SS Byron
Vasilefs Constantinos in Piraeus in 1917 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Namesake |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Route | |
| Builder | Cammell, Laird & Co, Birkenhead |
| Yard number | 800 |
| Launched | 9 June 1914 |
| Completed | December 1914 |
| Maiden voyage | 13 May 1915 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped 1937 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | 9,272 GRT, 4,869 NRT |
| Length | 470.0 ft (143.3 m) |
| Beam | 58.1 ft (17.7 m) |
| Draught | 24 ft 2 in (7.4 m) |
| Depth | 32.7 ft (10.0 m) |
| Decks | 2 |
| Installed power | 1,759 NHP |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15+1⁄2 knots (28.7 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 300 |
SS Byron was a transatlantic ocean liner that was built in England in 1914 and scrapped in Italy in 1937. She was launched as Vasilefs Constantinos, named after Constantine I of Greece. In 1919 she was renamed Megali Hellas, the Greek name for the Ancient Greek settlements in Sicily and southern Italy. In 1923 she was renamed Byron, in recognition of the role of Lord Byron (1788–1824) in the Greek War of Independence (1821–29).
Throughout her career the ship was owned by the National Steam Navigation Company, Ltd, of Greece. However, France requisitioned her as a troop ship in 1918, and her Greek owners registered her in the United Kingdom from 1923 until 1928.
The ship was small compared with the great transatlantic liners of her era. But even in the 1930s she was the largest ship in the Greek merchant fleet.