HMT Rajula
From Our Contribution
 Rajula in late 1950's | |
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | HMT Rajula |
| Owner | British India Steam Navigation Co. Ltd., London |
| Builder | Barclay, Curle and Co. Ltd., Glasgow |
| Yard number | 614 |
| Launched | 22 Sep 1926 |
| Completed | 26 Nov 1926 |
| In service | 1927 |
| Out of service | 1974 |
| Fate | Broken up at Bombay from December 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Passenger / troop ship |
| Tonnage | 8,704 tons |
| Length | 460 ft (140.82m) |
| Beam | 61 ft 9 in (18.86m) |
| Depth | 33 ft (10.05m) draft 26ft 3 in (8.02m) |
| Propulsion | twin screw |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.15 km/h) |
| Capacity | 37 x 1st; 135 x 2nd; 426 berthed deck passengerss; 1,300 unberthed deck |
Contents
Remarks
The construction of this ship was sponsored by the British Government, but it was owned and operated by British India Steam Navigation Company which used it on the Madras/Singapore ervice.
It was used as a troop ship during WW2, being requisitioned in September 1938 in response to the Munich crisis, and served as a personnel ship until May 1940. From May it served primarily in Eastern waters until 1943 when it transferred to the Mediterranean where it participated in landings at Syracuse, Augusta and Anzio. In 1944 she was servicing the Burmese front from India. Later that year she operated in Burmeses waters as an Ambulance Transport and in June 1945 participated in the reoccupation of Rangoon. Her last voyage was controversial, leading to questions about discipline on board and conditions that led to questions being asked in the British Parliament. As a result she was returned to her owners.
Returned to commercial service in 1945, and underwent a major refit in 1962. In November 1966, she and other ships were caught in the path of a Tropical Cyclone, and while she survived by heading away from the coast, seven other ships were driven ashore and destroyed. In 1973 she was sold to the Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. and renamed SS Rangat for service to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. She was laid up in Bombay on 12 May 1974, and broken up for scrap in late 1974.