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Cobra (ex- St Tudno

Above : COBRA at Helgoland in a Reinicke & Rubin postcard, courtesy of the Istvan Radi collection

Launched on March 2nd 1889 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering at Glasgow, Scotland
Dimensions: 80.7 m x 10.1 m :  847 GRT
Engine : Compound diagonal 50 and 92 in x 66 in

Ordered by the well-known Burns Line of Glasgow which dominated the Glasgow to Northern Ireland trade
Not taken into the Burns fleet she was briefly owned by North Wales interests and named  St Tudno
Sold almost immediately during 1890 to the Ballin company at Hamburg and named Cobra
From 1897 her owners traded as Nordsee-Linie before being taken over by HAPAG in 1905
Served her summers on the Hamburg to Helgoland and Sylt service
In the winter of 1902-1903 she sailed under charter out of Genoa, Italy
Also spent winters at Nice, France
sailing for HAPAG (Compangnie Hambourgeoise Anaricaine) Service de la Riviera.
Reboilered and refurbished in 1919 but passed to French owners as war reparations
HAPAG repurchased the vessel in 1920 but her time was short, being sold in December 1921 to breakers.

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