SS Ajax (1923)

History
Name	1923 Elbe; 1927: Ceuta; 1927: Ajax;
Namesake	1923: Elbe; 1927: Ceuta; 1927: Ajax;
Owner	1923: Kirsten Adolf & Co; 1924: Rochling, Menzell & Co; 1927: Oldenburg.-Portug. D/s-R.; 1927: Koninkl. Nederl. Stoomb. Maats.;
Operator	As owner except:; 1927: Schultze & Burmester, Hamburg;
Port of registry	1923: Hamburg; 1927: Amsterdam;
Builder	Hamburger Elbe Schiffswerft AG
Yard number	5
Completed	April 1923
Identification	code letters NBTJ (1927–33); ; call sign PCFQ (1934–40); ;
Fate	Sunk by air attack, 8 August 1940
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	942 GRT, 510 NRT
Length	221.1 ft (67.4 m)
Beam	34.5 ft (10.5 m)
Depth	13.4 ft (4.1 m)
Decks	1
Installed power	126 NHP
Propulsion	triple-expansion steam engine
Speed	10.5 knots (19 km/h)

SS Ajax was a cargo steamship that was built in Germany in 1923 as Elbe. In 1927 she was renamed twice, first to Ceuta and then to Ajax.

A series of German shipping companies owned the ship until 1927, when a Dutch company bought her. A Luftwaffe air raid sank her in the English Channel in 1940. Her wreck off the Isle of Wight is now a destination for wreck diving.

History

Name	1923 Elbe 1927: Ceuta 1927: Ajax
Namesake	1923: Elbe 1927: Ceuta 1927: Ajax
Owner	1923: Kirsten Adolf & Co 1924: Rochling, Menzell & Co 1927: Oldenburg.-Portug. D/s-R. 1927: Koninkl. Nederl. Stoomb. Maats.
Operator	As owner except: 1927: Schultze & Burmester, Hamburg
Port of registry	1923: Hamburg 1927: Amsterdam
Builder	Hamburger Elbe Schiffswerft AG
Yard number	5
Completed	April 1923
Identification	code letters NBTJ (1927–33) call sign PCFQ (1934–40)
Fate	Sunk by air attack, 8 August 1940
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	942 GRT, 510 NRT
Length	221.1 ft (67.4 m)
Beam	34.5 ft (10.5 m)
Depth	13.4 ft (4.1 m)
Decks	1
Installed power	126 NHP
Propulsion	triple-expansion steam engine
Speed	10.5 knots (19 km/h)