1922: The P&O liner Egypt was rammed by the French liner Seine. The Egypt was built in 1897 by Caird & Co in Greenock, Scotland. At 499' long and 54' wide she was registered at 7,912 tons. She had been in service for the P&O line for her entire career with the exception of World War 1 when she was used as a hospital ship by the Royal Navy. On May 19, 1922 she departed Tilbury for Bombay. On the night of the 20th off Ushant a fog bank suddenly engulfed the Egypt. The captain, no longer able to navigate ordered the ship stopped. A warning horn could be heard in the distance but the ship could not be seen. Within minuets the bow of the Seine broke through the fog. Within 15 seconds the Egypt was holed by the Seine.

The Egypt began to list quickly and a panic ensued on deck. It is worth noting that the Seine was a much smaller vessel (1,383 tons) but, she had a reinforced ice breaking bow which saved her but doomed the Egypt. Not only was the Egypt was carrying 44 passengers and 208 crew and over £ 1,000,000 worth of gold. The Egypt sank in 20 minuets taking with her 15 passengers and 71 crew. The survivors were taken on board the Seine and transported to Brest. The gold remained on board.

The Egypt sank in 360' of water which was out of reach for the diving technology of the day. It took until 1933, over 10 years to recover the gold. The salvage effort cost £200,000.

(SS Egypt Profile)

© 2005 Michael W. Pocock
MaritimeQuest.com

SS Egypt