On May 12, 1918, the biggest F you by a Ocean liner was given to a sub.

U-103 was prepared to launch torpedoes from her stern tubes at HMT Olympic but was unable to flood the torpedo tubs. The crew of liner saw the u-boat lined to fire and changed direction to ram. The crew of the U-103 tried to dive but it was too late. Her bow struck the conning tower and her proprellers sliced threw the pressure hull. The u-boat crew immediately surfaced and the crew abandoned ship. 9 lost their lives during the incident. The Olympic did not pick up the 35 survivors, but continued on her course to Cherbourg, France. They were later picked up by USS Davis (DD-65) and taken to Milford Haven, England

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USS Davis (DD-65), Sampson class destroyer.

Brest at the end of the 19th century

That the Royal Navy liked to give their ships somewhat unusual names is well known since HMS Pickle or HMS Cockchafer. And that a rock was sometimes declared a ship is also known since HMS Diamond Rock. However, there was also HMS Ascension - a stone sloop of war of the smaller classes. A so-called stone frigate was naval slang for a prison. Well, it wasn’t a prison, but it wasn’t a ship in the true sense of the word either. On the contrary, Ascension is actually called Ascension Island, and as the name suggests, it is an 88 km² volcanic island. It had already made history twice in the 18th century. In 1701, the explorer William Dampier ran aground off the island with his ship Roebuck and held out with his crew for six weeks before an East India sailor picked up the shipwrecked crew. Thus, the privateer and his crew are considered the first (involuntary) settlers on the island.

Ascension Island.  HMS Tortoise lying off, also merchant vessel. The building halfway up the high hill is Government House. 1 September 1853. By J.M. 1853 (x) 

On 5 May 1725, the Dutch sailor Leendert Hasenbosch, convicted of “sodomy”, was abandoned on the island. Based on a diary found later on the island, he probably died after about six months due to lack of food. Both incidents do not explain why the Royal Navy declared this island a ship. However, this can be explained if one knows where this island is located, namely in the South Atlantic between Africa and South America and near St. Helena. Napoleon Bonaparte was banished to St. Helena in 1815, and Ascension Island was occupied by the Royal Navy to make any attempts at liberation by the French more difficult. The island was turned into a fortress. To ensure that Ascension was under the command of the navy and not a colony administration, a “trick” was used. The island was declared a “stone frigate” (“stone sloop of war of the smaller classes”) and was given 65 soldiers to “crew” as HMS Ascension. After Napoleon died, it was used as a base for the West Africa Squadron to fight pirates and the slave trade. In reality, the island was used more as a hospital, as many epidemics were rampant in Africa during those years.

A View of the Town and Island of St Helena in the Atlantic Ocean belonging to the English East India Company, by A. Hogg c. 1790 (x)

However, its history did not end here. In 1836 Charles Darwin visited the island and in 1854 the island was replanted by botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker after the goats and rats of the fortress had eaten everything. In 1899, a telegraph cable was laid there and during the First and Second World Wars, the island became an important surveillance post. In 1982, it was used as a base for the Falkland Islands war. Today, almost 800 inhabitants live there and the island is an important nature reserve, especially for the so-called green turtles.

My traditional oil painting attempt, inspired by the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus.

Detail of H.M.S. Asia taking in her sails, by Richard Brydges Beechey ( 1808- 1895)