Galeka
Ship Number
347
Vessel Type
Passenger Ship
Built
Belfast
Yard
South Yard
Slip Number
9
Launch Date
21 October 1899
Delivered
23 December 1899
Owner
Union Steamship Co.
Weight
6767 grt
BP Length
440 feet
Breadth
53 feet
No. of Screws
Twin
Speed (approx)
12.5 knots
Propulsion
Triple expansion constructed in Belfast
Official No.
110265
Registered
Southampton
Fate
Struck Mine
 Galeka

Galeka was the last ship to enter service for the Union Steam Ship Company before the merger which created Union-Castle in March 1900. She was delivered in December 1899 and entered service early the next year. Galeka served on Castle's, and then Union-Castle's intermediate service to South Africa until World War I. She was then requisitioned by the Admiralty, utilized for a time as a troop transport, and refitted as a hospital ship with accommodations for 366 passengers.
 
 
On 28th October 1916, entering Le Havre without patients on board, H.M.H.S. Galeka struck a mine. 19 Royal Army Medical Corps personnel died as a result. She was beached at Cap la Hogue, but was a total loss, Union-Castle's first war casualty.