SS ''Ganges'' was a 3,475-ton

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

, built for the

Nourse Line Nourse is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan E. Nourse, (1928–1992), American science fiction author and physician *Alice Tisdale Hobart, Alice Nourse (1882–1967), American novelist *Amos Nourse (1794–1877), American me ...

Charles Connell and Company Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde. History The company was founded by Charles Connell (1822-1894) who had served an apprenticeship with Robert Steele and Co before b ...

of Glasgow and launched on 9 March 1906. She made seven trips carrying Indian indentured labourers from

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

and

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, ten trips to

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

and also trips to

Surinam Surinam may refer to: * Surinam (Dutch colony) (1667–1954), Dutch plantation colony in Guiana, South America * Surinam (English colony) (1650–1667), English short-lived colony in South America * Surinam, alternative spelling for Suriname ...

and

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies, which resides on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first European to encounter Guiana was S ...

Namesakes

SS ''Ganges'' was the third

ship to be named ''Ganges''. The first ''

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

'' was built in 1861 and wrecked in 1881. The second ''

'' was built in 1885 and sold to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in 1904.

Voyages

Having been in operation during the last years of the Indian indenture system, ''Ganges'' was the last ship to carry Indian indentured labourers to Trinidad and to

, docking in Georgetown on 18 April 1917.

First World War

Between 7 and 31 August 1914 ''Ganges'' was requisitioned for use as a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

collier; and from September of the same year to the following January became an

Indian Expeditionary Force The Indian Army during World War I was involved World War I. Over one million Indian troops served overseas, of whom 62,000 died and another 67,000 were wounded. In total at least 74,187 Indian soldiers died during the war. In World War I the ...

transport. For periods of 1916 and 1917 she was requisitioned to transport various bulk cargoes including

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

. From 6 January 1918 until 19 April 1919 she came under the

Liner Requisition Scheme The Minister of Shipping was a British government post created in the First World War and again in the Second World War. In 1941 it was merged into the position of Minister of Transport which was then renamed Minister of War Transport. Minister of ...

Later history

''Ganges'' was sold out of the fleet in 1928 to F. B. Saunders of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

who sold her on the following year to Sea Products of London. She became ''Seapro'' in 1930 and served for a further four years before being sold for breaking to

Thos. W. Ward Thos. W. Ward Ltd was a Sheffield, Yorkshire, steel, engineering and cement business, which began as coal and coke merchants. It expanded into recycling metal for Sheffield's steel industry, and then the supply and manufacture of machinery. I ...

in 1934.

Notable passengers

The parents of Fiji's first Chief Justice Sir Moti Tikaram (KBE), Thakur Tikaram (born 1877) and his wife Singaribai Tikaram (born 1894) arrived in Fiji on July 10, 1912 on the SS Ganges (Emigration Pass No. 50079). Fiji Indian businessman Sir

Sathi Narain Sir Sathi Narain KBE (1919 - 19 October 1989) was a Fiji Indian businessman who built a construction and shipping business. Family background His parents had arrived in Fiji as indentured labourers abroad the S.S. Ganges on 21 February 1913 a ...

, Devara Suramma (Emigration Pass No. 52043) and Gompa Appalasamy (Emigration Pass No. 51617), arrived on this ship from India to Fiji in 1913. Abdul Wahid who ran as a Mayoral Candidate in Tracy, USA. His grandfather Ali Mohammed f/n Mehardad was one of the indentured labor who came at the age of 20.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganges, SS History of Suriname Indian indentureship in Trinidad and Tobago Indian indenture ships to Fiji 1906 ships