SS Agios Georgios IV was a Greek-owned cargosteamship that was built in England in 1938 and sunk by a Japanese submarine in the Indian Ocean in 1942. Agios Georgios IV was one of a relatively small number of steamships that had White combination engines. This was a combination of a high-speed four-cylinder compound steam engine that drove the propeller shaft via single-reduction gearing, with an exhaust steam turbine that drove the same shaft via double-reduction gearing.[1]
Building
In 1936 and 1937 Bartram & Sons in Sunderland built a set of six tramp steamships for Welsh shipowners, all to the same dimensions. All six ships had the same White's propulsion system, with a compound engine, an exhaust turbine, and reduction gearing for both engines. Nailsea Court, Llanashe and Nailsea Meadow were launched in 1936.[2][3][4]Llandaff, Nailsea Moor and Nailsea Manor were launched in 1937.[5][6][7]
Bartram's then built Agios Nicolaos IV to the same design, as yard number 279. She was launched on 14 April 1938 and completed that July.[8] Her registered length was 417.9 ft (127.4 m), her beam was 56.6 ft (17.3 m) and her depth was 24.8 ft (7.6 m). Her tonnages were 4,847 GRT and 2,916 NRT. The combined rating of her four-cylinder compound engine and exhaust steam turbine was 365 NHP.[9]
In the Second World War Greece was neutral until Italy tried to invade it in October 1940. In January 1941 Agios Georgios IV sailed from Piraeus to Port Said in Convoy AS 11, which comprised ten Greek, British, Dutch and Egyptian merchant ships. The convoy seems to have lacked an escort, but all ten ships arrived safely.[10]
