Built in 1896 by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton for the LBSCR, she was a direct replacement for the 1893 built TSS Seaford, which sank in 1895 after a collision with another LBSCR ferry, the TSS Lyon. TSS Sussex was long, with a beam of. She had a GRT of 1,565 and a NRT of 328. She was powered by two four-cylinder triple expansionsteam engines, of 308 nhp, supplemented by a steam turbine. This power unit could propel her at. She was launched on 30 April 1896.
History
Sussex served on the Newhaven - Dieppe route, making her maiden voyage on 31 July 1896. In March 1912 she came to the assistance of the stricken P&O liner, which had been in collision with the 2850-ton German-registered 4 masted steel-barque Pisagua and subsequently sank with the loss of 9 lives. Replaced by the on the Newhaven - Dieppe route in 1913, she was moved to Brighton to offer long day trip excursions, in competition with the White Funnel fleet paddle steamers of Bristol-based P and A Campbell. However, this proved unlucrative, and she was laid up from the end of that season. She was then sold in 1914 to the Compagnie des Chemins de Fer de l'État Français, remaining under the management of the LBSCR.
World War I
During the First World War, shipping from Newhaven was diverted to operate from Folkestone in order to free Newhaven for supplying British troopson the Western Front. On 24 March 1916, Sussex was on a voyage from Folkestone to Dieppe when she was torpedoed by. The ship was severely damaged, with the entire bow forward of the bridge blown off. Some of the lifeboats were launched, but at least two of them capsized and many passengers were drowned. Of the 53 crew and 325 passengers, at least 50 were killed, although a figure of between 80 and 100 is also suggested. Sussex remained afloat and was eventually towed stern-first into Boulogne harbour. The dead included the celebrated Spanish composer Enrique Granados, his wife Amparo, a Persian prince, Bahram Mirza Sardar Mass'oud, and Irish tennis playerManliffe Goodbody. Vera Collum, returning to her hospital in France where she worked as a radiographer, was badly injured. Several Americans were injured, including Wilder Penfield, then a medical student at Oxford University and later an eminent neurosurgeon. His left leg was shattered by the blast, and Penfield required months of treatment and rehabilitation afterward. Although none of the 75 US citizens aboard were killed, the incident enraged public opinion in the United States, and caused a heated diplomatic exchange between the US and German governments. In May 1916, Germany issued a declaration, the so-called Sussex pledge, which effectively represented the suspension of the "intensified" U-boat campaign. Between 1 and 3 January 1917,,,,, assisted in the salvage of Sussex after she struck a mine near the West Dyck shoal on her way to Dunkirk, each ship receiving a portion of the salvage money. Sussex remained in France, and was used by the Marine Nationale at Le Havre.
Post-World War I
Sussex was repaired in France post-war, and in 1920 was sold to D Demetriades, Piraeus, being renamed Aghia Sophia. She was scrapped in 1921 following damage sustained in a fire.
