History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Namesake |
|
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry |
|
Builder | Cammell Laird, Birkenhead |
Cost | £52,000 |
Yard number | 771 |
Launched | 10 June 1911 |
Completed | August 1911 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Scrapped in 1953 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 3,549 GRT, 2,157 NRT, 5,200 DWT |
Length | 350.2 ft (106.7 m) |
Beam | 44.2 ft (13.5 m) |
Draught | 19 ft 1⁄2 in (5.80 m) |
Depth | 27.6 ft (8.4 m) |
Decks | 1 |
Installed power | 426 NHP |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
Notes | sister ships: Indus, Ganges, Mutlah, Sutlej |
SS Chenab was a steamship that was built in England in 1911 and scrapped in Scotland in 1953. For nearly two decades she was part of Nourse Line, which carried Girmityas (indentured labourers) from India to colonies in the Caribbean and the Pacific. In 1914 she was requisitioned for service in the First World War.
In 1930 Nourse sold Chenab, and in 1931 she was renamed Ville de Beyrouth. In 1939 she was renamed Al Rawdah. In 1940 the UK Government requisitioned her for Second World War service. She was returned to her owners in 1946, and scrapped in 1953.
In the 1900s Charles Connell and Company of Scotstoun, Glasgow built a series of ships to the same design for James Nourse. Indus was completed in 1904, Ganges in 1906, Mutlah in 1907 and Sutlej in 1908. [1] [2] [3] [4] In 1911 Cammell, Laird & Co of Birkenhead on the River Mersey built Chenab for Nourse for £52,000 [5] to the same general design. She was built as yard number 771; launched on 10 June that year; and completed that August. [6]
Chenab's registered length was 350.2 ft (106.7 m), her beam was 44.2 ft (13.5 m) and her depth was 27.6 ft (8.4 m). Her tonnages were 3,549 GRT, 2,157 NRT, [7] and 5,200 DWT. [5] She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. It was rated at 426 NHP [7] and gave her a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h). [6]
Nourse registered Chenab at London. Her UK official number was 132589 and her code letters were HTFG. [8] By 1914 she was equipped for wireless telegraphy. [7] By 1918 her call sign was GWK. [9] In 1930 this was superseded by the four-letter call sign GPYN. [10]
The table below lists some of the voyages Chenab made in her first five years of her career, carrying indentured Indian workers to the Caribbean and the Pacific.
Destination | Date of Arrival | Number of Passengers | Deaths During Voyage |
---|---|---|---|
Trinidad | 7 November 1911 | 451 | 3 |
Trinidad | 7 March 1912 | 350 | 5 |
Surinam | 8 July 1912 | n/a | n/a |
British Guiana | 1912 | n/a | n/a |
Trinidad | 8 November 1912 | 410 | 5 |
Trinidad | 13 March 1913 | 96 | 0 |
Suriname | 7 July 1913 | n/a | n/a |
Fiji | 24 March 1914 | 855 | n/a |
Trinidad | 12 September 1914 | 179 | 0 |
Fiji | 16 June 1914 | 717 | |
Fiji | 1 September 1916 | 717 | n/a |
Trinidad | 10 December 1916 | 627 | 2 |
On 24 August 1913, Chenab was returning from Demerara to Calcutta when she grounded off Stoney Point, South Africa. She spent the next two months in Durban being repaired. [5]
30 September 1914 Chenab was requisitioned as a troop ship for the Indian Expeditionary Forces. She was returned to her owners that December. On 1 March 1916 she was requisitioned to carry sugar, and on 17 April she was returned to her owners. On 19 December 1916 she was requisitioned to carry wheat, and on 10 February 1917 she was returned to her owners. On 11 February 1917 she was requisitioned as a troop ship for the Indian Expeditionary Forces. She was returned to her owners on 25 May 1919. [5]
In 1930 William McKnight Docharty bought Chenab for £14,000 on behalf of the Khedivial Mail S.S. Company. Her passenger accommodation was refitted. [6] [5] In 1931 she passed to the Compagnie de Navigation Libano-Syrienne, who renamed her Ville de Beyrouth and registered her in Beirut. Her code letters were OWTB [11] until 1934, when the call sign FPDO superseded them. [12]
In 1936 the Société Orientale de Navigation acquired Ville de Beyrouth and appointed Khedivial Mail to manage her. [13] Khedivial Mail became the Pharaonic Mail Line. In 1939 the ship was renamed Al Rawdah. [14]
In 1940 the UK Ministry of Shipping requisitioned Al Rawdah for war service and appointed the British India Steam Navigation Company to manage her. [15] In 1941 the Ministry of War Transport superseded the Ministry of Shipping. [16] Between July 1940 and March 1946 she was a military store ship, detention ship, and Royal Navy accommodation ship. On 26 March the UK Al Rawdah to her owners, who by then were called Khedivial Mail Line. [5] [17]
Metal Industries, Limited scrapped the ship at Rosyth on the Firth of Forth, starting work in May 1953. [5]
HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.
