Talk:SS Boris

Confusion

The article as it stands is confusing in a number of ways.

• The title is 'Boris (Bulgarian ship)' but the opening sentence is 'Cyril is the first Bulgarian ship for commercial activities'
• Sources like this suggest Boris was the first Bulgarian merchant ship.
• The source also suggests the Cyril was the former Devonia, a 650-ton British cargo-passenger ferry that had served on the Thames. But the Clyde-built Devonia of 1882 for the London & South West Coast Steam Ship Company became the Greek Panormos and later the Soc Commerciale Bulgare de Nav a Vapeur's Sofia in 1905, and survived through various owners until at least 1954. This accords with the source that describes the Sofia as being built in Glasgow in 1882, and being of 255 tons.
• Wigham Richardson and Sons built two ships in 1894 for the Soc Commerciale Bulgare de Nav a Vapeur, based in Varna: The Boris and the Bulgaria. The former was launched on 21 May 1894, the latter on 3 July 1894. Wigham Richardson and Sons do not appear to have ever built a ship named Cyril. Boris is listed as having been completed on 23 June 1894, which accounting for the Julian calendar in Bulgaria, is a probable match for "The ship was built on June 11, 1894".
• The details of the ship taken from wrecksite are those of the Boris. No mention on the site of any corresponding ship named Cyril.
• According to wrecksite, Boris was involved in a collision off Sevastopol in 1920, and sank, on 9 November, but says it was a collision with the Romanian monitor Ion C. Bratianu, rather than a Russian vessel. This source concurs that the Boris was the one sunk, but instead names the other party as the Russian steamer Kronstadt, and says it occurred on 13 November. The Russian steamer Yalta appears to have been offered in recompense, but this was apparently blocked by the French.

In the final analysis, the subject of the article is probably the Boris and not the Cyril. We have two accounts, and dates, for the loss of the Boris. The article would need cleaning up and rewriting along these lines accordingly, unless anyone has further research to add? Spokoyni (talk) 23:08, 19 March 2020 (UTC)

Further to this, the Boris's article on the Bulgarian wikipedia, bg:Борис (кораб), sets out pretty much exactly what I have said above. Spokoyni (talk) 23:24, 19 March 2020 (UTC)