SS Hispania (1912)

Hispania was built by the Antwerp Engineering Co Ltd, Hoboken, Antwerp, Belgium. She was yard number 59. Hispania was launched in 1912 and completed in December of that year. She was owned by Svenska Lloyd AB. Hispania was managed by a number of different managers, including H Metcalft, followed by K R Bökman from c1930. ==Sinking==

On 18 December 1954, Hispania sank after hitting a reef in a storm. Heading to Varberg, Sweden, from Liverpool she attempted to navigate through the Sound of Mull but hit the Sgeir More (Big Rock) and started to list. The order to abandon ship was given and the crew lowered the lifeboats and rowed to shore. Captain Ivan Dahn refused to leave the ship and chose to go down with it. The other twenty crew were saved. At the time, Hispania was carrying a cargo of asbestos, rubber sheeting and steel. ==Wreck==

The wreck sits, intact and upright, in of clear water, at . The water temperature ranges from 14 °C in summer to as low as 5 °C in winter. No archaeological surveys of the site had been undertaken until SOMAP's involvement. The ship's horn was salvaged in the 1960s by a member of Scarborough Sub-Aqua Club and is now on display there. Minor damage was caused by a scallop dredger in 1999 when its fishing gear pulled down one of the masts and caused minor scrape damage. ==Propulsion==

Hispania was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which was built by the North East Marine Engine Co Ltd, Newcastle upon Tyne. It had cylinders of , and diameter by stroke, developing , giving a speed of . ==Official number and code letters==

Official Numbers were a forerunner to IMO Numbers. Hispania had the Swedish Official Number 5396 and used the Code Letter JTCB between 1930 and 1944, ==References==