Ryusei Maru was a cargo steamship that was built in England in 1911 and sunk off the coast of Bali in 1944. Sit was launched as Bra-Kar for Fred. Olsen & Co. of Norway. In 1916 it changed owners and was renamed Havø. In 1935 it changed owners again and was renamed Mabuhay II.
HMS Al Rawdah was a ship of the Royal Navy. She was built in 1911 and originally christened Chenab for the Nourse Line of London.
MV Celtic is a former Thames sailing barge which was built by Kievits & Van Reede in Papendrecht, Netherlands in 1903 for E J & W Goldsmith Ltd of London and Grays, Essex. She is currently under restoration at Sittingbourne, Kent.
HMS Port Quebec was a British motor ship that was designed and launched in 1939 to be the refrigerated cargo ship Port Quebec, but completed in 1940 as an auxuiliary minelayer. In 1944 she was converted into an aircraft component repair ship and renamed HMS Deer Sound. In 1947 she was returned to her owner, Port Line, and completed as a cargo ship. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1968.
USS Charlton Hall (ID-1359) was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1907 and served in the merchant fleets of the United Kingdom, United States and Greece. She served in the United States Navy in 1918. She was renamed Atlantis and then Anastasis in 1930. She was scrapped in China in 1934.
MV Dumana was a British cargo liner that was laid down as Melma, but launched in 1921 as Dumana. The British India Steam Navigation Company (BI) owned her, and ran her on routes between London and India.
Arpha was a 602 GRT passenger ferry built in 1900 as Canterbury for the South Eastern and Chatham Railway. She passed to the Southern Railway on 1 January 1923. She was sold to W E Guinness in 1926 and renamed Arpha. In 1938 she was sold to Sark Motorships Ltd, only to be requisitioned by the Royal Navy in 1939. Postwar, she was sold to Compania Shell de Venezuela and renamed Coriano. After a further change of ownership she was scrapped in 1955.
SS Polar Chief was a merchant steamship that was built in England in 1897 and scrapped in Scotland in 1952. In her 55-year career she had previously been called Montcalm, RFA Crenella, Crenella, Rey Alfonso, Anglo-Norse and Empire Chief. Early in the First World War she spent eight months pretending to be the battleship HMS Audacious.
SS Barlind was a steam coaster. She was built in Germany in 1938 for a German shipowner, who named her Süderau. In 1945 the Allies seized her; the UK Ministry of War Transport took possession of her; and she was renamed Empire Content. In 1946 she was transferred the Norwegian Directorate for Enemy Property, and renamed Svartnes. In 1947 she joined the fleet of Fred. Olsen & Co. and was renamed Barlind. In 1971 a Greek owner bought her and renamed her Ikaria. She was bought by Italian ship breakers in 1972.
HMS Agamemnon was originally the Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship Agamemnon. She was built in 1929, traded between the United Kingdom and the Far East, and was scrapped in 1963. During the Second World War she was converted into an auxiliary minelayer in 1940, and then into an amenities ship in 1943.
HMS Menestheus was originally the Blue Funnel Line refrigerated cargo ship Menestheus. She was built in 1929, and traded between the UK and the Far East. She was an auxiliary minelayer from 1940 to 1943. In 1945, during the Second World War, she was converted into an amenities ship. She was scrapped in 1953 after being gutted by fire.
HMS Southern Prince was a motor ship that was built in 1929 as the refrigerated cargo ship Southern Prince. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1940 as a minelayer. She became a headquarters ship and then an accommodation ship in 1944, was a fleet training ship in 1945, and returned to civilian trade in 1946. In 1947 she was sold to Italian owners who had her refitted as a passenger ship and renamed her Anna C. From 1952 she was a cruise ship. She was scrapped in 1972.
SS St Petersburg was a North Sea passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1908 for the Great Eastern Railway (GER). In the 1923 railway grouping she passed to the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She was sunk by enemy action in 1941.
SS Munich was a North Sea passenger ferry that was built in Scotland in 1908 for the Great Eastern Railway (GER). In the 1923 railway grouping she passed to the new London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). She was scrapped in England in 1950.
SS Sagaing was a British passenger and cargo steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1924. Her peacetime route was a scheduled service between Glasgow or Liverpool, and Rangoon. In 1942, Japanese aircraft damaged her in Trincomalee Harbour in the Easter Sunday Raid on Ceylon. In 1943 she was scuttled to form a pier. In 2018 her wreck was raised, removed from the harbour, and scuttled in deeper water.
SS Rio Tercero was a cargo steamship that was launched in England in 1912 as Eboe. She was renamed Fortunstella in 1938, and Rio Tercero in 1941. A U-boat sank her in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1942.
Tiger Hill was a Greek-owned steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1887 as Thrace. In 1910 she was renamed Thraki, and from 1916 to 1939 she underwent several changes of owner and name.
SS Manchester City was a British cargo steamship that was built in Glasgow in 1937 and scrapped in Faslane in 1964. The Royal Navy requisitioned her in the Second World War.
SS Sir Harvey Adamson was a coastal passenger steamship that was built in Scotland in 1914 for the British India Steam Navigation Company (BI). She traded along the coast of Burma until 1947, shen she disappeared in a gale in the Andaman Sea. No survivor or identifiable wreckage was ever found.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)