SANGOLA, British India Steam Nav. Co. Ltd., London, 8647gt,
completed Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow 6-1947.
BU Mihara 3.4.63 [Nichimen Co Ltd].
A completely unexpected sighting in Middlesbrough Dock in August 1962,
and one that still remains something of a mystery even today!
The WSS history B.I. gives us the information that she grounded in the River Hooghly leading to Calcutta on 1.7.1953. Badly holed it was feared she would be a total loss. The salvage and repair was intricate involving cutting the ship virtually in half.
She served on the British India service from Calcutta to China and Japan and when this ceased at the end of 1962 she was sold in March 1963 for demolition in Japan.
In recent years the BI experts have required my photographic proof to convince them the ship returned to UK waters only months earlier (possibly for the only time since completion?). Potential reasons for such a visit seem to be a mystery.
Tuesday, 21 August 1962:
Thursday, 23 August 1962: Ron