SS Ursus

SS Ursus was a tugboat operated by the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique from 1922 to 1940.[1]

The tugboat Ursus in Le Havre.
History
Name: HMT Cynic
Operator: The Admiralty
Port of registry:
Builder: Bow, McLachlan & Co. Ltd., Paisley
Yard number: 306
Launched: 28 September 1916
In service: 1917
Out of service: 1922
Fate: Sold to the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Notes: Laid down as Juan Soverny for Chile and purchased by the Admiralty while under construction
History
Name: SS Ursus
Owner: Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Operator: Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Port of registry:  France
Acquired: 1922
In service: 1922
Out of service: 29 April 1945
Fate: Bombed and sunk 1945, raised and scrapped several years later
Notes: Tug at Le Havre
General characteristics
Type: Tugboat
Tonnage: 472 GRT
Length: 141.6 ft.
Beam: 29.1 ft.
Depth: 14.9 ft.
Installed power: 1200 hp
Propulsion: Twin screws
Speed: 12 kts.

Early history

She was built by Bow, McLachlan & Co. Ltd. in Paisley for Chile in 1916, and laid down under the name Juan Soverny, but was purchased by the Admiralty while still under construction and renamed Cynic. The tug was launched on September 28, 1916, and entered service a year later as a towing vessel.[2]

French Line service

Cynic was sold to the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique in 1922 and was converted into a tender for Le Havre service, and renamed Ursus. The tug served with fellow CGT tug Titan, assisting the largest of the company's liners.

On October 8, 1926, Ursus was accidentally rammed by the SS Paris at the entrance of the harbor in Havre, where she sank. The tug was raised in February of the following year and returned to service.

Titan and Ursus were joined by the newly purchased Minotaure, ex-Romsey in 1929 as Le Havre tenders. The three tugs assisted in the launch of the liner Normandie on October 29, 1932, and later participated together in the rescue of the battleship Jean Bart in mid-June 1940. While under construction in Saint-Nazaire, Germany won the Battle of France and the battleship had to be evacuated to avoid advancing German troops. Minotaure, Titan, and Ursus towed her to Casablanca, where she would remain until late 1945.[3]

Ursus was seized by the Germans on July 30, 1940 in Bordeaux, and used by the Kriegsmarine. On April 29, 1945, the tug was bombed by an Allied plane and sunk in the Baltic Sea, near Brunsbuttel. She was declared a war loss in 1947 and in the early 1950s was raised and subsequently scrapped.[4]

References
  1. "Remorqueurs Cies de Navigation". frenchtugs.free.fr. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  2. "Screw Steamer CYNIC built by Bow, McLachlan & Co. Ltd. in 1917 for The Admiralty, Tug". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  3. "Histoire du batiment de ligne Jean Bart". www.netmarine.net. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  4. "remorqueur Ursus". 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 20 October 2007. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
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