SS Lucifer
Lucifer was a steam tanker built in 1899 by the C.S. Swan & Hunter Co of Wallsend for C.T. Bowring & Co of Liverpool. The ship was designed and built to carry oil and petroleum cargo in bulk and spent most of her career trading on routes from Philadelphia, Batoum and Novorossiysk to Hamburg and British ports. Design and construction The vessel was laid down at C.S. Swan & Hunter Co. shipyard in Wallsend and launched on 10 August 1899 (yard number 246), with Miss M.C. Bowring of Liverpool being the sponsor. After successful completion of sea trials on 16 September, during which the ship attained maximum speed of and made a mean speed of over a measured mile, she was transferred to her owners and immediately departed for Philadelphia. As built, the ship was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a mean draft of . Lucifer was assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 5,000. The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 310 nhp triple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of , and diameter with a stroke, that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to . Operational history Upon delivery Lucifer departed from