SS Naronic

SS Naronic was a British cargo steamship built in 1892 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Ireland, for the White Star Line. A sister ship of SS Bovic, she was built at a time the company wanted to increase its market share in the transport of live cattle on the North Atlantic route. Along with other company's ships of the same type, she was responsible for transporting goods from Liverpool to New York City, United States, and bringing back American cattle on the return trip. She also had cabins that allowed her to carry a few passengers. At the time of her entry into service, Naronic was the largest cargo ship in operation. On 11 February 1893, less than a year after her maiden voyage, Naronic went missing at sea during an east–west crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. The ship had departed without any problems being reported. However, at that time, there was no way for ships at sea to report possible incidents. Her wreck was never found, but soon after she went missing, two of her lifeboats were sighted by ships. The commission of inquiry formed to determine the causes of the sinking of Naronic found no explanation; tests carried out on her sister ship, the Bovic, proved that her stability was good; and no ice fields were reported on her route. Several hypotheses have been put forward, in particular that of a sinking following a storm or an explosion of chemicals transported in the hold of the ship. The loss of Naronic killed 74 people. In the period following the disappearance of the ship, several bottles containing messages allegedly written during the sinking were found, but these were probably hoaxes. The cargo ship, although expensive, was not insured. The White Star Line replaced it in 1895 with a...