The s.s. 'Cayo Blanco' was a single screw, general cargo vessel, built by J. Readhead & Sons at the West Yard, South Shields, on the Tyne, having been launched during August 1895. She was handed over to owners the Cuban Steamship Company Limited (E. Bigland & Company) of London in November the same year. She was of 2,688 gross and 1.737 net register tons and 315.2 ft. long x 41.2 ft. breath x 16.7 ft. depth.

During 1916 she changed ownership to Societe Générale de Transports Maritimes à Vapeur of Marseille and she was renamed s.s. 'Mira'.

On the 15th May 1916 whilst on a voyage from Penarth bound for Corfu, with a cargo of c.3,450 tons of coal, she was sunk by U34 when off Cape Passero, Sicily. However, s.s. 'Mira' put up brave resistance against the submarine. The crew fought the 'pirates' for over an hour an a half, exhausting all of their ammunition in the process. They took 120 hits from shells fired from the submarine and were eventually sunk by torpedo. The crew made to the boats and survived their experience. The captain, however, was taken prisoner by U34 and sent to a PoW camp in Austria. After the war, he was awarded the 'Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur'. [102]