SS Steja djal Scipia (1932)

SS Steja djal Scipia

SS Steja djal Scipia underway, 1933
History
Tyreseia
Name:	SS Steja djal Scipia
Namesake:	Star of Scipia
Owner:	League of Neptune
Operator:	Tyreso-Periclean Line
Port of registry:	New Tyria
Route:	New Tyria – Pelias – Leonople
Builder:	Michu Perra Shipyards, Oyat, Tyreseia
Cost:	Ⲇ3.5 million
Yard number:	112
Launched:	February 1932
Completed:	1 July 1932
Maiden voyage:	12 July 1932
Out of service:	17 August 1938
Fate:	Caught fire and beached 17 August 1938, later scrapped in situ.
General characteristics
Type:	Ocean liner
Tonnage:	11,520 GRT
Length:	480 ft (146 m)
Beam:	71 ft (21.6 m)
Depth:	18.4 ft (5.6 m)
Installed power:	14,000 ihp (10,000 kW)
Propulsion:	Twin screw turbo-electric steam
Speed:	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) service speed
Capacity:	520 passengers (listed)
Crew:	230

The SS Steja djal Scipia was a Tyreseian ocean liner that caught fire and ran aground in the late evening hours of August 17th, 1938, en route from Leonople, Perateia to New Tyria, Tyreseia via Pelias, Vardana. Of the 941 passengers and crew aboard, 472 perished, making the fire the worst maritime disaster in Tyreseian history up to that point. What started the fire was never determined by authorities; as such, theories abound. Causes from Invictist sabotage to faulty construction and even freak weather conditions have been blamed. Regardless, the disaster was instrumental in forcing Tyreseian maritime safety standards to change in coming years. The high death toll, in spite of the ship's proximity to shore, was blamed on faulty design and crew incompetence. In the wake of the fire, the Tyreso-Periclean Line was investigated by the Tyreseian government and the League of Neptune forced to reconstruct under a new name, Tanit Line.

Construction

During the early 20th century, advances in ocean liner technology meant that maritime travel was rapidly becoming quicker and more luxurious than ever before, while commercial air travel was still in its infancy. As such, many nations would invest great sums into their ocean liners, hoping to use their own ships as globetrotting displays of national pride, high culture and prestige. Tyreseia, with its maritime history, was no different. By the 1930s, the nation's overarching maritime trade union body, the League of Neptune, supervised numerous subordinate groups known as Lines operating across the globe. One of the oldest and largest of these was the Tyreso-Periclean Line, which operated most of the League's passenger and freight transport duties in its namesake Periclean Sea. In 1928, the Line employees voted to commission the construction of three new steamships to cover new routes: the Holy Land Route, which would stop in Dervaylik, Yisrael, Ramitha, Sydalon, and Utica, Latium; the Hellenic Route, which would stop in Karpathos, Lihnidos and Alexandropolis, Mesogeia; and the Scipian Coast route, which stopped in Pelias, Vardana and Leonople, Perateia. This latter route would become the mainstay of the Steja djal Scipia.

Construction began at the Michu Perra Shipyards in Oyat on October 28th, 1929 alongside her sister ships, Steja djal Elaza and Steja djal Terra Samfigada. As was standard with Tyreseian liners, each ship was built to a standard of luxury but without a class hierarchy. Conditions for every passenger were between first class and tourist class by international standards. Such a design gave an added benefit of allowing more passenger space on-board than a design incorporating a first class would have. The vessels were also designed with an almost-superannuated layout. The interiors were open, interconnected and airy, and lined with lemon-oil-polished-wood, designed to create a communal, home-like atmosphere for passengers and crew alike. To accentuate their vintage appearance, the vessels were designed with counter sterns, a style falling out of favor with contemporary vessels. Their holds were primarily designed for passengers' luggage and mail, though the ships were capable of carrying other goods. Each of the three ships measured in at 11,520 gross register tons, and was propelled by turbo-electric generators powering twin propeller shafts. Steja djal Scipia was completed ahead of schedule on July 1st, 1932, followed by Elaza on the 23rd and Terra Samfigada on August 4th.

