page_title: SS Suevic
section_title: Salvage
hierarchical_section_title: SS Suevic / White Star service / Shipwreck / Salvage
caption_attribution_description: English: White Star liner Suevic wrecked at the Lizard
context_page_description: SS Suevic was a steamship built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. Suevic was the fifth and last of the Jubilee Class ocean liners, built specifically to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route, along with her sister ship SS Runic. In 1907 she was wrecked off the south coast of England, but in the largest rescue of its kind, all passengers and crew were saved. The ship herself was deliberately broken in two, and a new bow was attached to the salvaged stern portion. Later serving as a Norwegian whaling factory ship carrying the name Skytteren, she was scuttled off the Swedish coast in 1942 to prevent her capture by ships of Nazi Germany.
context_section_description: The bow section was badly damaged, but not irreparably so, and the rest of the ship, including the boilers and engines, were not damaged at all. It was determined that if the ship could be lightened, the tide would then lift her off the bottom and she could be sailed to port. With this in mind, three days later, on 20 March, the cargo was unloaded into small coastal freighters. Initially, it appeared that the attempt would succeed, but a week later, after various other vessels had attempted to pull Suevic off the rocks, the weather deteriorated, and waves drove her farther onto shore, from whence she could not be moved.
  With the bow now irretrievably stuck, and the threat of even worse weather coming which could completely destroy the ship, many experienced salvage men believed that the only course of action was to abandon Suevic to her fate, however the Liverpool & Glasgow Salvage Association acting on behalf of the White Star Line, suggested an unorthodox method of salvaging the ship: As the rear 400 feet (120 m) of the ship's length was undamaged, and this portion contained the boilers, engines and passenger accommodation, they believed it was worthwhile to attempt saving the stern half of the ship by cutting the ship in two and separating it from the impaled bow. White Star decided this was a worthwhile risk, as if successful, rebuilding the ship would be a cheaper option than building a replacement vessel. 
  Suevic, like other White Star liners, had been divided into watertight compartments by watertight bulkheads which could, if they held their integrity allow the ship to remain afloat even if divided. Engineers selected a point just aft of the bridge to cut the ship in two. As oxyacetylene was not available in 1907, this had to be achieved by detonating carefully positioned charges of dynamite. The work to place the explosive charges was hazardous, and took several days, as it could only be undertaken by divers at high or low tide when there was little tidal movement. The move however was a success, and on 2 April the aft half of the ship floated free. The exposed watertight bulkhead held its integrity, and Suevic was able to steam under her own power, in reverse and guided by tugs, to Southampton. The damaged bow was left on the rocks where it was broken up by the pounding waves on the night of 9/10 May.
caption: Suevic's stern after arrival at Southampton
exif: {}