SS Mahratta (1917)
{{Hatnote|See also SS Mahratta (1891)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = 201302221641590.MAHRATTA1917A.jpg }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = 100x35px | Ship name = SS Mahratta | Ship owner = *T & J Brocklebank Ltd
| Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Robert Duncan & Co, Port Glasgow | Ship yard number = 328 | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = 20 October 1917 | Ship completed = | Ship christened = | Ship renamed = | Ship acquired = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 6 October 1939 | Ship homeport = Liverpool | Ship fate = Wrecked on Goodwin Sands{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lhac0fSx-rsC&pg=PT483 | title=The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars And Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships | first= Roger | last=Jordan | publisher=Naval Institute Press | year=2006 | isbn=978-1-59114-959-0}} | Ship identification = *Official Number 140545
}} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = | Ship tonnage = 6,690 grt | Ship displacement = | Ship length = {{convert|445|ft|m|2|abbr=on}} | Ship beam = {{convert|58|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} | Ship height = | Ship depth = {{convert|31|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}} | Ship draft = | Ship ice class = | Ship sail plan = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = 1 x Dunsmuir & Jackson Ltd triple expansion engine of {{convert|702|hp|kW|abbr=on}} | Ship speed = | Ship capacity = | Ship crew = | Ship notes = }} |
SS Mahratta was a Brocklebank Line steamship launched in 1917. She ran aground in the English Channel on the Goodwin Sands in October 1939. She was the second and final Brocklebank Line ship with this name. The first Mahratta suffered a similar fate in 1909. After Mahratta broke up, the ship was found to be resting on top of the first Mahratta.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}}
History
SS Mahratta was launched on 20 October 1917.{{cite web|url=http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=17059 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526062555/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=17059 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=2011-05-26 |title=Launched 1917: ss MAHRATTA |publisher=clydesite |accessdate=2008-11-08}} Its name is an old spelling of Maratha. On 6 April 1936, SS Matheran lost her propeller off Port Sudan. It was decided that Mahratta would tow Matheran the {{convert|718|nmi|km}} to Suez where another ship would tow Matheran to Alexandria for repairs. Despite Matheran being a bigger ship than Mahratta, the tow was completed at an average speed of {{convert|7.32|kn|km/h}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/search.php?searchid=217031 |title=BROCKLEBANK'S SS MATHERAN 11 (1936) | publisher=shipsnostalgia.com |accessdate=2008-11-09}}
=Shipwreck=
On 9 October 1939, Mahratta was inbound to London from Calcutta when she ran aground on the Goodwins. Mahratta had originally been bound for Liverpool but received new orders at Gibraltar to sail to London. Mahratta left Gibraltar as part of Convoy HG 1 on 26 September 1939.{{cite web|url=http://www.warsailors.com/convoys/hg1.html |title=CONVOY HG 1 | publisher=warsailors.com |accessdate=2008-11-14}} In blackout conditions she ran aground on Fork Spit, less than a mile away from where the first Mahratta had run aground. The Deal hoveller Lady Haig was given charge of the salvage operations. A tug attempted to move Mahratta into deeper water the next day, but the plates on her port side buckled and by nightfall Mahratta had broken in two. The crew of Mahratta were transferred to the steamer Challenge in four trips. On the third trip, a lifeboat full of luggage salvaged from Mahratta was taken in tow, but a large wave almost capsized Lady Haig and the lifeboat was cast adrift after the ten crew from Mahratta on it were rescued.{{cite web|url=http://www.adls.org.uk/shipinfo.cfm?id=157 |title=Dunkirk Little Ship Lady Haig | publisher=Association of Dunkirk Little Ships |accessdate=2008-11-14}} They were landed at Dover.{{cite web|url=http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/search.php?searchid=217031 |title=Brocklebank's SS Mahratta 11 | publisher=shipsnostalgia.com |accessdate=2008-11-09}}
''Pride of Canterbury'' ferry incident
On 31 January 2008, the roll on roll off passenger ferry Pride of Canterbury operated by P&O Ferries struck the wreck of Mahratta while manoeuvring in severe weather into a holding position in The Downs. The ferry suffered extensive damage to her port propeller and had to be assisted to berth in Dover. It is not clear whether the wreck site named in the MAIB report is that of the first SS Mahratta or the later vessel.{{cite web |url=http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/POC.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090330160022/http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources/POC.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-03-30 |title=Report on the investigation into the grounding of Pride of Canterbury |publisher=Marine Accident Investigation Branch |access-date=2009-01-14 }}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0741.pdf Lloyds Register entry]
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{{October 1939 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mahratta (1917)}}
Category:Shipwrecks in the Downs
Category:Maritime incidents in October 1939