WSL Georgic (I)
White Star Liner Georgic (I) 1895-1916 - Sunk by the German Raider Moewe
Georgic was built in 1895 for the White Star Line by Harland and Wolff in Belfast. She was one of the largest livestock carriers ever built in her day and was built to replace the missing White Star Line vessel Naronic.
Deck of the Georgic (webmasters private collection)
In 1916, while enroute to Brest, France, having left Philadelphia, PA, she was approached by the German Raider Moewe. Georgic was transporting 1200 horses, barrels of oil, and wheat. When signaled to stop by the Moewe, the Georgic ignored the hail and kept going. Moewe fired a shell from one of her guns striking Georgic on the aft deck and killing one crewmember.
The crew was captured and put on board Moewe as POW's. Georgic's crew did their best to try to talk their captors into taking the Georgic into occupied France as a prize to save the horses, but the Moewe decided instead to shell and sink the Georgic on the spot. It's been speculated that Moewe most likely didn't want to sail Georgic out of fear of running into a British warship on the way back, or she may have wanted to continue on her patrol to sink other vessels.
Georgic sinking
The German Raider Moewe (left) sank more shipping than any other Raider in WWI.
