SS Abessinia (1900)

Abessinia under way
History
Germany
NameAbessinia
NamesakeAbyssinia
OwnerHamburg America Line
Port of registryHamburg
Route1907: Hamburg – Seattle
BuilderPalmers' S&I Co, Jarrow
Yard number746
Launched16 June 1900
CompletedAugust 1900
Identification
Fatewrecked 3 September 1921
General characteristics
Typecargo ship
Tonnage7,717 GRT, 5,784 NRT
Length452.1 ft (137.8 m)
Beam52.2 ft (15.9 m)
Depth28.3 ft (8.6 m)
Decks2
Installed power642 NHP
Propulsion
Speed11+12 knots (21 km/h)
Notessister ships: Acilia, Alexandria, Artemisia

SS Abessinia was a cargo steamship of the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG). She was built in North East England in 1900, and wrecked in North East England in 1921. In her early years she sailed from Hamburg to and from China, Australia, and the East Coast of the United States. From 1907 to 1912 she sailed from Hamburg to and from the West Coast of the United States and the British Columbia Coast. In 1913 she survived a storm in the North Atlantic that swept away her rudder and disabled her propulsion. She spent the First World War in Chile. Her remains are now a wreck diving site in the Farne Islands.

This was the first of two HAPAG steamships to be called Abessinia, the German for Abyssinia. The second was built in Germany in 1920, and sold and renamed in 1933.