LOSS OF CERAMIC

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 7, 4 October 1943, Page 5

LOSS OF CERAMIC

Sunk Without Trace Last

November (Received October 3, 9.45 p.m.) CAPE TOWN, October 2. Details of one of the worst shipping tragedies of the war —the sinking without trace last November of the liner Ceramic, bound for Cape Town from England with several hundred passengers —is for the first time released by the naval authorities, reports Reuter. No announcement was previously made because of the uncertainty of the fate of the passengers and crew.

It is now known that more than spo lost their lives and some families were completely wiped out. .Captain Elf ord apparently went down with his ship. The authorities are without official news of any survivors, though the Germans have claimed they have one in their hands. Earlier, a German version, of the Ceramic’s fate stated that the ship was sunk in the North Atlantic by a torpedo during a heavy gale. She went down before the lifeboats could be launched.

The liner Ceramic was one of the bestknown vessels trading tn Australian waters. Built in 1013 by Harland and Wolff Ltd., 'Belfast, for the White Star Line, she had a gross tonnage of 18,49 a and a length of 655 feet. .Similar in appearance to the Corinthic and lonic., shq was a steel triple-screw vessel with single funnel four masts and very little superstructure. She traded from England to Australian ports, via South Africa, and when lost was owned by the Shaw, Savin and Albion Company, who had taken her over some years ago.