Qualla: SS Georgia (1890) https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Wed, 08 Jul 2026 02:40:10 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: SS Georgia (1890) https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890 SS Georgia (1890): Introduction https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890/ Photo credit Unknown author, CC BY 4.0. There is something almost ordinary about the way she ended. No torpedo fired in fury. No screaming alarms. Just two warning shots fired at 250 yards' range, a courteous request for the captain to bring his papers across to the U-boat for inspection, and an apologetic German commander who said: 'You are carrying foodstuffs to an enemy of my country, and though I am sorry, it is my duty to sink you.' The ship was the SS Housatonic, lately the SS Georgia, originally the SS Pickhuben. The U-boat was U-53. The date was 3 February 1917, and the place was about twenty nautical miles southwest of Bishop Rock, off the Isles of Scilly. By the time the war was finished with her, Pickhuben/Georgia/Housatonic had carried Jewish refugees from the Russian Empire, the German exhibits for the World's Columbian Exposition, Australian wool, and finally the wheat that helped to push the United States into the First World War.

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Image: Unknown author | CC BY 4.0

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/gbgd-ss-georgia-1890-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full SS Georgia (1890): Five Hamburg Streets https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890/ Photo credit Agence Rol, Public domain. Between July 1890 and January 1891, the Hamburg shipping line DR Hansa expanded its fleet with five new cargo ships, ordered from four different builders. Charles Connell of Glasgow built two of them, named Grimm and Stubbenhuk. Blohm+Voss in Hamburg built Baumwall. Joh. C. Teckl...

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Image: Agence Rol | Public domain

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/gbgd-ss-georgia-1890-five-hamburg-streets.mp3 0:06 2 full SS Georgia (1890): Australia, the Exposition, and a Rescue https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890/ Photo credit Unknown author, CC BY 4.0. Late in 1891 she was chartered to carry passengers and 4,500 tons of general cargo to Melbourne and Sydney, reaching the latter just before Christmas. She returned to Hamburg carrying 6,876 bales of wool. In March 1892 the larger HAPAG line took over DR Hansa, and in 1895 renamed...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/gbgd-ss-georgia-1890-australia-the-exposition-and-a-rescue.mp3 0:06 3 full SS Georgia (1890): Refuge, Resale, Renaming https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890/ Photo credit Unknown author, CC BY 4.0. When the First World War began in August 1914, Georgia was caught on the wrong side of the new front lines and took refuge in New Orleans. The neutral United States kept the ship safe while German vessels in foreign ports became prisoners of their own neutrality. On 16 April 1915...

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]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/gbgd-ss-georgia-1890-refuge-resale-renaming.mp3 0:06 4 full SS Georgia (1890): The Polite Sinking https://qualla.com/ss-georgia-1890/ Photo credit St. Petersburg Times, Public domain. At 10:30 on the morning of 3 February 1917, U-53 - commanded by Hans Rose - intercepted Housatonic about twenty nautical miles southwest of Bishop Rock. Rose fired two warning shots and forced the ship to heave to. He summoned Captain Thomas Ensor aboard with his papers. He exami...

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Image: St. Petersburg Times | Public domain

]]> Sat, 23 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/g/b/g/d/ss-georgia-1890-wp/gbgd-ss-georgia-1890-the-polite-sinking.mp3 0:06 5 full