The 7,816 GRT motor ship was laid down at the Caird & Company shipyard in Greenock, Scotland, under the name Ancobra . The 132.68 meter long and 17.46 meter wide ship was launched on May 25, 1922 and was then christened Adda . The Adda had a chimney, two masts and two propellers and was powered by two six-cylinder diesel engines from Burmeister & Wain , which made 4,600 break horsepower (BHP) and enabled a speed of 14 knots. The Adda was the first passenger ship with diesel engines and was therefore considered an innovation. The Aba already had diesel engines. The Aba was originally a cargo ship that was taken over by the Russian government after the October Revolution and put into service by Elder Dempster Lines as a passenger ship in 1920. Diesel engines were installed on the Adda , which was designed as a passenger ship from the start .
The ship's passenger accommodations were designed for 225 travelers in first class, 74 in second class and 32 in third class. 140 crew members took care of the ship's operation. The Adda was completed on November 14, 1922 and went on her maiden voyage to West Africa before the end of the year . In April 1923 she collided with the steamer Bata on the Mersey .
On May 17, 1941, the Adda ran under the command of Captain John Tate Marshall in Liverpool for a crossing to Freetown (Sierra Leone), Takoradi (Ghana), Accra (Ghana) and Lagos (Nigeria). She drove as part of convoy OB-323 and had the convoy commander, 67-year-old Commodore William Henry Kelly, OBE , DSO , on board. A total of 425 people were on board, including 149 crew members, four gunners, six members of the convoy staff including Kelly and 266 passengers. In addition, 613 tons of freight were loaded.
On June 8, 1941 at 4:42 in the morning, the Adda was hit 82 nautical miles west-southwest of Freetown by a G7a torpedo from the German submarine U 107 (Kapitänleutnant Günter Hessler ). The Adda sank to position ( 8 ° 18 ′ 0 ″ N , 14 ° 23 ′ 24 ″ W, coordinates: 8 ° 18 ′ 0 ″ N , 14 ° 23 ′ 24 ″ W ). Commodore Kelly, seven crew members and two passengers were killed in the sinking. The 415 survivors were picked up by the corvette Cyclamen (Lt. Hamish N. Lawson) and brought back to Freetown the same day. After the British cargo steamer Calchas (10,350 GRT), the Adda was the second largest ship sunk by U 107 .
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