SS_Ganges_(1906)
SS Ganges was a 3,475-ton steamship, built for the Nourse Line by Charles Connell and Company of Glasgow and launched on 9 March 1906. She made seven trips carrying Indian indentured labourers from Calcutta and Madras to Fiji, ten trips to Trinidad and Tobago and also trips to Surinam and British Guiana.
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Builder | Charles Connell & Company |
| Yard number | 303 |
| Launched | 9 March 1906 |
| Completed | May 1906 |
| Fate | Scrapped 1934 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Steam ship |
| Tonnage | 3,475 GRT, 2,151 NRT, 5,200 DWT |
| Installed power | Triple expansion steam, 426 hp (318 kW) |
| Propulsion | Single screw |
| Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
SS Ganges was the third Nourse Line ship to be named Ganges. The first Ganges was built in 1861 and wrecked in 1881. The second Ganges was built in 1885 and sold to Norway in 1904.
| Destination | Date of Arrival | Number of Passengers |
|---|---|---|
| Trinidad | 25 October 1906 | 479 |
| Trinidad | 10 October 1907 | 344 |
| Suriname | 17 February 1908 | n/a |
| Suriname | 10 July 1908 | n/a |
| Trinidad | 20 July 1908 | 642 |
| Trinidad | 16 June 1909 | 819 |
| Trinidad | 24 November 1910 | 842 |
| Trinidad | 25 March 1911 | 776 |
| Fiji | 22 July 1911 | 860 |
| Trinidad | 9 December 1911 | 428 |
| Suriname | 7 April 1912 | n/a |
| Fiji | 18 July 1912 | 843 |
| Fiji | 8 November 1912 | 846 |
| Fiji | 21 February 1913 | 771 |
| Fiji | 29 May 1913 | 848 |
| Fiji | 9 September 1913 | 784 |
| Fiji | 21 June 1915 | 846 |
| Trinidad | 11 November 1915 | 325 |
| Trinidad | 18 April 1916 | 200 |
| British Guiana | 18 April 1917 | 421 |
| Trinidad | 22 April 1917 | 421 |
Having been in operation during the last years of the Indian indenture system, Ganges was the last ship to carry Indian indentured labourers to Trinidad and to British Guiana, docking in Georgetown on 18 April 1917.
Between 7 and 31 August 1914 Ganges was requisitioned for use as a Royal Navy collier; and from September of the same year to the following January became an Indian Expeditionary Force transport. For periods of 1916 and 1917 she was requisitioned to transport various bulk cargoes including coal, sugar and wheat. From 6 January 1918 until 19 April 1919 she came under the Liner Requisition Scheme.
Ganges was sold out of the fleet in 1928 to F. B. Saunders of London who sold her on the following year to Sea Products of London. She became Seapro in 1930 and served for a further four years before being sold for breaking to Thos. W. Ward in 1934.
The parents of Fiji's first Chief Justice Sir Moti Tikaram (KBE), Thakur Tikaram (born 1877) and his wife Singaribai Tikaram (born 1894) arrived in Fiji on July 10, 1912 on the SS Ganges (Emigration Pass No. 50079).
Fiji Indian businessman Sir Sathi Narain, Devara Suramma (Emigration Pass No. 52043) and Gompa Appalasamy (Emigration Pass No. 51617), arrived on this ship from India to Fiji in 1913. Abdul Wahid who ran as a Mayoral Candidate in Tracy, USA. His grandfather Ali Mohammed f/n Mehardad was one of the indentured labor who came at the age of 20.
- "Nourse Line". Merchant Navy Officers.
- Datt, Norman (1999). "India came west". Fortune City. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012.
- "Updated List of Ships that transported E". Genealogy. 27 August 2000.