| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | 1899-1914: TSS Hibernia 1914-1915: HMS Tara |
| Owner: | 1899-1915: London and North Western Railway |
| Operator: | 1896-1915: London and North Western Railway |
| Port of registry: | |
| Route: | 1900-1914: Holyhead – Dublin |
| Builder: | William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton |
| Yard number: | 618 |
| Launched: | 10 October 1899 |
| Out of service: | 5 November 1915 |
| Fate: | Sunk |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 1,862 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 329 ft (100 m) |
| Beam: | 39 ft (12 m) |
TSS Hibernia was a twin screw steamer passenger vessel operated by the London and North Western Railway from 1900 to 1914.[1] She was renamed HMS Tara on requisition by the Admiralty in 1914, and sunk in action in November 1915.
She was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton for the London and North Western Railway in 1899 and introduced into service in 1900.
In 1914 she was requisitioned by the Admiralty as an Armed boarding steamer and renamed HMS Tara.
She was torpedoed by U-35 in Sollum Bay, Mediterranean Sea on 5 November 1915. The crew were saved by the U Boat and handed over to Senussi tribesmen as prisoners. On 14 March 1916 they were being held at Bir Hakkim along with the crew of the HMT Moorina, a horse transport. They were rescued by the Duke of Westminster's armoured car brigade, part of the Western Frontier Force. The captain of the Tara at this time was Capt. R. Gwatkin-Williams, R.N.[2]