SS Nevasa

Nevasa at Kiel in 1971
History
United Kingdom
NameSS Nevasa
Owner
Port of registryLondon
Route
  • Troopship: UK to Far East via Suez
  • Schoolship: UK to Scandinavia, Baltic, North Sea, Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean, North and West Africa, the Caribbean
BuilderBarclay, Curle & Co. Ltd., Glasgow
Yard number733
Launched30 November 1955
Completed12 July 1956
Maiden voyage27 July 1956
FateScrapped in 1975
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length609 ft 3 in (185.70 m)
Beam78 ft 3 in (23.85 m)
Draught28 ft (8.5 m)
Propulsion
Speed17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)

This article is primarily about the third ship to bear this name; however, there were two previous ships: SS Nevasa (1884 to 1909)[1] and HMT/HMHS Nevasa (1913 to 1948).[2] All three ships were operated by the British India Steam Navigation Company.

SS Nevasa, also known as HMT Nevasa, was a British troopship built on the River Clyde, Scotland, in 1955 by Barclay, Curle & Co. Ltd. with financial support from the British Government[3] and launched on 30 November 1955.[4]

The name is thought to have come from Nevasa, a town (now a city) in Ahmednagar, India.[4] There is an alternative possibility, that it was derived from a corruption of Naivasha, a town and lake northwest of Nairobi, Kenya.[5]

The ship was the first troopship built since the end of the Second World War and the largest troopship at that time to be built in the United Kingdom.[6] She entered trooping service in July 1956, shortly before the Suez Crisis and from then until October 1962 was continuously employed in reinforcing and relieving British garrisons in the Far and Middle East.[4]

In 1962 she was withdrawn from government service[7] and laid up until 1965 when she was converted to an educational cruise ship. She was sold in 1975 for scrap having completed almost 200 cruises with 188,000 students sailing 745,000 miles (1,200,000 km).[4]

  1. ^ "Ships built by W.Denny & Bros". South Australian Maritime Museum. Retrieved 1 September 2020. Nevasa 1884
  2. ^ Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1930 (PDF). 1930. Retrieved 1 September 2020. Nevasa 1913
  3. ^ "Financial support from the British Government" (PDF). Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d "Ship Fact Sheet NEVASA (1956)" (PDF). P&O Heritage. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  5. ^ W A Laxon & F. W. Perry (1994). B.I. The British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd. World Ship Society, Kendal. ISBN 0905617657.
  6. ^ "Southern Daily Echo". 14 February 2003. Retrieved 25 September 2020. Learning was fun in a floating school
  7. ^ "The Straits Times". 12 May 1962. p. 16. Retrieved 25 September 2020. Farewell soon to last troopers