The SS Elsinore was a British steam tanker constructed on Tyneside in 1913 by the Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyards. Launched on 12 November 1913 and completed in December of the same year, she was built as yard number 931. The vessel measured 420.5 feet (128.2 meters) in registered length, with a beam of 54.6 feet (16.6 meters) and a depth of 32.4 feet (9.9 meters). Her tonnage was 6,542 gross register tons (GRT), 4,169 net register tons (NRT), and she had a deadweight tonnage (DWT) of approximately 9,700 tons. Elsinore was powered by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine built by the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, rated at 484 NHP, which drove a single screw propeller and enabled her to reach a speed of approximately 10 knots. Her fuel system was versatile, with furnaces capable of burning either coal or oil, reflecting the transitional period of maritime fuel technology. Owned by the Bear Creek Oil and Shipping Co Ltd and registered in Liverpool, Elsinore was managed by Bowring's and operated under charter to the Union Oil Company of California. Her primary purpose was to transport oil, fulfilling a seven-year charter agreement, with her initial voyages including loading creosote in Amsterdam and oil in California, traveling to ports such as St. Helens, Seattle, and San Francisco. Throughout her service, Elsinore was involved in multiple oil transport missions, including shipments to Chile and Central America. Her service was notable for her role in the early 20th-century oil trade between the UK, the Americas, and the Pacific. Her career was abruptly ended in September 1914 when she was sunk by the German cruiser Leipzig off the Pacific coast of Mexico during World War I. The Leipzig captured her crew and sank her by gunfire after forcing her to stop. Elsinore was the first of her sister ships to be lost, marking her as a significant early casualty of wartime maritime conflict. Despite her short service life, her construction and operational history exemplify the maritime trade and naval tensions of the early 20th century.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.