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Built to celebrate the company's centenary in 1956, SS
‘Nevasa’ spent her first few years trooping. However, as National Service
came to an end and air transport became more efficient, the ship was made
redundant and laid up in the River Fal in 1962 for two years. SS ‘Nevasa’ was
converted to B.I.'s third and largest educational cruise ship at Falmouth in 1964/1965.
Her powerful machinery gave her a greater range than the other educational cruise
ships and her anti-roll stabilisers provided greater comfort. She ran
alongside the SS Uganda between 1968 and 1974. However the SS ‘Nevasa’ was
suddenly withdrawn in January 1975 and sent to the breakers in Taiwan,
a victim of the 1970's oil crisis.
I believe her maiden voyage was to Malta
and her next one was to the Far East – Singapore,
Hong Kong and Korea.
It was on this voyage that I spent four weeks on board with my posting to 2
Infantry Workshop Malaya in October 1956, sailing around the Cape due to the
activities concerning the Suez Canal. We
made only two ports of call, Dakar in French
West Africa and then Durban in South Africa, and then it was non-stop for a
fortnight to Singapore.
Footnotes:
(1)
George MILLIE:
(2)
Brian PATON: After receiving your information regarding
your father and his return to Blighty on the ‘Nevasa’, I had a further look
on the internet and found another article from a pre-war soldier which
mentioned the same named vessel, and included a picture (dated 1938),
enclosed. I haven't been able to find any
history relating to SS ‘Nevasa’ other than that sent to you so if you compare
the two photos, there are some structural changes, don’t you think?
(3)
George MILLIE: I have very carefully compared the two
photos and have reached the conclusion that they are not the same ship. The
1938 photo is completely different in every detail - the rake of the bow,
superstructure, hull, etc., differences too radical for the later
one to be a mere refit. I think we'll find that the earlier one was
perhaps sunk during WWII or later scrapped and another of the same name
built to replace it.
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This addition is dated 15th April 2008. The
Editor
The following information
has kindly been contributed by Helen Davies who visited the web site via an
internet search for the troopship Nevasa. The illustrations are of a post
card completed by Helen’s Grandfather on which he recorded the details of
his voyage home from India.
This HMT Nevasa was built in 1913 and scrapped in Barrow in Furness in
1948.
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Helen listed the members of
her family who made the voyage, an interesting record of the movement of a
service man and his family many years before air trooping became the norm.
Sgt. Isaac Henshall Baldwin.
Royal Artillery. (Helen’s Grandad).
Mrs. Constance Georgina
Baldwin (Grandmother) known as Kit. Died in 1935 so Helen never met her.
Robert J (10˝ years of age).
Walter E (8 years).
Constance M (6˝ years).
Patricia E (4˝ years).
Kathleen E (1˝ years),
Helen’s mother who was born in Murree, Punjab, which is now part of
Pakistan.
Additional Information added 15th September 2009. The Editor
Helen has provided further
details of the part the HMT Nevasa played in her families life:
__________________________________________________________________________
Some more info has come out from
the family about my Uncle Arthur (known as Peter) Baldwin (son from my
grandfather's 2nd marriage) who
travelled on the Nevasa when he was young soldier going to/from Malaya in the 1960's and as he is
no longer with us we cannot check the facts, but it may just give more
general info about the journeys made by servicemen and women during its
years of service and its various incarnations.
My mother recalls that on
her journey home from India there was a really bad storm in the Bay of
Biscay (nothing new there!) but reading about the improvements made over
time thinks she understands more about how much these would have been
appreciated by servicemen, and their families.
Regards,
Helen.
___________________________________________________________________________
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Additional Information added 1st September 2009. The Editor
The following information comes
from an e-mail sent by a visitor to the web site, Eddie Hawkins of Southampton, and records the final voyage of the
first HMT Nevasa.
___________________________________________________________________________
Hi Trevor,
It was a very pleasant
surprise to discover a photograph of the old SS Nevasa, as I was on it's
last voyage to Southampton early
1948. I have been searching for
something about this vessel for many years!
During early 1948 I was
serving in the Royal Engineers in Rangoon,
and my time had come round for repatriation to England and eventual
demobilization. I joined this ship
there, together with other service personnel. The vessel was full of service personnel
and a few civilians. I believe it
started it's voyage from Calcutta and had
been delayed by a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal. However, I am not certain of this.
Our first port of call was Singapore,
where the ship's engine broke down and we had to disembark whilst repairs
were carried out. We rejoined the
ship about a week later. The next
port of call was Colombo,
where we took on coal and other supplies -
(coal dust all over the place},
This took about two to three days.
The next stop was Aden,
where we again took on coal, etc., it was unbearably hot there and we were
all pleased to set sail again after two to three days.
We then called at Suez and Port
Said.
Upon leaving Port Said, we hit a very bad storm the full length of
the Mediterranean and we could not enter Valletta harbour and had to find shelter
on the leeward side of the island.
Practically everyone on
board suffered from sea sickness, even members of the crew.
An hatch cover had been
damaged and water was entering the hold and other parts of the ship. Waves were coming up over the ship's
bridge. The crew did, however,
eventually manage to secure a tarpaulin over the damaged hatch.
When we left the
Mediterranean, things were even worse - a severe storm was raging in the Atlantic. A
great many Portuguese fishermen were drowned off the coast of Portugal in this storm, which continued all
the way through the Bay of Biscay.
The journey from Rangoon to Southampton
took about eight weeks.
Eddie Hawkins (age 83)
Southampton.
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Additional Information added 1st November 2010. The Editor
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Eddie Hawkins has added to
his account of the last voyage of the first Nevasa (see above) and this
photo shows the Nevasa tied up in Singapore Harbour in 1948 after the
engines had broken down.
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H.M.T.
Nevasa. Singapore Harbour 1948.
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Eddie also included a
photograph (below) of a trooper in Rangoon Harbour, Burma, which he arrived
on in 1944. It was originally thought to be the Nevasa but he has had
second thoughts on the name and is not sure of its identity. If anybody can
positively identify the ship then please contact The
Editor
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Mystery troopship
in Rangoon Harbour, Burma, 1944.
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Additional Information added 15th December 2010. The Editor
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More information has come
from Eddie Hawkins in which he details his wartime memories. These feature
Burma, Singapore and assorted locations, and include various pieces of
documentation from that time. A separate page has been published and can be
accessed from HERE
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First Published: 1st April 2006
Latest Update: 15th December 2010
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