by about , ran into a bank of fog, and at 01:00 or 01:30 hrs grounded on a rock ledge about from the shore between Second and Third Cliff at Scituate, Massachusetts. Her Master, Captain Ridley, had the watertight doors closed in her bulkheads; her lifeboats swung out on their davits ready for launching; and a Coston flare fired.
The Massachusetts Humane Society life-saving station on Third Cliff acknowledged her flare and sent its lifeboat out to the ship. But Devonian showed no sign of breaking up, and the passengers and crew chose to remain aboard. Devonian had grounded at almost high tide, so no attempt to refloat her could be made for several hours. The tugs Confidence, Juno, and Pallas were sent from Boston, but were unable to get close enough to assist. The cutter arrived shortly after 12:00 hrs, but was not able to get close enough either.
The tug Patience, registered in Philadelphia, and owned by the Tice Towing Co of New York, succeeded in getting a line aboard Devonian. At 15:32 hrs, the ship, aided by Patience, refloated herself, and at about 18:00 hrs reached Boston's quarantine station under her own power. She was expected to dock in Boston at 08:00 hrs the next morning. On 17 February, Patiences owner, Walter J Tice of Hackensack, New Jersey, filed a libel at the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in Boston against Devonian for her salvage. Tice did not mention a sum, but Patiences Captain suggested it should be about $20,000.
Two fires in Boston On 11 March 1907, Devonian was at the White Star Line docks in Charlestown, Boston, when fire broke out on the steerage deck in her number 4 hold. It started in six car-loads of baled hay that she had loaded to use as cattle fodder for her voyage to Liverpool. The fire destroyed the hay, and ruined 20,000 bushels of corn. A fire hose burst on deck, and the water damaged machinery and Egyptian cotton from Liverpool that Devonian was unloading. One firefighter was injured when the hose burst, and a Fire Department lieutenant was overcome by smoke. The total damage to cargo was estimated at $50,000. However, the ship was expected to leave Boston on schedule in 14 March.
On 8 July 1908, Devonian was in port in East Boston, and part-way through loading her cargo at the Leyland Line pier, when fire broke out on one of the Boston and Albany Railroad's piers nearby. It started in a warehouse whose contents included wool, Egyptian cotton, grease, and oil. Fanned by a northerly wind, within half an hour it destroyed four piers, three warehouses, a grain elevator, and many loaded railroad freight cars. The damage was estimated at $1.5 million. The elevator and two of the piers belonged to the B&A Railroad. The Leyland Line pier was also destroyed. The fire came close to the slipways of the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad, which suspended its ferry services for two and a half hours.
A 70-year-old watchman at the Cunard Line pier was killed, and at least one firefighter was hospitalised with serious burns. The Boston and Chelsea Fire Departments fought the fire, as did fireboats, tugs, and the cutter USRC Gresham. The fire badly damaged the Canadian steel-hulled barque Belmont and two US wooden-hulled schooners: the five-master Paul Palmer, and four-master O. H. Brown. Not all of Devonians crew were present, but Leyland's Boston superintendent rushed aboard her, a fire drill was called, and a number of longshoremen helped to warp her away from the wharf in time to prevent her being damaged.
Insurers paid to replace the destroyed piers, warehouses, and grain elevator, and repair the damaged ships. The B&A Railroad replaced the grain elevator with a new one that was twice the size of the one that was destroyed. It was completed in October 1910, cost $1 million, and its capacity was one million bushels. When new, it was the largest in New England. It could unload 300,000 bushels from one ship in 20 hours, and load 20,000 bushels an hour into a ship. Devonian was the first ship to be loaded from the new elevator. In the second week of October 1910, she loaded 110,000 bushels of grain to take to Liverpool.
West Point rescue By 1910, Devonian was equipped with wireless telegraphy, supplied and operated by the Marconi Company. On 18 August 1910, the British cargo steamship West Point left Glasgow for Charleston, South Carolina. On 27 August, fire broke out in her engine room. The fire soon disabled the donkey engine that powered her pumps, which impeded her crew from fighting the fire. On 28 August, they abandoned ship in two lifeboats: her Master and half of the crew in one, and her Chief Officer and the other half of the crew in the other. They stood by the burning ship, but on 29 August, she sank, off Cape Race, at position or (accounts differ). The two boats managed to keep together until the night of 31 August, but then lost each other. The two boats last saw each other at position .
On the morning of 1 or 2 September (accounts differ), Devonian sighted the Chief Officer's lifeboat, rescued its occupants, and brought the lifeboat aboard by Devonians davits. Devonian searched for the Master's lifeboat, but visibility was poor, there was intermittent mist, and she failed to find it. She broadcast wireless messages asking other ships to look for the missing boat. Devonians wireless had a transmitting range of only about , but the ocean liners and received her signal, and relayed it to the Marconi station ashore at Cape Race.
At midnight on the night of 2–3 September, Mauretania found the Master's lifeboat and rescued its occupants. Devonian was westbound, and landed her survivors at Boston. Mauretania was eastbound, and landed her survivors in Britain. The news that Mauretania had found the Master's lifeboat was relayed via Cape Race and the liner to Devonian. On 7 September, Devonian reached Boston, having delayed herself by two days for the rescue and search, and landed 145 passengers as well as the 16 survivors from West Point. The British Consul in Boston was to arrange their repatriation to Britain.
Cabin class On 14 September 1910, Devonian made one sailing from New York instead of Boston. Leyland advertised her passenger accommodation as "first class" and offered berths at $67.50 each. However, in December 1912, Leyland Line advertised Devonians passenger accommodation as "one class cabin service", and the fare from Boston to Liverpool was $50. "Cabin class" was a concept of good-quality one-class accommodation that Canadian Pacific pioneered in the years just before the First World War, and whose popularity led other companies to copy it.
Mexico rescue On 28 January 1913, Devonian left Boston for Liverpool with a cargo of grain and 14 passengers. Early on 30 January, the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique cargo liner Mexico, in passage from New York to Dunkirk, lost her propeller. She broadcast a wireless distress signal, and Devonian was the first ship to reach her. In darkness and a heavy sea, Devonians crew succeeded in passing two steel hawsers to Mexico, and took her in tow. They set course for the nearest port, Halifax, Nova Scotia, which was away. At first they had good weather, but from 2 February, the two ships faced a high sea. The hawsers held, and on 4 February, the pair reached Halifax. The combined value of Mexico and her cargo was more than $1 million, making her one of the most valuable rescues to a North American port for many years. Devonians crew was expected to be due at least $50,000 salvage money to share between them.
Volturno rescue
On the morning of 9 October 1913, the emigrant ship Volturno caught fire en route from Rotterdam to New York via Halifax. The fire spread rapidly in the forward part of the ship, and she broadcast a wireless distress signal from position . Volturno launched six of her lifeboats, but four of them were smashed against her side, and the other two were missing, believed sunk. Devonian was one of ten or more ships, led by the Cunard Liner , that came to her aid. Carmania was larger and less manoeuvreable than the other rescue ships, so she stood off and directed rescue operations.