THE DAILY Echo carried the confirmation that left many Sotonians feeling particularly sad – the good ship Oceanic was no more.

Her fate was announced this week in an official statement which read: “The Secretary of the Admiralty announced that the armed merchant cruiser Oceanic, of the White Star Line, was wrecked near the north coast of Scotland, and has become a total loss. All officers and crew were saved.”

Built by Harland and Wolff in 1899, Oceanic was once the world’s largest liner, and for the latter part of her career on the North Atlantic became a familiar sight in the waters of the Solent after she became one of four ships transferred from Liverpool when the company inaugurated the Royal Mail Service from Southampton.

The other ships on the service were the fellow ocean-going leviathans Majestic, Teutonic and Adriatic.

Although never a record-breaker for speed, she was a sea-going palace, a fabulous creation of stained glass, gold-plated light fittings, the finest murals and even marble lavatories furnishing the first class quarters. She was also renowned for her remarkable steadiness, which made her a favourite among the travelling public.

During the departure of the White Star Liner Titanic in April 1912, Oceanic was at her berth when she was almost hit by the vessel SS New York, which broke loose from her docking due to the large wake caused by Titanic’s size and speed as she departed the docks.

On the outbreak of First World War she was almost the first British liner to be commissioned as an armed merchantman, taking up her new role on August 8, 1914 with a crew of mostly Southampton men.

By August 25 the newly appointed HMS Oceanic sailed for waters north of the Scottish mainland to begin patrolling duties, where she had the authority to stop shipping, check cargoes and crew members for any potential German connections. As well as her former merchant master, Captain Henry Smith, Oceanic was now also under the command of Captain William Slayter of the Royal Navy.

On September 7, Captain Slayter steered Oceanic towards Scapa Flow in a standard zigzag course as a precaution against U-boat attack.

However, a navigational error put the ship dangerously off course and heading directly for the notorious Shaalds of Foula reef.

As Captain Slayter retired for the evening and handed the command to Captain Smith, the merchant seaman, with his vast experience of the ship and a difference of opinion to that of the Royal Naval captain, ordered the navigator to abandon the zigzag course around the island and instead plot a course for the ship in open sea. Having sensed a change in the course, Captain Slayter returned to the bridge to overrule Smith’s orders. The resulting action proved to be catastrophic.

As Oceanic continued to feel her way through the fog on the morning of September 8,1914, the ship struck the lonely Shetland reef off the coast of Scotland between Fair Isle and Foula Isle and earned herself the ignominious title of being the first Allied passenger ship to be lost in the war.