View source for SS Egypt

{{Short description|Ocean liner which sunk in 1922}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2016}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = StateLibQld 1 141467 Egypt (ship).jpg
| Ship caption = 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Ship name = ''Egypt''
| Ship namesake = [[Egypt]]
| Ship owner = [[File:P&O-house flag.svg|border|20px]] [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O Steam Navigation Co]]
| Ship operator = [[File:P&O-house flag.svg|border|20px]] P&O Steam Navigation Co
| Ship registry = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} [[Port of London|London]]
| Ship route = [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]] – [[Mumbai Harbour|Bombay]]
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship builder = [[Caird & Company]], [[Greenock]]
| Ship original cost = 
| Ship yard number = 285
| Ship way number = 
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 15 May 1897
| Ship completed = 
| Ship christened = 
| Ship acquired = 
| Ship maiden voyage = 
| Ship in service = 
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship identification = *UK [[official number]] 105581
*[[code letters]] PTGD
*{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Tango}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Delta}}
| Ship fate = Sunk in collision 20 May 1922
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Ship type = 
| Ship tonnage = *{{GRT|7912}}
*{{NRT|4179}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|499.9|ft|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|54.3|ft}}
| Ship depth = {{convert|24.5|ft}}
| Ship draught = {{convert|26|ft|9|in}}
| Ship power = 11,000 [[Horsepower#Indicated horsepower|ihp]]
| Ship propulsion = *[[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]]
*single [[Propeller|screw]]
| Ship speed = service: {{convert|15|kn|abbr=on}}. Max: {{convert|18|kn|abbr=on}}
| Ship capacity = *Passengers: 301 1st class, 208 2nd class
*Cargo: {{convert|171303|cuft|0}}
| Ship crew = 283 (116 Europeans and 167 [[Lascar]]s)
| Ship notes = [[Sister ship]]s: {{RMS|Arabia||2}}, {{SS|China|1896|2}}, {{SS|India|1896|2}}, {{SS|Persia|1900|2}}
}}
|}

'''SS ''Egypt''''' was a [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] [[ocean liner]]. She sank after a collision with {{SS|Seine||2}} on 20 May 1922 in the [[Celtic Sea]]. 252 people were rescued from the 338 passengers and crew aboard at the time. A subsequent salvage operation recovered most of the cargo of gold and silver.

==Early career==
[[Caird & Company]] built  ''Egypt'' at [[Greenock]] on the [[River Clyde]], launching her on 15 May 1897.<ref name=SSRT-Egypt>{{Cite web |url=https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=1897&builder=&ref=3957&vessel=EGYPT |title=Egypt |publisher=Shipping & Shipbuilding Research Trust |accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref> She generally ran between the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] and [[British Raj|India]],<ref name=POH>{{cite web |url=https://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/93098EGYPT-1897pdf.pdf |title=Egypt |publisher=P&O Heritage |accessdate=7 June 2024}}</ref> but served as a [[hospital ship]] in the [[World War I|First World War]].<ref name=SSRT-Egypt/>

==Final voyage==
''Egypt'' left [[Tilbury]], [[Essex]], on 19 May 1922 carrying only 44 passengers and a cargo that included gold and silver bullion and gold sovereigns worth over £1 million{{sfn|Marriott|1987|p=136}} (around £200 million at the 2012 gold price).

The voyage proceeded normally until the early morning of 20 May, when fog was encountered. As a safety measure Captain Collyer greatly reduced the speed of the ship. ''Egypt'' remained in fog until the afternoon, when the navigator was able to sight landmarks on the French coast and fix the ship's position.

After continuing the voyage for several hours a dense fog bank was suddenly encountered at around 7p.m. The engines were stopped, but almost immediately afterwards a fog whistle was heard. The steamship ''Seine'' emerged through the fog and within seconds struck ''Egypt''{{'}}s port side in the [[Celtic Sea]] {{convert|28|nmi|km}} off the [[Ar Men]] Lighthouse, [[Finistère]], France.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=P&O liner sunk |date=22 May 1922 |page=10 |issue=43037 |column=A-B }}</ref> ''Seine'' had a strengthened bow for ice-breaking, which penetrated deeply into ''Egypt''{{'}}s hull before the ships drifted apart.{{sfn|Bishop|2002|p=38}}

An [[SOS]] [[distress signal]] was transmitted and replies were received from the steamers {{SS|Cahiracon||2}} and [[SS Atlantis (1913)|RMS ''Andes'']], but ''Egypt'' sank in less than 20 minutes, before either ship arrived.{{sfn|Marriott|1987|p=138}} Most of the passengers and crew were able to abandon ship in the [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]], which were picked up by ''Seine'', but 86 of the 352 people on board ''Egypt'' died.{{sfn|Marriott|1987|p=141}}

