Ceylan (ship)
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The Ceylan was a passenger ship put into service in 1907 by the French shipping company Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis , which was in service until 1934. It is particularly well-known because in January 1920 it took the 34 survivors of the passenger ship Afrique on board, which sank in a storm in the Bay of Biscay .
The ship
The 8223 GRT steamship Ceylan was built at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Wallsend (England) for the French shipping company Compagnie des Chargeurs Réunis, founded in 1872. It was launched on August 13, 1907 and was completed in December 1907. The 147.2 meter long and 16.9 meter wide passenger ship had a chimney, two masts and two propellers . The top speed was 14 knots.
On January 11, 1920, the Ceylan came under the command of Captain Jouan to the aid of Afrique , a passenger ship that belonged to the same shipping company. The Afrique had recently run into a reef in the Bay of Biscay with 609 passengers and crew members and was stuck. Because of the stormy seas, the Ceylan could not get close to the stuck Afrique . Shortly thereafter, however, she picked up the two only surviving lifeboats that got along, which together had 34 people on board. These 34 people, including four women, were the only survivors of the disaster. They were brought ashore by the Ceylan .
The Ceylan arrived on March 21, 1934 after 27 years of service in La Spezia (Italy) for scrapping.