Career

From the time of her conception, the Steja djal Scipia was intended to reconnect the ports of Vardana to the Periclean passenger travel network. Maritime trade at Vardani ports like Pelias had all but ended following the Mysian War of Independence (1923-1927) and the concurrent Vardani Civil War (1924-1927). The Tyreso-Periclean Line had misjudged how stable the region was following the end of interstate hostilities; by the time of the steamship's maiden voyage, ethnic conflict, civil strife and genocide were still widespread across northern Vardana. By the time the Steja djal Scipia arrived in Pelias for the first time in July 1932, therefore, she delivered few passengers but onboarded many refugees, mostly ethnic Perateians fleeing certain extermination. The number of tourists aboard were also much lower than projected; those that did brave the journey from New Tyria were almost exclusively had Leonople as a final destination. Almost immediately after the end of her maiden voyage, the Tyreso-Periclean Line made a sudden pivot in the service niche of the Steja djal Scipia. Though she was designed as a passenger liner, she was very quickly pressed into service as a refugee transport ship. Ticket prices and amenities were both lowered, while cabins had bunk beds and extra cots installed into increase the number of passengers allowed aboard. On some more crowded voyages, public spaces like the smoking parlor and the writing room were even fashioned into makeshift sleeping quarters. Meals would often be served on the rear topdeck rather than in the dining room for lack of enough chairs or dining space. Some passengers would be given discounted tickets or free admission in exchange for the offer of performing domestic work on the ship during the voyage. These alterations were done without concurrent upgrades to the ship's evacuation, firefighting, medical, and various other health and safety systems in order to save on costs. Most of the capacity upgrades had gone undeclared to the Tyreseian government; as such, most of the upgrades were anywhere from ill-fitting and haphazard to dangerous.

Despite these changes, many passengers remember feeling both comforted and relieved during their stay aboard the vessel. Despite the crowded atmosphere, a genial atmosphere prevailed on the ship, and passengers often remarked in letters and memoirs how courteous and professional the crew and captain seemed. Many were impressed further by the lack of professional distance; many crew members would invite passengers to dine with them in the galley during meals, and would act as emotional supports for grief-stricken refugees. At times, due to violence and instability in the region, the port of Pelias would be rendered unusable for the Steja djal Scipia. During these times, the wireless operators would often go to great lengths to communicate a change in port-of-call to potential passengers on shore via wireless radio broadcasts and advanced notices in Pelias' public places. During her career, the Steja djal Scipia was forced to divert to the port of Norashen for nearly a third of her voyages via Vardana.

As the Steja djal Scipia was sailing well over capacity during most voyages, her systems were often placed under immense strain. Repairs to plumbing junctures and electrical circuits were frequent, leading to the Tyreseian People's Commissariat of Oceans and Maritime Trade to open a brief investigation in June 1935 into her frequent visits to repair facilities in her home port of Oyat. Owing to the institutional closeness between the shipbuilders' union and the League of Neptune, however, the investigation quickly went cold. Regardless, the crew would thereafter solely visit dockyards in Leonople for repair services. Non-unionized Perateian workers would perform rushed repair jobs on an unfamiliar ship design. Such a scenario often led to repairs that caused more problems than they solved. As a result, in her final years of her short service life, the Steja djal Scipia was consistently deteriorating much faster than expected.

Fire

Steja djal Scipia on fire

On the evening of August 17, 1938, the Steja djal Scipia was sailing off the coast of western Cyrassinia and eastern Tyreseia on her scheduled return voyage from Leonople via Pelias. At this time, survivors recount the crew preparing to begin cooking the first round of dinner in the galley while the bridge crew were preparing for final entry into New Tyria that night, with passengers enjoying afternoon promenades or smoke breaks. The vessel carried 941 souls on that voyage, well above the 750-person capacity for which she was officially rated but well below what she had carried at the peak of her refugee transit career. At 4:50 p.m., Steward Izagu Corvu was alerted by a passenger to smoke and heat emanating from a piano locker near the forward writing room. Corvu located the fire, then proceeded to alert his superior, Second Officer Tuca Gadunu. Gadunu elected to fight the fire immediately, rather than summoning help or spending valuable time sounding the general alarm. When the door to the closet was finally opened, the fire appeared to leap out with much greater intensity than expected. The fire hoses, part of a system that had been neglected for years, failed to perform to expectations. As a result, the fire spilled out of the closet onto the wooden handrails and deck, spreading rapidly outwards. Within 30 minutes, the entire vessel was engulfed in flame.

As the wheelhouse of the Steja djal Scipia was above the writing room, it was quickly filled with smoke, alerting the captain to the issue at hand. By the time the smoke reached the wheelhouse, however, the fire had reached the boat deck. Accelerated by the open floorplan and polished-wood exteriors, the flames moved rapidly throughout the ship. Captain Chivjadoru ordered at 5:15 pm that an SOS signal be sent out via wireless. Only two signals could be dispatched before fire engulfed the main electrical wires and the wireless room shortly after, trapping the operators inside.

Aftermath and investigation

The hulk of the ship, resting near Oñulba, 1938