Editing SS Ceramic (section)

==Second World War service==
When the [[World War II|Second World War]] broke out on 1 September 1939 ''Ceramic'' was at [[Tenerife]] on her regular route to South Africa and Australia. She continued as scheduled, unescorted, reaching Australia in October. She left Sydney on 1 November<ref name=Hague>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php?vessel=CERAMIC~armain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Ceramic |work=Ship Movements |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> and returned unescorted until she reached [[Freetown]], [[Sierra Leone]], where she joined [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#S|Convoy SL]] 13F, becoming the convoy vice-commodore's ship. SL 13F left port on 19 December and reached Liverpool on 3 January 1940.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/sl2/index.html?sl.php?convoy=13F!~slmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy SL.13F |work=SL/MKS Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

In February 1940 ''Ceramic'' was commissioned as a troop ship.<ref name=TitanicCeramic/> She kept her usual route, leaving Liverpool unescorted on 19 February and reaching Sydney on 14 April. She left Sydney for home on 20 April, and after her regular calls in Australia and South Africa she put into Freetown on 2 June. If she was seeking a home-bound convoy she found none, for she sailed the next day unescorted and reached Liverpool on 13 June.<ref name=Hague/>

===Collision with ''Testbank''===
On 20 July 1940 ''Ceramic'' left Liverpool with [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#O|Convoy OB]] 186. This dispersed at sea two days later as scheduled.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/ob2/index.html?ob.php?convoy=186!~obmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy OB.186 |work=OB Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

In the South Atlantic in the small hours of 11 August 1940 the [[Bank Line]] cargo ship {{SS|Testbank||2}} sighted ''Ceramic'' about a mile and a half ahead. Under wartime navigation regulations both ships were sailing without navigation lights. ''Ceramic''{{'}}s lookout failed to see ''Testbank'' until the two ships were about {{convert|350|yd}} from each other. Both ships took avoiding action but were too late to avoid a collision.<ref name=Marsh>{{cite web |url= http://rapidttp.co.za/waratsea/testbank.html |last=Marsh |first=John H |title=British Freighter "Testbank" |work=South Africa and the War at Sea |publisher=Mike Marsh |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

About 0200 hrs ''Testbank'' rammed ''Ceramic''{{'}}s starboard bow. The combined speed of the collision was about {{convert|25|kn|km/h}}. It shortened the cargo ship's bow by about {{convert|20|ft|0}} and opened a hole about {{convert|40|ft}} wide in the liner's Number One Hold, but both ships stayed afloat. ''Testbank''{{'}}s cargo was 9,000 tons of iron ore, which would have sunk her very quickly if she had shipped enough water. In the event she was able to return to Cape Town under her own power.<ref name=Marsh/>

As a precaution, ''Ceramic''{{'}}s 279 passengers were taken off and transferred by boats to the [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O]] liner {{RMS|Viceroy of India}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/94879VICEROY-OF-INDIA-1929pdf.pdf |title=Viceroy of India (1929) |work=Fact Sheet |publisher=P&O Heritage |date=June 2009 |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref> ''Ceramic'' reached [[Walvis Bay]] in [[South West Africa]] with the aid of a [[Tugboat|tug]] and escorted by a Royal Navy warship. She arrived on 16 August and stayed for emergency repairs until 24 September. She reached Cape Town on 27 September and stayed there for almost £50,000 worth of further repairs.<ref name=Marsh/> On 10 December ''Ceramic'' resumed her passage to Australia, reaching Sydney on 18 January 1941. Apart from a visit to [[Newcastle, New South Wales]] ''Ceramic'' stayed in Sydney until 21 March, when she left for home. She made her usual calls in South Africa at the end of April and reached Liverpool on 28 May.<ref name=Hague/>

===Further war service===
On 28 or 29 June 1941 ''Ceramic'' left Liverpool with [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#W|Convoy WS]] 9B, which reached Freetown on 13 July.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/misc/index.html?yy.php?convoy=WS.9B!~miscmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy WS.9B |work=Shorter Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> She continued unescorted ''via'' South Africa as usual, reaching Sydney on 4 September, where she stayed until 1 October. She then visited Newcastle and [[Port of Brisbane|Brisbane]] before leaving Sydney for home on 12 October. Instead of returning by her usual route ''Ceramic'' turned east across the [[Tasman Sea]], called at [[Wellington Harbour|Wellington]], [[New Zealand]] 19–27 October and then crossed the Pacific. In November she passed through the [[Panama Canal]] and reached [[Halifax, Nova Scotia]].<ref name=Hague/> There she joined [[HX convoys|Convoy HX]] 163, which left on 3 December and reached Liverpool on 19 December.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html?hx.php?convoy=163!~hxmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy HX.163 |work=Shorter Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

In January 1942 ''Ceramic'' left Liverpool with [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#O|Convoy ON]] 59 until it dispersed as scheduled in the North Atlantic. Because of the threat of enemy attack her Atlantic route from Liverpool to Cape Town was extended westwards. She steamed west unescorted across the North Atlantic to Halifax, arriving on 7 February. On 15 February she left Halifax and under naval escort to [[Rio de Janeiro]], Brazil, arriving on 5 March. She continued unescorted ''via'' South Africa to Australia, reaching Sydney on 29 April.<ref name=Hague/>

