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THE MYSTERY OF BRITISH SS ARMENIAN AND THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
13:54, 21 March, 2013
YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS: The fact that SS Armenian once sailed
the high seas and worked the cargo routes of the North Atlantic is news
to most people, including Armenians. Brithish SS Armenian was built
during the Hamidian massacares and sunk during the Armenian Genocide.
Built as a freighter, the SS Armenian was a valuable transportation
vessel in the profitable cargo service that existed between Great
Britain and North America at the turn of the 20th century. The exact
location of its final resting place remained a mystery until 2008,
when its wreck was discovered off the western coast of England and
it was seen for the first time since World War I, reports Armenpress
citing English language The Armenian Mirror-Spectator weekly.
For a ship born during the Hamidian massacres, it was perhaps
inevitable that it would meet its doom in that darkest of years -
in 1915 - at the same time as the people with whom she shared her
name were being slaughtered.
The SS Armenian was built in 1895 by Harland & Wolff, the Belfast
shipyard that would later become famous for making the legendary trio
Titanic, Olympic and Britannic. The vessel was 156 meters long and
had a displacement of 8,825 tons.
With very little contact between Great Britain and a nation called
Armenia, the clue behind the sudden name change lies in the events
inundating the British press throughout 1895. During this time, the
sultan and the ruling elite of the Ottoman Empire were diligently
putting into action their final solution to the 'Armenian Question,'
a solution which required the destruction of the empire's Armenian
minority as a cohesive unit and its dispersal throughout the country .
In October 1895, reports of the slaughter of hundreds of Armenian
men in the town of Erzurum provoked shock and indignation across
the world. Newspaper articles regularly depicted the sultan
as a bloodthirsty tyrant, a butcher of women and children, and
sympathy for the Armenians was widespread. Leading newspapers such
as the Times, Morning Post, Daily News, New York Times and Le Petit
Parisien published articles and editorials by prominent public figures
condemning the Turkish crimes. With the constant flow of news reports
causing outrage and clamors for justice, it is understandable why
the people behind the building of the SS Armenian would choose to
rename the vessel. It may have been a small but significant gesture,
an expression of solidarity with the Armenian people in their hour
of torment and agony.
While heading northeast off Trevose Head, Cornwall, a watchman on
the Armenian sighted a German submarine in June 1915. In what proved
to be an erroneous decision, Captain James Trickey ordered the ship
ahead full-steam in an attempt to outrun the U-boat, which turned
out to be the U-24. The captain was signaled to stop and surrender
after two shots were fired across the ship's bow, but he refused.
The Armenian was then sunk by two torpedoes fired into its stern.
While the propaganda war raged in the newspapers, President Woodrow
Wilson considered the Armenian incident before making any official
pronouncements, preferring to wait until the investigation was over.
His procrastination proved expedient. The ship was undeniably engaged
in the transportation of contraband to England.
The furor caused by the sinking of the Armenian eventually abated
because of the circumstances surrounding the event, and the US did
not declare war on Germany until April 1917.
The SS Armenian was finally located and identified by wreck hunter
and archaeologist Innes McCartney in 2008.
13:54, 21 March, 2013
YEREVAN, MARCH 21, ARMENPRESS: The fact that SS Armenian once sailed
the high seas and worked the cargo routes of the North Atlantic is news
to most people, including Armenians. Brithish SS Armenian was built
during the Hamidian massacares and sunk during the Armenian Genocide.
Built as a freighter, the SS Armenian was a valuable transportation
vessel in the profitable cargo service that existed between Great
Britain and North America at the turn of the 20th century. The exact
location of its final resting place remained a mystery until 2008,
when its wreck was discovered off the western coast of England and
it was seen for the first time since World War I, reports Armenpress
citing English language The Armenian Mirror-Spectator weekly.
For a ship born during the Hamidian massacres, it was perhaps
inevitable that it would meet its doom in that darkest of years -
in 1915 - at the same time as the people with whom she shared her
name were being slaughtered.
The SS Armenian was built in 1895 by Harland & Wolff, the Belfast
shipyard that would later become famous for making the legendary trio
Titanic, Olympic and Britannic. The vessel was 156 meters long and
had a displacement of 8,825 tons.
With very little contact between Great Britain and a nation called
Armenia, the clue behind the sudden name change lies in the events
inundating the British press throughout 1895. During this time, the
sultan and the ruling elite of the Ottoman Empire were diligently
putting into action their final solution to the 'Armenian Question,'
a solution which required the destruction of the empire's Armenian
minority as a cohesive unit and its dispersal throughout the country .
In October 1895, reports of the slaughter of hundreds of Armenian
men in the town of Erzurum provoked shock and indignation across
the world. Newspaper articles regularly depicted the sultan
as a bloodthirsty tyrant, a butcher of women and children, and
sympathy for the Armenians was widespread. Leading newspapers such
as the Times, Morning Post, Daily News, New York Times and Le Petit
Parisien published articles and editorials by prominent public figures
condemning the Turkish crimes. With the constant flow of news reports
causing outrage and clamors for justice, it is understandable why
the people behind the building of the SS Armenian would choose to
rename the vessel. It may have been a small but significant gesture,
an expression of solidarity with the Armenian people in their hour
of torment and agony.
While heading northeast off Trevose Head, Cornwall, a watchman on
the Armenian sighted a German submarine in June 1915. In what proved
to be an erroneous decision, Captain James Trickey ordered the ship
ahead full-steam in an attempt to outrun the U-boat, which turned
out to be the U-24. The captain was signaled to stop and surrender
after two shots were fired across the ship's bow, but he refused.
The Armenian was then sunk by two torpedoes fired into its stern.
While the propaganda war raged in the newspapers, President Woodrow
Wilson considered the Armenian incident before making any official
pronouncements, preferring to wait until the investigation was over.
His procrastination proved expedient. The ship was undeniably engaged
in the transportation of contraband to England.
The furor caused by the sinking of the Armenian eventually abated
because of the circumstances surrounding the event, and the US did
not declare war on Germany until April 1917.
The SS Armenian was finally located and identified by wreck hunter
and archaeologist Innes McCartney in 2008.