Hatarana

SS ''Hatarana'' was a cargo steamship that was built as part of an emergency shipbuilding programme during the First World War, and sunk without loss of life in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. She was built as ''War Sailor'', one of a batch of cargo ships that the United Kingdom ordered from Japanese shipyards. She was renamed ''Hatarana'' in 1919 when she changed owners.

''War Sailor''

Japan had been a military ally of the UK since 1902, and joined the First World War on the Allied side in August 1914. In 1917 British shipping companies, on behalf of the UK Shipping Controller, ordered 20 cargo ships from Japanese shipyards, built to standard designs. The largest batch was 12 ships that Furness, Withy & Co ordered from Kawasaki Dockyard in Kobe. Two of this batch were built to a design of large, twin-screw cargo ship called the "T" type. Kawasaki completed ''War Soldier'' in June 1917, followed by ''War Sailor'' that August.

''War Sailor''s registered length was , her beam was , her depth was , and her draught was . Her tonnages were , , and . Each of her screws was driven by a Kawasaki three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 659 NHP and gave her a speed of . Furness, Withy registered her in London. Her UK official number 140430 and her code letters were JRVK.

''Hatarana''

In 1919 Union-Castle Line acquired ''War Soldier'' and renamed her ''Ripley Castle'', while British India Steam Navigation Company (BI) acquired ''War Sailor'' and renamed her ''Hatarana''. BI employed her on its Far East cargo service, sailing to either Calcutta or London according to season.

The ship was equipped for wireless telegraphy from new. By 1930 her call sign was GRZW, and in 1934 this superseded her code letters.

During the Second World War, ''Hatarana'' sailed mostly unescorted, and only occasionally in convoy. She traded mostly within the Indian Ocean, sailing between Burma, India, Ceylon, Australia, Aden, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Kenya, Egypt, and Mauritius. She occasionally visited the Mediterranean, passing through the Suez Canal and back. She called at Haifa in Palestine in November 1940 and October 1941, and at Beirut in Lebanon in January 1942.

Loss

On 31 May 1942 ''Hatarana'' left Karachi. She called at Durban on 18–26 June and Cape Town from 30 June to 10 July. On 25 July she arrived off Freetown in Sierra Leone, where she waited to join a convoy to the UK. On 4 August she left Freetown with SL convoys, SL 118: a convoy of 37 merchant ships bound for Liverpool.

At 18:52 hours on 18 August attacked the convoy, firing four single torpedoes. Two hit and sank the Netherland Line cargo steamship ''Balingkar'', one damaged the armed merchant cruiser , and one damaged ''Hatarana''. A rescue tug was sent from Gibraltar. However, ''Hatarana'' was then abandoned, and the tug was recalled. The steamship ''Corabella'' rescued 88 survivors, and the rescued 20. ''Pentstemon'' sank the damaged ''Hatarana'' by gunfire at position , and later landed the survivors at Derry.

''Hatarana''s Master on her final voyage was Captain Percival James (1887–1967), the brother of actor Clifton James. Another survivor was the future helicopter entrepreneur Alan Bristow.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hatarana

1917 ships
Maritime incidents in 1942
Ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company
Ships built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Ships sunk with no fatalities
Standard World War I ships
Steamships of the United Kingdom
World War I merchant ships of the United Kingdom
World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom
World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean