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HMS ''Ben-my-Chree'' (Manx: "Woman of My Heart"〔Dotan, p. 133〕) was a packet steamer and a Royal Navy (RN) seaplane carrier of the First World War. She was originally built in 1907 by Vickers for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and was intended for use on the England–Isle of Man route. She was the third vessel to bear her name. To this day ''Ben-my-Chree'' holds the crossing speed record from Liverpool to Douglas for a steamship at under three hours.〔Caruana, ''et al.'', p. 297〕 She was chartered by the RN at the beginning of 1915 and participated in several abortive attacks on Germany in May. The ship was transferred to the Dardanelles in June to support the Gallipoli Campaign. One of her aircraft made the first ship-launched aerial torpedo attack on a ship in August.〔Caruana, ''et al.'', p. 298〕 After Gallipoli was evacuated at the end of the year, ''Ben-my-Chree'' became flagship of the East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron that operated in the Eastern Mediterranean, performing reconnaissance missions and attacking Turkish facilities and troops. She was sunk by Turkish artillery while anchored at the recently occupied island of Kastellorizo in early 1917, five members of her crew being injured. The ship was salvaged in 1920 and broken up in 1923. ''Ben-my-Chree'' also holds the distinction of being the only aviation vessel of either side to be sunk by enemy action during the war.〔Layman, p. 44〕 ==Description and construction== (詳細はSS ''Ben-my-Chree'' had a tonnage of .〔Layman, p. 43〕 The ship was long overall and long between perpendiculars. She had a beam of and a depth of from her main deck to the top of her keel. ''Ben-my-Chree'' had five decks〔"Launch of the ''Ben-my-Chree''"〕 and a capacity of 2,549 passengers with a crew of 119.〔 The ship was powered by three license-built Parsons direct-drive steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft. They were powered by steam provided by four cylindrical boilers at a working pressure of 〔 that gave her a speed of . Her engines burnt up to of coal a day, which made her an expensive ship to run.〔 She was ordered in 1907 by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and was built at the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness at a cost of 112,000. The ship was launched on 23 March 1908〔 and completed on 8 August.〔 ''Ben-my-Chree'' was normally laid up, because of her expense, except for the three busiest months of the year when she had a full complement of passengers.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「HMS Ben-my-Chree」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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