SS Polynesien

From a life of luxury on the high seas to troop transport vessel, like many ships of her kind, the SS Polynesien underwent a complete change of purpose during the First World War. Built in 1890 by Messageries Maritimes in La Ciotat, France. SS Polynesien was a Risbec-class ocean liner, one of four sister ships. It measures 152.5m in length with a beam of 15m. SS Polynesien was a 3-masted barque made of steel, with a steam engine, double funnel, and a four-bladed propeller. Operating first on the France-Australia route through the Suez Canal , SS Polynesien was later active in the Far East, and then again towards Australia and New Caledonia , before being dispatched back to Europe. At the beginning of World War I, she was requisitioned by the French authorities and armed as a troop transport vessel. Polynesien’s final voyage, only three months before the end of the war, was from Bizerte in Tunisia to Salonika (Thessaloniki), Greece, transporting Serbian troops, cadets and personnel