Lesson plan
SS Java (1865)
SS Java was a British and French ocean liner built in 1865 at Glasgow by J. G. Thompson & Co. It served the Cunard Line. One passenger, the musician Philo Adams Otis, said: :There were only four good ships of the Cunard Company in the Liverpool service in 1873: Russia, Scotia, Cuba, and Java. The two former were side-wheelers and were largely advertised as "carrying no steerage passengers". Among old travellers the two latter ships were respectively called the "rolling Cuba" and the "jumping Java," from certain peculiarities manifested by these ships in heavy weather, not especially conducive to the comfort of the passengers. In 1877, the ship was re-engined with compound engines by Fawcett, Preston & Co., Liverpool, and chartered to Warren Line, until it had been sold to Red Star Line one year later and renamed to SS Zeeland. In 1889, it was sold to a French company and renamed the Electrique. In 1892 it was sold again to J. Herron & Co of Liverpool and again renamed the Lord Spencer. During an 1895 voyage from San Francisco to New York it went missing. One account claimed it collided with the fully rigged sailing ship Prince Oscar on 13 July and sank shortly thereafter.
Article summary
SS Java was a British and French ocean liner built in 1865 at Glasgow by J. G. Thompson & Co. It served the Cunard Line. One passenger, the musician Philo Adams Otis, said: :There were only four good ships of the Cunard Company in the Liverpool service in 1873: Russia, Scotia, Cuba, and Java. The two former were side-wheelers and were largely advertised as "carrying no steerage passengers". Among old travellers the two latter ships were respectively called the "rolling Cuba" and the "jumping Java," from certain peculiarities manifested by these ships in heavy weather, not especially conducive to the comfort of the passengers. In 1877, the ship was re-engined with compound engines by Fawcett, Preston & Co., Liverpool, and chartered to Warren Line, until it had been sold to Red Star Line one year later and renamed to SS Zeeland. In 1889, it was sold to a French company and renamed the Electrique. In 1892 it was sold again to J. Herron & Co of Liverpool and again renamed the Lord Spencer. During an 1895 voyage from San Francisco to New York it went missing. One account claimed it collided with the fully rigged sailing ship Prince Oscar on 13 July and sank shortly thereafter.
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.