Himalaya (ship, 1903)
 The Himalayas in the port of Singapore
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The Himalaya was a 1903 commissioned passenger ship of the French shipping company Messageries Maritimes , which was used in passenger and mail traffic from France to Vietnam . During the First World War , the ship was used not only for civilian passenger traffic but also for troop transport until it was sunk by a German submarine on June 22, 1917 off Tunisia .
history
The 5,620 GRT steamship Himalaya was built at the Chantiers Navals de La Ciotat shipyard in the southern French port city of La Ciotat and was launched on November 22, 1902. The Himalayas had a chimney, two masts and two propellers . She was powered by two triple expansion steam engines that developed 3,300 hp and allowed a top speed of 13 knots. The passenger accommodations were designed for 24 passengers in the first and 35 passengers in the second class.
The 130.4 meter long and 14.6 meter wide ship was built for passenger and mail traffic from Dunkirk to Haiphong in Vietnam. On May 20, 1903, the Himalayas set out on their maiden voyage . Except for a few trips to La Plata in 1910, she stayed exclusively on this route.
On March 10, 1915, the Himalayas were requisitioned for military service and henceforth used as a troop transport. Among other things, she made trips to Madagascar and New Orleans . In March 1916 she brought 2,500 Russian soldiers from Dalian to Marseille together with the former passenger ship Sontay and the French cruiser Latouche-Tréville . On April 30, 1917, she was in a convoy with the French troop carrier Colbert (5,394 GRT) when it was sunk off Algeria by the submarine UC 33 (Oberleutnant zur See Otto Launburg).
On June 22, 1917, the Himalaya , en route from Bizerta to Marseille, was torpedoed and sunk 24 nautical miles off the Tunisian coast by the German submarine U 63 (Kapitänleutnant Otto Schultze ). (Position 38 ° 3 ′ N , 11 ° 31 ′ E ). 32 people were killed, including 28 passengers. The survivors were picked up by the gunboats Impatiente and Gracieuse .