Cheshire
Ship Number
240
Vessel Type
Passenger Ship
Built
Belfast
Launch Date
6 June 1891
Delivered
3 September 1891
Owner
Bibby Steamship Co.
Weight
5656 grt
BP Length
445 feet
Breadth
49 feet
No. of Screws
Single
Speed (approx)
14.5 knots
Propulsion
Triple expansion
Official No.
99310
Registered
Liverpool
Fate
Torpedoed
Cheshire

[Photo courtesy of Bibby Lines archives]
She was launched on 6th June 1891 and when delivered on 3rd September the Bibby Steamship Company service to Burma became monthly.
 
In 1900 she was requisitioned as a troopship for use during the Boer War. She was replaced by the Gloucestershire in 1911 and sold to Lim Chin Tsong of Rangoon who renamed her Seang Choon.  
 
In 1915 she was requisitioned, once again, as a troopship and initially operated to the Dardenelles and then between India and the United Kingdom. She was taken over under the Liner Requisition Scheme in March 1910 and on 10th July of that year, during a voyage from Sydney, NSW to Liverpool via Dakar with a general cargo, she was torpedoed by U-87 ten miles southwest of Fastnet with the loss of 19 lives.