The Narkunda was a 1920 posed in service passenger ship of the British shipping company Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P & O), the passenger and mail services from the UK to Australia and later to the Far East was used. From 1940 she served as a troop ship until she was sunk on November 14, 1942 on the Algerian coast during a German air raid.
history
The P&O steamer Narkunda
The steamship Narkunda was ordered back in 1913 and built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast , Northern Ireland . The First World War delayed the construction of the ship considerably. It was not until April 25, 1918, that the 16,227 GRT Narkunda was launched at Harland & Wolff. Her sister ship , the Naldera (15,825 GRT), also commissioned in 1913 , was built by Caird & Company in Greenock, Scotland , and was launched in December 1917.
The 177.22 meter long and 21.16 meter long passenger and mail ship Narkunda had three funnels, two masts and two propellers and was powered by quadruple expansion steam engines that developed 15,300 PSi and could accelerate the ship up to 17.5 knots . The passenger accommodations were designed for 426 passengers in first and 247 passengers in second class. The Narkunda and the Naldera were P & O's first three-chimney, the first with a rounded cruiser stern and also the largest ships of the shipping company to date. The Narkunda set out on her maiden voyage on March 30, 1920 . In her early years she was used in the postal service from England across the Mediterranean to Australia. In 1927 there was a change from coal to oil burning. In 1931 she was moved to the Far East route and called at various ports.
After bringing Allied troops ashore in the Algerian port city of Bougie , the Narkunda set out for the return voyage to Great Britain under the command of Captain L. Parfitt, DSC . On the evening of November 14, 1942, the Narkunda was bombed and sunk by German fighter pilots not far from Bougie (position 46 ° 52 ′ N , 5 ° 1 ′ E, coordinates: 46 ° 52 ′ 0 ″ N , 5 ° 1 ′ 0 ″ E ). 31 people were killed. The Narkunda was the third and last P&O ship to be lost in the area. Captain Parfitt survived and was later awarded the Lloyd's War Medal for Bravery at Sea.
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