SS Melita

SS Melita was one of a pair of transatlantic steam ocean liners that were built in the United Kingdom, launched in 1917 and operated by Canadian Pacific until 1935. Her sister ship was Minnedosa.

In 1935 Flotte Riuniti Cosulich-Lloyd Sabaudo obtained both ships, renamed them, and converted them into troop ships for the Italian government. Melita was renamed Liguria, and in 1936 passed to Lloyd Triestino.

In 1940 a British aircraft torpedoed Liguria in the Mediterranean. In 1941 Italian forces scuttled her at Tobruk. Her wreck was raised, and in 1950 it was scrapped.

In 1913 Hamburg America Line ordered a pair of liners from Barclay, Curle & Co. During that war Canadian Pacific (CP) bought the two partly built ships and had them completed to its specification.

Barclay, Curle & Co built Melita in Glasgow as yard number 517 and launched her on 24 April 1917. She was then towed to Belfast where Harland & Wolff installed her engines. Her Harland & Wolff yard number was 463.

Melita had three screws. A pair of four-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines drove her port and starboard screws. Exhaust steam from their low-pressure cylinders powered a low-pressure steam turbine that drove her middle screw. Between them the three engines gave her a top speed of 16+1⁄2 knots (30.6 km/h) and cruising speed of 15 knots (28 km/h).

Melita's registered length was 520 ft (160 m), her beam was 67.2 ft (20.5 m) and her depth was 50.3 ft (15.3 m). Her holds included 37,460 cubic feet (1,061 m³) of refrigerated space. As built, her tonnages were 13,967 GRT and 8,526 NRT.

Just before the First World War, CP was developing the idea of cabin class to replace both first and second class. Accordingly it had Melita and Minnedosa fitted out with only two classes of passenger accommodation. Melita had berths for 550 passengers in cabin class and 1,200 in third class.