Again she continued east to return home, this time calling at [[Lyttelton, New Zealand]] on 2 June before crossing the Pacific and the passing through Panama Canal.<ref name=Hague/> In [[Cristóbal, Colón]] she joined Convoy [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#C|Convoy CW]] 2/1, which left on 3 July and reached [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] on 12 July,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/cw/index.html?cw.php?convoy=2/1!~cwmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy CW.2 (US) |work=CW Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> where most of its ships including ''Ceramic'' joined [[List of Allied convoy codes during World War II#K|Convoy KN]] 119. This left Key West the same day and reached [[Hampton Roads]], Virginia on 17 July.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/kn/index.html?kn.php?convoy=119!~knmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy KN.119 |work=KN Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref> ''Ceramic'' continued unescorted, calling at [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]] 24–27 July and continuing to Halifax where she joined Convoy HX 201.<ref name=Hague/> This left on 2 August and reached Liverpool on 14 August. On this voyage ''Ceramic'' carried 372 passengers to Liverpool.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html?hx.php?convoy=201!~hxmain |last=Hague |first=Arnold |title=Convoy HX.201 |work=Shorter Convoy Series |publisher=Don Kindell, ConvoyWeb |access-date=5 August 2014}}</ref>

===Loss===
{{location map|North Atlantic
|coordinates={{coord|40|30|N|40|20|W}}
|caption=Approximate position of ''Ceramic''{{'}}s wreck in the North Atlantic
|relief= yes
}}
On 3 November 1942 ''Ceramic'' left Liverpool for Australia ''via'' [[Saint Helena]] and [[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]. She was carrying 377 passengers, 264 crew, 14 [[Defensively equipped merchant ship|DEMS]] gunners and 12,362 tons of cargo.<ref name=U2496/> 244 of the passengers were military or naval, including at least 145 [[British Army]], 30 [[Royal Navy]], 14 [[Royal Australian Navy]] and 12 [[Royal Marines]]. 30 of her British Army passengers were [[Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Military Nursing Service|QAIMNS]] nursing sisters. The other 133 passengers were fare-paying civilians. 12 were children, the youngest being a one-year-old baby girl. Six were doctors, five of whom were South African.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/ship2496.html |title= Ceramic: British steam passenger ship |date= 1995–2021 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website= uboat.net |access-date = 20 January 2021}}</ref> One passenger was [[Rudolph Dolmetsch]] (1906{{ndash}}42), classical musician and composer, then serving as Regimental [[Bandmaster#British Armed Forces|Bandmaster]] with the [[Royal Artillery]].<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dolmetsch.com/Rudolph.htm |website=Dolmetsch Online |title=Rudolph Dolmetsch (1906{{ndash}}1942) |access-date=17 March 2016}}</ref>

''Ceramic'' sailed with Convoy ON 149 until it dispersed as scheduled in the North Atlantic. She then continued unescorted as planned.<ref name=Hague/> As on her previous departure in January, she first headed west because of the threat of enemy attack.

At midnight on 6–7 December, in cold weather and rough seas in the mid-Atlantic, {{GS|U-515||2}} hit ''Ceramic'' with a single [[torpedo]]. These were followed two or three minutes later by two more that hit ''Ceramic''{{'}}s engine room, stopping her engines and her electric lighting. The liner radioed a distress signal, which was received by the {{sclass|Emerald|cruiser}} {{HMS|Enterprise|D52|6}}. The crippled liner stayed afloat and her complement abandoned ship in good order, launching about eight [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboat]]s all full of survivors.<ref name=U2496/>

[[File:HMS Enterprise WWII IWM FL 005389.jpg|thumb|The [[light cruiser]] {{HMS|Enterprise|D52|6}} received ''Ceramic''{{'}}s distress signal]]
About three hours later ''U-515'' fired two more torpedoes, which broke the ship's back and sank her immediately. By now it was very stormy and raining. The heavy sea capsized some of the lifeboats and left many people struggling in the water. Those boats that were not capsized stayed afloat only by constant bailing.<ref name=U2496/>

Next morning the ''[[Befehlshaber der U-Boote|BdU]]'' ordered ''U-515'' to return to the position of the sinking to find out the ship's destination. About noon the U-boat commander, ''[[Captain lieutenant#Germany|Kapitänleutnant]]'' [[Werner Henke]], decided to rescue the ''Ceramic'''s skipper. In heavy seas, he sighted one of the lifeboats and its occupants waved to him. The storm was now almost [[Beaufort scale#Modern scale|Force 10]] and almost swamping ''U-515''{{'}}s [[Conning tower#Submarines|conning tower]], so Henke ordered his crew to make do with the first survivor they could find. This turned out to be [[Sapper]] Eric Munday of the [[Corps of Royal Engineers|Royal Engineers]], whom they rescued from the water and took prisoner aboard the submarine.<ref name=U2496/>

No other occupants of the lifeboats survived. The storm was too severe for neutral rescue ships from [[São Miguel Island]] in the [[Azores]] to put to sea.{{sfn|Slader|1988|p=234}} On 9 December the [[Portuguese Navy|Portuguese]] {{sclass|Douro|destroyer}} {{ship|NRP|Dão}} was sent to search for survivors, but found none.<ref name=U2496/>

Munday was kept prisoner aboard ''U-515'' for a month, including Christmas and New Year, until she completed her patrol. When she returned to [[Lorient]], [[Brittany]] on 6 January 1943 he was landed at [[Lorient U-boat base]] and sent to [[Stalag VIII-B]] in [[Upper Silesia]], where he remained a [[prisoner of war]] until 1945.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/person/45955.html |title=Eric Munday |date=1995–2021 |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |website=German U-boats of WWII - uboat.net |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref>