SS Runic was a steamship built at Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line which entered service in 1901. Runic was the fourth of five Jubilee-class ocean liners built for White Star's Australia service along with her sister ship SS Suevic, where she ran on the Liverpool–Cape Town–Sydney route.[1] She served this route until she was requisitioned for use as a war transport between 1915 and 1919, before returning to the Australia service.
She was the first White Star ship to be launched and enter service in the 20th century, and the second White Star ship to be named Runic, an earlier ship of that name had served the company between 1889 and 1895.
In 1930 Runic was sold and converted into a whaling factory ship and renamed New Sevilla, she remained in service in this role until September 1940 when she was torpedoed and sunk off the Irish coast with the loss of two lives.[1]