Aba (ship)
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The Aba was a passenger ship of the British Elder Dempster Lines , which was built in 1918 as a cargo ship under the name Glenapp and remained in service until 1947.
history
The ship was originally designed for the Russian tsarist government and laid down at Barclay, Curle and Company in Glasgow in 1916 . However, after the October Revolution of 1917, work was stopped. The unfinished hull was later taken over by the British Glen Line . In September 1918, the ship named Glenapp was put into service.
In 1920 the Glenapp became the property of Elder Dempster Lines, who renamed it Aba and had it converted into a passenger ship for the route from Liverpool to West Africa . In November 1931 the ship was temporarily withdrawn after it ran aground off Lagos in June. In April 1933, however, it resumed passenger service.
In September 1939 the Aba was taken over by the British Admiralty and converted into a hospital ship. In March 1940 it was involved in the evacuation of British citizens in Norway before being moved to Alexandria . In the following four years the ship remained in service in the Mediterranean . It was bombed and damaged twice: in May 1941 off Crete and in March 1944 off Naples . It then took part in D-Day off the coast of France before being used between Liverpool and Cherbourg .
In January 1947, the Aba was returned to Elder Dempster Lines, but they found it too old to be used again. Instead, it was sold to the Bawtry SS Company in Liverpool and renamed Matrona to be converted into an emigrant ship. During the renovation work in Liverpool, however, the ship capsized on October 31, 1947 in the dock after the ballast had been removed. The wreck was recovered in June 1948 and towed to Barrow-in-Furness for scrapping on October 3, 1948 .
Web links
- the ship on clydesite.co.uk (English)
- Technical characteristics of the vessel on clydesite.co.uk (English)
- Website about the war effort of the ship (English)