SS Medic (1898)

SS Medic was a steamship built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line in 1899. Medic was one of five "Jubilee Class" ocean liners (the others being the SS Afric, SS Persic, SS Suevic and SS Runic (1900)) built specifically to service the Liverpool-Cape Town-Sydney route.

Medic, like her sisters, was a single-funnel liner which measured just under 12,000 tons and was configured to carry 320 steerage or third class passengers. Because these ships were launched in the last year of the 19th century, they were referred to as the "Jubilee Class".

She served as an Australian troopship in the Boer war and also in WW1. In October 1900, while anchored in Neutral Bay, Sydney Harbour she was involved in the "Fort Denison Incident", a prank intended to fool locals into believing a Boer raiding party was attacking the city. The citizens were not amused, and White Star apologised and paid damages to the city.

After a long life with White Star she was sold in 1928, renamed Hektoria, and converted to a whale factory ship. She was finally sunk by the U-boat GS U-608 on 11 September 1942 during the Atlantic Campaign of World War II with the loss of one crewman. The remaining crew was picked up by the Canadian corvette, HMCS Arvida.