SS Transylvania (1914)

The SS "Transylvania" was a passenger liner of the Cunard subsidiary Anchor Line, and a sister ship to SS "Tuscania". She was torpedoed and sunk on May 4 1917 by the German U-boat U-63 while carrying Allied troops to Egypt and sank with a loss of 412 lives.

Completed just before the outbreak of World War I, the "Transylvania" was taken over for service as a troopship upon completion. She was designed to accommodate 1,379 passengers but the Admiralty fixed her capacity at 200 officers and 2,860 men, besides crew, when she was commissioned in May 1915. [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = ss TRANSYLVANIA | work = Clydebuilt Ships Database | publisher = | date = | url = http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=19107 | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-06-18]

Loss

On May 3 1917, the "Transylvania" sailed from Marseille to Alexandria with a full complement of troops, escorted by the Japanese destroyers "Matsu" and "Sakaki".

At 10 am on May 4 the "Transylvania" was struck in the port engine room by a torpedo fired by the German submarine "U-63". At the time the ship was about convert|2.5|mi|km south of Cape Vado, in the Gulf of Genoa. The "Matsu" came alongside the "Transylvania" and began to take on board troops while the "Sakaki" circled to force the submarine to remain submerged.

Twenty minutes later a second torpedo was seen coming straight for the "Matsu", which saved herself by going astern at full speed. The torpedo hit the "Transylvania" instead, which sank immediately. Ten crew members, 29 army officers and 373 soldiers lost their lives.

Many bodies of victims were recovered at Savona (just north of Cape Vado), and buried two days later, in a special plot in the town cemetery. Others are buried elsewhere in Italy, France, Monaco and Spain. Savona Town Cemetery contains 85 Commonwealth burials from the First World War, all but two of them casualties from the "Transylvania". Within the cemetery is the Savona Memorial which commemorates a further 275 casualties who died when the "Transylvania" sank, but whose graves are unknown. [cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Roll of Honour - Bedfordshire - Silsoe | work = Roll-of-Honour.com | publisher = Roll-of-Honour.com | date = | url = http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Bedfordshire/SilsoeRollofHonour.html | format = | doi = | accessdate = 2008-06-18]

Notes