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KILWA (1921)
Service dates: 1946-1956
Official number: 146136
Shipping lines: BRITISH INDIA STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY LTD.
Ship type:
Passenger/Cargo Ship.
Career
- 22.07.1921
- Launched.
- 04.10.1921
- Delivered as Kiungchow for the China Navigation Company.
- 06.1940
- Requisitioned by the Liner Division but remained for a time in her ordinary coastal service.
- 12.1941
- When she was nearing Shanghai, she was recalled to Hong Kong and was subsequently despatched to sea on the outbreak of war with Japan. She eventually reached Calcutta after an adventurous tour via the Philippines, Tarakan and Sourabaya.
- 07.1942
- Became a Cased Petrol Ship and served in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea.
- 11.1942
- Transferred to the Mediterranean.
- 28.11.1942
- She left Alexandria with a cargo of aviation spirit and was in Tobruk when a fire broke out in No.3 hatch and rapidly spread to No.4. The extinguish the blaze, the Kiungchow had to be scuttled but three weeks later she had been refloated and was again ready for sea, although her after part was gutted.
- 08.02.1943
- Arrived at Haifa where the remainder of her cargo was discharged and temporary repairs were effected.
- 27.01.1944
- Dry docked at Massawa for permanent repairs.
- 1944/1946
- Following her repairs, the vessel returned to the Mediterranean for service on the Italian coast and in the Adriatic before finishing her wartime service in the Persian Gulf.
- 24.09.1946
- Purchased by the British India Steam Navigation Company for £30,000 and was renamed Kilwa when she arrived in East Africa. She was given a thorough refit in Mazagon Dock at Bombay.
- 27.04.1956
- Sold for £49,500 and scrapped at Hong Kong by Hong Kong Chiap Hua Manufacturing Co (1947) Ltd.