GALEKA was built in 1899 by Harland & Wolff at Belfast with a tonnage of 6772grt, a length of 430ft, a beam of 52ft 2in and a service speed of 12.5 knots.

Sister of the Gascon she was the last ship to enter service with the Union Steam Ship Company before the merger.

In September 1914 she was requisitioned for troopship duties to France and on 22nd June 1915 began operating as a hospital ship with beds for 366 patients.

On 28th October 1916 she was mined off Le Havre in heavy seas. As she was entering port from England there were no patients on board but 19 Royal Army Medical Corps personnel were killed by the explosion.

Although she was beached at Cap la Hogue she became a total loss.

A very poor photograph of Galeka in hospital ship colours after having struck the mine.

Galeka, built by Harland & Wolff, Ltd., Glasgow in 1899 and owned at the time of her loss by Union-Castle Mail SS. Co. Ltd., Southampton, was a British hospital ship of 6772 tons.

On October 28th, 1916, Galeka was hit by a mine from the German submarine UC-26 (Matthias Graf von Schmettow), 5 miles NW Cap de La Hève.

She was subsequently beached but declared a total loss.

SS Galeka was a steam ship built in 1899 for the Union Steamship Company by Harland and Wolff.

She was launched on 21 October 1899 and completed on 23 December 1899.