British passenger steamship sunk by a Nazi German U-Boat in 1940
For other ships with the same name, see List of ships named City of Benares.
City of Benares during her sea trials
History
United Kingdom
Name
City of Benares
Namesake
Benares (now Varanasi)
Owner
Ellerman Lines Ltd, London
Operator
Ellerman City Line Ltd
Port of registry
Glasgow
Route
Peacetime: Liverpool - Mumbai, Karachi, Colombo, Madras, and Calcutta via Suez Canal or South Africa
Wartime: Liverpool - Montreal, Quebec, and New York City
Builder
Barclay, Curle & Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow
Yard number
656
Launched
5 August 1936
Completed
October 1936
Acquired
15 October 1936
Maiden voyage
24 October 1936
In service
24 October 1936
Refit
3 September 1939
Identification
UK official number 164096
call sign GZBW
Nickname(s)
Benares
The Children's Ship
The Children's Liner
Fate
Sunk by submarine on 17 September 1940
General characteristics
Type
Ocean liner
Tonnage
11,081 GRT
6,720 NRT
Displacement
17,000 tons
Length
509 ft (155.1 m) overall
486.1 ft (148.2 m) registered
Beam
62.7 ft (19.1 m)
Draught
28 ft 5+3⁄4 in (8.68 m)
Decks
3
Propulsion
Three Cammell Laird steam turbines (1,450 hp (1,080 kW)), single reduction geared driving a single steel screw
SS City of Benares was a British steam turbine ocean liner, built for Ellerman Lines by Barclay, Curle & Co of Glasgow in 1936.[1] During the Second World War, City of Benares was used as an evacuee ship to transport 90 children from Britain to Canada. German submarine U-48 sank her by torpedoes in September 1940 with the loss of 260 people out of a complement of 408,[2][3] including the death of 77 of the evacuated children. The sinking caused such public outrage in Britain that it led to Winston Churchill cancelling the Children's Overseas Reception Board (CORB) plan to relocate British children abroad.[4]
^"City of Benares (survivors report)". Ships Nostalgia. 12 August 2020.
^"Voices from the Battle of the Atlantic by Kate Tildesley. The Second World War Experience Centre - Battle of the Atlantic". Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^"Illustrated London News 1940 September 28th".
^"SS Nerissa". www.ssnerissa.com.
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