SS Tanda
From Our Contribution
 | |
| 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. 02/10/1914 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 Vladivostock. In 1919 used as an Expeditionary Force Transport, before on 4 Nov 1919 she was returned o her owners and reverted back to SS TANDA. In 1924 she was transferred to Eastern & Australian Steam Ship Co Ltd, London.
At 22.13 hours on 15 July 1944 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. 18 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.