SS Tanda
From Our Contribution
 | |
 from an official company postcard | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Tanda |
| Owner | Eastern & Australian Steam Ship Co Ltd, London |
| Builder | Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd, Linthouse, Glasgow |
| Yard number | 458 |
| Launched | 26 Mar 1913 |
| Completed | 1914 |
| In service | 1914 |
| Out of service | 1944 |
| Fate | sunk by Torpedo 15 Jul 1944 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger/cargo |
| Tonnage | 7,174 tons |
| Length | 430.5 ft (131.22m) |
| Beam | 58.2 ft (17.74m) |
| Depth | 28.6 ft (8.72m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 13.5 knots |
Remarks
Completed in May 1914 as SS Tanda for British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd, London. On 2 Oct 1914 she was chartered by the Madras War Fund as a Hospital Ship for Indian troops and renamed HMHS MADRAS. On 9 Aug 1918 she was converted into an Ambulance Transport and sailed to Vladivostok. In 1919 she was used as an Expeditionary Force Transport, before on 4 Nov 1919 when she was returned to her owners and reverted back to SS TANDA. In 1924 she was transferred to Eastern & Australian Steam Ship Co Ltd, London, who employed her on the Australia - East Asia & Asia service. SS Tanda skillfully rode out the 2nd September 1937 Typhoon that struck Hong Kong via South China Sea owing to the experience of her Captain.
At 22.13 hours on 15 Jul 1944 while on a journey from Melbourne via Colombo to Bombay (Mumbai), the unescorted SS Tanda was hit by two torpedoes from U-181 and sank about 52 miles northwest of Mangalore (Mangaluru, India) in the Arabian Sea. Eighteen crew members and one passenger were lost including the Radio Officer, Robert Claud Vivian Humphrey, who sent the distress call that saved the lives of the master, 158 crew members, twelve gunners and 26 passengers who were picked up and landed at Colombo on 18 July.