SS City of Benares
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | City of Benares |
| Owner: | Ellerman Lines Ltd, London |
| Operator: | City Line Ltd |
| Port of registry: |
 Glasgow |
| Builder: | Barclay, Curle & Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow |
| Yard number: | 656 |
| Launched: | 5 August 1935 |
| Completed: | October 1936 |
| Identification: |
|
| Fate: | sunk on 18 September 1940 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Steam passenger ship |
| Tonnage: | 11,081 GRT |
| Length: | 486 ft 1 in (148.16 m) |
| Beam: | 62 ft 7 in (19.08 m) |
| Depth: | 30 ft 8 in (9.35 m) |
| Propulsion: | Three Cammell Laird steam turbines (1,450 hp (1,080 kW)), single reduction geared driving a single screw |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 219 (single class) |
| Crew: | 209 |
SS City of Benares was a steam passenger ship built for Ellerman Lines by Barclay, Curle & Co of Glasgow in 1936. During the Second World War the City of Benares was used as an evacuee ship to evacuate 90 children from Britain to Canada. The ship was torpedoed in 1940 by the German submarine U-48 with heavy loss of life, including the death of 77 of the evacuated children. The sinking caused such public outrage in Britain that it led to the total cancellation of the Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) plan to relocate British children abroad.
City of Benares was built by Lithgows Ltd, Port Glasgow. She was launched on 5 August 1935, and completed in October 1936. City of Benares was 486 ft 1 in (148.16 m) long, with a beam of 62 feet 7 inches (19.08 m) and draught of 30 feet 8 inches (9.35 m). She was powered by three steam turbines which were supplied by Cammell Laird. They were oil-fired and drove a single screw via single-reduction gearing, giving her a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h). Her maiden voyage departed Bombay on 7 December 1936. She was managed by City Line Ltd on behalf of her owners, Ellerman Lines Ltd.City of Benares had the UK Official Number 164096 and used the Code Letters GZBW.
City of Benares was part of convoy OB-213, and was being used as an evacuee ship in the overseas evacuation scheme organised by CORB. She was carrying 90 child evacuee passengers who were being evacuated from wartime Britain to Canada. Also aboard were Mary Cornish, an accomplished classical pianist who had volunteered as a children's escort, James Baldwin-Webb, a parliamentarian, Rudolf Olden an exiled German writer, and his wife, documentary director Ruby Grierson, Anne Fleetwood-Hesketh, mother of Roger Fleetwood-Hesketh, 15-year-old Anthony Quinton, with his mother, Letitia, as well as Monika Mann with her husband. The ship left Liverpool on 13 September 1940, bound for the Canadian ports of Quebec and Montreal, under the command of her Master, Landles Nicoll. She was the flagship of the convoy commodore Rear Admiral E.J.G. Mackinnon DSO RN and the first ship in the centre column.
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