SS Runic (1949)
# SS Runic (1949)

SS Runic was a refrigerated cargo ship built at Harland and Wolff, Belfast in 1949 for the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was launched at Belfast in October 1949, and entered service in March 1950, and was designed for trade between the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. She had two sister ships; Persic and Suevic.

Like many Shaw, Savill ships, Runic took its name from an earlier White Star Line ship of the same name.

## Description

Runic had a gross register tonnage (GRT) of 13,587 tons, and a deadweight tonnage of 14,500 tons, and measured 561 ft (171 m) long by 72.2 ft (22.0 m) wide. She was powered by reduction geared steam turbines through two propellers, and had a service speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).

## Loss

On 19 February 1961 while en route from Brisbane to New Zealand, Runic ran aground on Middleton Reef in the Tasman Sea after sailing through the tail end of a hurricane, despite attempts at salvage, bad weather pushed the ship further onto the reef and it started to flood. On 22 March salvage efforts were abandoned and Runic was declared a constructive total loss, her crew of 69 was evacuated onto the Shaw, Savill ship Arabic and taken to Sydney.

In 2012, the wreck was still partially intact.

