SS Galicia was a British Cargo liner that struck a mine laid by the German submarine UC-17 and sank on 12 May 1917 in the English Channel east of Teignmouth, Devon, while she was travelling from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Valparaíso, Chile while carrying mail and general cargo.
Construction Galicia was built as the sistership of Potosi at the Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle, United Kingdom and completed in 1901. The ship was long, had a beam of and a depth of . She was assessed at and had two 3cyl. Triple expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers that could achieve a speed of 14 knots.
Career & Loss Galicia entered service in 1901 for the Liverpool to Valparaíso route for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company. She remained in service during World War I and struck a mine in the English Channel off the North Goodwin Lightship on 31 July 1915 while she was travelling from London to Liverpool. The Captain beached the damaged Galicia to save her from sinking and the ship was successfully refloated, repaired and returned to service. Galicia went on to hit another mine on 12 May 1917 in the English Channel east of Teignmouth, Devon, while she was travelling from Liverpool, United Kingdom to Valparaíso, Chile while carrying mail, cement, cloth and Ammunition. This time, the ship couldn't be saved and she sank without the loss of life as her 59 passengers and crew were rescued by a Teignmouth lifeboat, a tug and a naval auxiliary ship.
Wreck Galicia lies upright in of water and was heavily salvaged and dispersed with explosives in 1923 as parts of the wreck stuck out of the water, which presented a hazard to shipping. The wreck now lies strewn over a large area and is well broken up with only some features such as boiler tubes, masts and part of her cement and cloth cargo remaining recognizable. The wreck is used as an entry level training dive site.
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