==Salvage==
<!-- target for redirect [[Salvage of the SS Egypt's gold]] -->
[[File:Alberto gianni.jpg|thumb|The torretta Butoscopica]]
Because ''Egypt'' had such valuable cargo, it was not long before [[Marine salvage|salvage]] attempts began. However, ''Egypt''{{'}}s wreck was not found until 1930. She was found lying upright in a depth of {{convert|128|m|ft}}, 70 fathoms, making recovery very difficult with the technology of the time. Giovanni Quaglia from the Genoese company ''Società Ricuperi Marittimi'' (So.Ri.Ma.) was in charge of the operation and decided to use his salvage fleet with the main ship ''[[Artiglio]]'', on which there was embarked a famous group of expert [[Standard diving dress|hard hat divers]] under the command of the chief diver [[Alberto Gianni]], who had invented special diving equipment.{{sfn|Pickford|1998|p=152}}

Gianni located the wreck, and sent a diver in his specially-built ''Torretta Butoscopica'' [[observation bell]] to direct salvage operations and the placing of explosives to blast through the ship to expose the strongroom. The diver then directed a grab which picked up the gold and silver. The salvage operation continued until 1935, by which time 98% of the contents of the strong room had been recovered.{{sfn|Pickford|1998|p=152}} The recovery was reported in detail by ''The Times'' reporter David Scott, who sent daily cables  to the newspaper, and who later published two famous books on this adventure, the first very deep recovery by divers, ''Seventy Fathom deep, with the divers of salvage ship Artiglio'' and ''The Egypt's gold''.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Egypt's Gold|newspaper=The Times|date=4 November 1932|issue=46282|page=9}}</ref>

==2001 expedition==
In June 2001 a team of British technical divers known as the Starfish Enterprise left Plymouth, England aboard the 24m-long Royal Navy fleet tender ''Loyal Watcher'' in search of the wreck. The research position gave the wreck to be 150 nautical miles across the English Channel and into the Bay of Biscay. They discovered and positively identified the wreck. which lay 25 miles off the French island of [[Ushant]].{{sfn|Bishop|2002|page=36}}

The divers conducted their exploration mainly on the upright bow of the wreck, but noted that the remaining sections, although upright, had considerably broken down to seabed level. Each of the divers recorded a maximum depth of 127 meters (420&nbsp;ft).{{sfn|Bishop|2002|page=36}} Deep-wreck photographer [[Leigh Bishop]] photographed sections of the hull, a spare [[propeller]] on the [[well deck]], porcelain marked "P&O", and numerous portholes with drip trays and square fastening dogs, a trademark of P&O liners.{{sfn|Bishop|2002|page=37}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Sources==
*{{cite magazine|last=Bishop|first=Leigh|year=2002|title=Seventy Fathoms Deep|magazine=Advanced Diver Magazine|issue=14|pages=35–39|url=https://advanceddivermagazine.com/_PDFORDER/isfg/14hsi/ADM%20ISSUE%2014.pdf}}
*{{cite book |last=Marriott |first=John |year=1987 |title=Disaster At Sea |place=Shepperton |publisher=[[Ian Allan Publishing]] |isbn=0711017379 }}
*{{cite book |last=Pickford |first=Nigel |year=1998 |title=Lost Treasure Ships of the 20th Century |place=Washington, DC |publisher=[[National Geographic Society]] |isbn=0792274725 |page=[https://archive.org/details/losttreasureship0000pick/page/152 152] |url=https://archive.org/details/losttreasureship0000pick/page/152 }}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url= http://www.pandosnco.co.uk/egypt.html | title= Loss of the S.S. EGYPT }} - "SS Egypt" ship loss history
*{{cite web |url=https://www.toscanaovunquebella.it/en/viareggio/the-artiglio-tragedy-fire-in-the-hole|title=The Artiglio tragedy: "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15028 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040905020432/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15028 |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 2004-09-05 |last1=Cameron |first1=Stuart |last2=Strathdee |first2=Paul |last3=Robinson |first3=George |last4=Biddulph |first4=Bruce |title=ss Egypt |publisher=Clydebuilt}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/salvaged/EGYPT_285.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150327090243/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/salvaged/EGYPT_285.html |url-status= usurped |archive-date= 2015-03-27 |last1=Strathdee |first1=Paul |last2=Robinson |first2=George |title=ss Egypt |work=Salvaged Ships! |publisher=Clydebuilt}}
*{{cite journal |url= http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/31247/the-sunken-p-o-liner-egypt-was-called-the-impossible-salvage/ |title=The P & O Liner 'Egypt' was called "the impossible salvage" |journal=[[Look and Learn]] |issue=575 |date=20 January 1973}}
*{{cite journal |url= http://www.shippingwondersoftheworld.com/diving-million.html |title=Diving for £1,000,000 |journal=Shipping Wonders of the World | date=February 1936 |pages=63–71 |editor-first=Clarence |editor-last=Winchester}} – illustrated description of the salvage of ''Egypt''
*{{cite journal |url= http://www.divernet.com/wrecks/p298354-seventy-fathoms-deep.html |title=Seventy Fathoms Deep |journal=Diver Magazine | date= 2001-09-02 |editor-first=Leigh |editor-last=Bishop}} – diving exploration of shipwreck ''Egypt''

{{P&O ships}}
{{1922 shipwrecks}}
{{Underwater diving|prodiv}}
{{Authority control}}
{{coord missing|English Channel}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egypt, SS}}
[[Category:1897 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Hospital ships in World War I]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1922]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Passenger ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of P&O (company)]]
[[Category:Ships sunk in collisions]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Celtic Sea]]