SS Skirmisher

SS Skirmisher at Liverpool, 1914
History
United Kingdom
Name	SS Skirmisher
Owner	Cunard Line (1884–1934) Cunard-White Star (1934-1946)
Port of registry	Liverpool
Ordered	Served in the Mersey
Builder	J&G Thomson, Clydebank
Yard number	221
Laid down	1883
Launched	14 May 1884
In service	5 July 1884
Out of service	1945
Fate	Scrapped in 1947
General characteristics
Type	Passenger tender
Tonnage	607 GRT
Length	165 feet 0 inches (50.29 m)
Beam	32 feet 3 inches (9.83 m)
Depth	15 feet 0 inches (4.57 m)
Propulsion	Twin screw
Sail plan	Jib sail x1, later removed
Speed	13 knots (24 km/h)
Capacity	717 passengers
Notes	First twin screw Cunard vessel

SS Skirmisher was a steel tugboat^[1] and passenger tender of the Cunard Line built in 1884 for service in the Mersey at Liverpool. She was used in this role through the Cunard-White Star merger until 1941. She was sold for scrap in 1947.^[2]

Career

Skirmisher was constructed in 1884 to act as a tender and part time tugboat for the new RMS Umbria and RMS Etruria,^[3] which were too big to enter the landing stage in the Mersey at lower tides. Skirmisher was to carry passengers from the docks to these ships. Her machinery was a single ended boiler originally with six furnaces, replaced in 1908 with two boilers. Her engines produced 1,104HP, giving her an average speed of 13 knots. In July 1886, the builder's model of the Skirmisher was up for display at Liverpool, as well as other Cunard vessels.^[4] In May 1894, she acted as an escort to Queen Victoria's yacht.^[5] She also sailed to Spithead for the 1897 Spithead Naval Review, where she acted as a tender exclusively to the RMS Campania. By 1902, she had permanently replaced the old Satellite as a Liverpool tender.

During the ship's 1908 refit, an extra deck was added, her funnel was heightened, and her old boiler was replaced with 2 slightly smaller but more efficient ones. With this extra deck, it was easier for her to tend to the massive new RMS Mauretania and RMS Lusitania. She continued service in this configuration until 1941.

In April 1913, the Skirmisher steamed to the Clyde, to witness the launch of the RMS Aquitania. In 1917, Skirmisher was berthed across the Gladstone Dock gate, to protect the dock from being torpedoed by U-boats. From 1922 until 1923, she was used as a tender on the river Clyde as part of the Cunard-Anchor Line joint service.

War Service

During the May Blitz in 1941, the SS Malakand was docked in Liverpool nearby the Skirmisher. When Makaland exploded, the bridge on the Skirmisher was completely destroyed by flying debris, and the mast pierced Skirmisher's hull, and quickly sank.^[6] She was refloated, and converted into a fireboat, where she could pump 100 tons of water per hour. In 1944, she visited Fishguard to serve the RMS Queen Mary, with Winston Churchill on board. Due to bad weather, the Queen Mary diverted to the Clyde, and Skirmisher returned to the Mersey.

She was withdrawn from service in October 1945, and her upper superstructure and remaining fittings were stripped. She was towed to Garston in March, 1947 where her hull was broken up for scrap.^[7]

References