SS Persic

[5] Persic set out on her maiden voyage on 7 December 1899, as the Boer War was underway by this time, she carried 500 troops for South Africa.

[6] Part of the September–November journey, Australian artists Hugh Ramsay and George Washington Lambert travelled on the Persic from Sydney to London.

[8] Artist G. W. Lambert who travelled the year before on the Persic also served as an illustrator in Ogilvie's 1898 work Fair girls and gray horses.

[17][5][1] In mid-1918 sailing from Canada as part of an escort going to England, zig-zagging whilst trying to avoid a torpedo, the Persic ran into her sister ship the Runic with no serious damage.

[18][19] On 12 September 1918, Persic was sailing in a convoy carrying 2,800 American troops when she was torpedoed by the German U-boat SM UB-87 near the Isles of Scilly.

[20][5] In July 1919, Persic was returned to commercial service, and the following year underwent a refit to overhaul and modernise her accommodation, which was changed to carry 260 passengers in Second class.

Persic in an old postcard
Persic in wartime service in 1916
Persic circa 1919