SS Tyndareus

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History
United KingdomUnited Kingdom
NameTyndareus
NamesakeTyndareus, legendary King of Sparta
Owner
Ocean Steamship Company
Port of registryLiverpool
Ordered3 March 1914
BuilderScotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd., Greenock
Laid down30 March 1914
LaunchedDecember 1915
Completed21 November 1916
Identification
FateRequisitioned by the
Admiralty
on completion
United Kingdom
NameTyndareus
Acquired21 November 1916
FateReturned to owner, 1920
Notes6 February 1917, struck a mine off Cape Agulhas and was recovered to Simonstown for repairs
United Kingdom
NameTyndareus
Owner
Ocean Steamship Company
RouteHong Kong/Yokohama/Tacoma, Washington
Acquired1920
Identification
  • United Kingdom official number: 137527
  • Code Letters JNPG until 1934
  • Code Letters GMKX from 1934
FateRequisitioned by the Admiralty, 1940
United Kingdom
NameTyndareus
Acquired1940
FateReturned to owner, 1946
United Kingdom
NameTyndareus
Owner
Ocean Steamship Company
RouteIndonesia/Jeddah
Acquired1946
FateBroken up at Hong Kong, 9 September 1960
Notesused for the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca.
General characteristics
TypeCargo liner
Tonnage11,347 GRT,7,172 NRT
Length507 ft 0 in (154.53 m) p/p
Beam63 ft 2 in (19.25 m)
Draught43.6 ft (13.3 m)
Depth41 ft 0 in (12.50 m)
Installed power2 × triple expansion steam engines
PropulsionTwin screws
Speed14 knots (26 km/h) maximum
Capacity540 passengers

SS Tyndareus was a British

Second World War. Her final civil role was to carry Islamic pilgrims from Indonesia to Mecca
, before being scrapped in 1960.

Description

The ship was 507 feet (154.53 m) long, with a beam of 63 feet 2 inches (19.25 m) and a depth of 41 feet (12.50 m). She was powered by two

nhp and were built by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. She was assessed at 11,361 GRT, 7,172 NRT.[1]

Construction

The ship was ordered on 3 March 1914, intended for the Ocean Steamship Company's Trans-Pacific Service, and was built at the yard of

Code Letters JPNG were allocated. Her port of registry was Liverpool.[1]

First World War

Troops parade while awaiting evacuation from Tyndareus, an oil painting by Stanley Llewellyn Wood (1866-1928).

Her maiden voyage in January 1917 was from her home port of

Titanic".[4]

King George V sent a message to the troops which read:

Please express to the officers commanding the Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment my admiration of the conduct displayed by all ranks on the occasion of the accident to Tyndareus. In their discipline and courage they worthily upheld the splendid tradition of Birkenhead, ever cherished in the annals of the British Army.

An oil painting of the soldiers parading on deck was made by Stanley Llewellyn Wood.[7] A memorial stone was commissioned by Lieutenant Colonel Ward recording the gallantry of his men, and was erected on Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island; it was brought to London in 1994 and is now at the National Army Museum in Chelsea.[8]

Interwar period

Returned to the Blue Funnel Line in 1920, Tyndareus finally began her intended "Trans-Pacific Service" which ran from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington, via Japan, Vancouver and Seattle.[9] She was briefly taken-up as a troopship in 1927 to take British reinforcements to Shanghai during the "China Affair".[3] In 1934, her Code Letters were changed to GMKX.[10]

Second World War

In 1940, Tyndareus was requisitioned again to carry troops and military stores.

Bombay to Suez via Aden with a heavy naval escort. On 20 October, the convoy was attacked by four Italian destroyers off Massawa in the Red Sea. One Italian destroyer was sunk without loss to the transports, although a British destroyer was disabled and towed to safety.[12] The last wartime convoy for Tyndareus was MKS.99G from Gibraltar to Liverpool, arriving on 12 May 1945.[11]

Postwar

In 1949, Tyndareus was refitted at a cost of £126,650 to take Muslims on the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, with accommodation for 2,500 pilgrims. First sailing from Indonesia to Jeddah in 1950, she continued without a serious breakdown until a replacement was acquired in 1960. She finally arrived at Hong Kong on 9 September 1960, where she was broken up.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b Lloyd's of London (1930). "Steamers and Motorships" (PDF). Lloyd's Register. Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  2. ^ a b "Clyde Built Ships – TYNDAREUS". www.clydeships.co.uk. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "ALFRED HOLT & CO – THE BLUE FUNNEL LINE". www.red-duster.co.uk. The Merchant Navy Association. Archived from the original on 27 March 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-349-11478-8
    .
  5. ^ "Glorious Story of a New Birkenhead". The Daily Telegraph. London. 29 March 2017. p. 28.
  6. ^ "British Pluck". The Evening Post. Wellington, New Zealand. 11 April 1917. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  7. ^ "The evacuation of the troopship SS 'Tyndareus', which struck a mine off Cape Agulhas, South Africa, on 6 February 1917". www.nam.ac.uk. National Army Museum. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  8. ^ "The Tyndareus Memorial, 1917". www.nam.ac.uk. National Army Museum. Retrieved 30 March 2017.
  9. ^ Larsson, Bjorn. "Blue Funnel Line (Alfred Holt & Co. – Ocean Steamship Co.)". www.timetableimages.com.
  10. ^ Lloyd's of London (1934). "Steamers and Motorships" (PDF). Lloyd's Register. Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b Kindell, Don. "Ship Movements – TYNDAREUS (Br) 11,361 tons, built 1916". www.convoyweb.org.uk. Arnold Hague Ports Database. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  12. ISBN 978-1598844573
    .
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