The K Class
East African Ks
After the Second World War British India desperately needed to update its Bombay East/ South African Service and to this end it ordered two new ships from the yard of Alexander Stephens. The ships were to be called Kampala and Karanja. Unfortunately both ships proved difficult to operate.
The cargo spaces were large and inaccessible it often took longer to open and close the hatches than it did to load or unload the cargo, none of this was helped because of poorly sited winches, poor visibility along the side of the ship, poor siting of telephone communications fore and aft with the bridge also made berthing the ship something of a nightmare, nevertheless both were splendid looking ships the first to be built was the Kampala.
Built: 1947 at Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Glasgow. Yard Nos. 611
Tonnage: 10, 304g, 5, 911n, 9, 344 dwt.
Engines: Twin Screw 2 x 3 Single Reduction Geared Turbines by Parsons, 8, 800 BHP. 17.5 Knots.
Launched 10th December 1946, Delivered 29th August 1947. 10, 000 cu ft refrigerated space.
Passengers: 60 First Class, 180 Second Class, 2441 Deck.
Kampala is the Capital Of Uganda.
She spent most of her life running directly across the Indian Ocean calling at Seychelles, Mombassa and then down to Durban. In 1955 when the bunked accommodation was added and folding glass screens to provide a lido abaft the Bridge superstructure she emerged in her new white hull livery. In 1966 Durban was usually dropped from her service the ship turning round at Dar-es-Salaam and with further service cuts the ship was no longer viable so she was sold for scrapping on the 31st July 1971 to the China Steel Corporation of Kaohsiung. Work commenced on the 10th November.
Built : 1948 at Alexander Stephen and Sons, Linthouse, Glasgow. Yard Nos. 616
Tonnage: 10, 294g, 5, 893n, 9, 267 dwt.
Engines: Twin Screw 2 x 3 Single Reduction Geared Turbines by Parsons, 8, 800 BHP. 18.43 Knots (Trials).
Launched 10th March 1948, Delivered 1st October 1948. 10, 000 cu ft refrigerated space.
Passengers: 60 First Class, 180 Second Class, 2441 Deck.
In 1955 Deck Passengers were replaced by 850 Bunked Passengers. This later changed yet again to 308 Cabin Class.
Karanja Leaving Durban
With Thanks to Captain Cole
Karanja is an island opposite Bombay which protects it from the south-West monsoon.
Karanja's career was pretty much the same as Kampala except that in August 1969 she was sent to the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore for an extensive refit. The refit included the installation of an air conditioning plant for the Public Rooms and Cabin Accommodation, passenger numbers were further reduced and she emerged from the yard in February 1970. This was to provide her with six more years of service, during this time she was transferred in 1971 to the General Cargo Division, then P & O S.N. finally back to BI ownership in 1975. (If anyone can explain the latter transfer I would be obliged.) On the 9th June 1976 she was laid up at Bombay and on the 6th August of the same year was sold to the Shipping Corporation of India, renamed Nancowry. She was placed on the Madras-Port Blair-Andaman Island service and except for a brief spell in the Gulf in 1977 spent the remainder of her days on this route. In October 1988 she was sold for scrapping to Mansoor Taherbhai of Bombay and worked commenced in December of that year.