SS Karnak (1898)
SS Karnak was a French passenger ship turned troop transport that the German submarine torpedoed on 27 November 1916 in the Mediterranean Sea south south east of Valletta, Malta. Karnak was carrying mostly troops from Marseille and Malta to Saloniki, Greece.
Construction
Karnak was built at the Messageries Maritimes shipyard in La Ciotat, France, in 1898 where she was launched and completed the following year. The ship was long, had a beam of and had a depth of. She was assessed at and had two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines driving two screw propellers. The ship could reach a maximum speed of with her 20 boilers generating 832 nominal horsepower. She also had two funnels and a white hull which was later repainted to black.
Sinking
During World War I Karnak was used as a troop transport by the French Admiralty mainly on the route between Marseille, Malta, and Saloniki. It was during a voyage from Malta to Saloniki, Greece, when the with troops crowded aboard when Karnak was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine on 27 November 1916, south south east of Valletta, Malta. The ship sank in 15 minutes and claimed the lives of 17 people, but the number of survivors is unknown.
Wreck
The wreck of Karnak lies at.