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SS Thurland Castle

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SS Thurland Castle
SS Thurland Castle.jpg
New Zealand troops on SS Thurland Castle
SS Thurland Castle 1.jpg
History
Name SS Thurland Castle
Owner Lancashire Shipping Co. Ltd. - J. Chambers & Co., Liverpool
Builder Cammell Laird & Co Ltd, Birkenhead
Yard number 946
Launched 26 Mar 1929
Completed June 1929
In service 1929
Out of service 1958
Fate scrapped 1958
General characteristics
Type general cargo
Tonnage 6,732 tons
Length 464.6 ft (141.61m)
Beam 60.3 ft (18.38m)
Depth 25.8 ft (7.86m)
Propulsion twin screw
Speed 15 knots (27.78 km/h)



Remarks

The fourth of five ships of the same name built for the Lancashire Shipping Company. The SS Thurland Castle rescued 3,500 allied troops from Greece, including 1,000 wounded and 100 nurses. Although she was attacked several times and was taking on board water as a result of near misses, she safely reached Crete. Following makeshift repairs the Thurland Castle returned to Megara in Greece for another load of soldiers.


On 5 Sep 1943 she was in a Convoy which encountered heavy seas near the Hebrides where another ship the SS Urlana had been driven onto a rocky coast. With the aid of a Royal National Lifeboat all crew from the Urlana were rescued and boarded the SS Thurland Castle. In 1943 she was sold to Elder Dempster & Co, but retained her name until 1946 when she was renamed SS Fulani. On 7 Nov 1958 she arrived at Odense in Denmark and was scrapped the following year.

Soldiers carried

Megara, Greece to Suda Bay, Crete 25 - 26 April 1941