SS Waesland

	As Waesland
History
United Kingdom
Name	Russia; Waesland;
Namesake	Russia
Owner	Cunard (1867-1880); Red Star Line (1880-1902);
Operator	Cunard (1867- 1880); Red Star Line (1880-1895; American Line (1895-1902);
Route	North Atlantic
Builder	J & G Thomson, Glasgow
Yard number	93
Launched	20 March 1867
Maiden voyage	15 Jun 1867
Identification	United Kingdom Official Number 12729
Fate	Sunk after collision, 5 March 1902
General characteristics
Type	Liner
Tonnage	4.752 GRT
Length	109.1 m (358 ft)
Beam	13.1 m (43 ft)
Propulsion	Steam reciprocating engine, single screw; Re-engined with compound engine 1880; Re-engined with triple expansion engine 1889;
Sail plan	3 masts
Speed	14 kn (26 km/h; 16 mph)

SS Waesland was a Cunard liner built by J & G Thomson of Glasgow as Russia. She was launched 20 March 1867 and made her maiden voyage in June of the same year. The writer Charles Dickens returned to England on the Russia after his second tour of the United States and was fulsome in his praise of the ship.^[1] On 25 May 1869, Russia ran into the ship Figlia Maggiore of Trieste off Bedloes Island, New York City, which sank without loss of life.^[2]

She was sold to the Red Star Line in 1880 and renamed Waesland. Red Star replaced her engine with a compound engine which, in 1889, was replaced in turn with a triple expansion engine. In 1895 she was chartered to the American Line for use on their services to Philadelphia. In 1902 she was in collision with the Harmonides, formerly the Woolloomooloo of Lund's Blue Anchor Line, off the coast of Anglesey and sank with the loss of two lives.^[3]

For many years a painting of the Russia hung in the London offices of Cunard.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Wills, Elspeth (2010). The Fleet 1840 - 2010. London: The Open Agency. p. 23. ISBN 9-780954-245184.
^ "Shipping". Liverpool Mercury. No. 6666. Liverpool. 7 June 1869.
^ "Russia, Cunard Line". Norway Heritage. Retrieved 3 December 2016.