The 1947 ''Ramdas'' ship disaster occurred near Bombay (now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

) in India. The Indian passenger ship SS ''Ramdas'', while bound for

Rewas Rewas (Rewas-Bodani or Revas) is one of 48 “minor” ports of Maharashtra located at Rewas Creek, near Karanja creek at mouth of the Patalganga River about southward of Jawaharlal Nehru Port (JNPT) and south-east of Mumbai Port. It is control ...

in Maharashtra, capsized on 17 July 1947, near Gull Island (Kashyacha Khadak), ten miles from Colaba(

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

)Point, killing 724 of the people on board.

The disaster

''Ramdas'' was a coastal

passenger ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

owned by the Indian Cooperative Steam Navigation Company. It was a twin-screw vessel built in 1936 and measured 406 tons. On 17 July 1947, at around 8:05 a.m. ( IST), 30 minutes after she left Bombay, and at Colaba Point, while en route to Rewas, she was caught in violent storms and high seas. While she was passing the island of Kashyacha Khadak, one of the waves caught her on the starboard side, resulting in the passengers rushing to the

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

side and causing her to capsize. The port authorities knew of the tragedy only when a few of the survivors swam to safety and reached the

Sassoon Docks Sassoon Docks, built in 1875, is one of the oldest docks in Mumbai and was the first wet dock constructed in Bombay. It is one of the few docks in the city open to the public. It is situated in Mumbai harbor in South Mumbai area of Colaba. It ...

and broke the news at 3:00 p.m. Some of the survivors swam across and reached the northern coast of Raigad near Rewas. Some people were rescued by fishermen from Rewas. Of the 713 passengers on board, 690 died. Most passengers were from the

Girgaum Girgaon, or Girgaum, is an area in southern Mumbai in Maharashtra, India. It is near the coast. A section of Marine Drive is located here. See also *Girgaum Chowpatti *Tanks of Bombay Although the tanks have long vanished, the city of Bom ...

and Parel areas. They were mostly workers from

Pen A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity wh ...

Roha Roha () is a town and taluka in the Raigad district of the Maharashtra state of India. It is located 120 km southeast of Mumbai. It is the starting point of Konkan railways and end point of central railways (Mumbai). Many chemical indu ...

, and Alibag. Survivors included the ship's captain, Sheikh Suleman Ibrahim, who later provided the facts of the incident.

Aftermath

For the rescue operation mounted by the Rewas(alibag) fishermen, the Indian government allotted some land and a

jetty A jetty is a structure that projects from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French word ', "thrown", signifying some ...

to them. The resulting settlement was subsequently called Bodni. The

Bombay Port Trust Mumbai Port Trust (also known as the Bombay Port Trust) is a port which lies midway on the West coast of India, on the natural deep-water harbour of Mumbai (Bombay) in Maharashtra.The harbour spread over is protected by the mainland of Konka ...

decided to salvage it in August 1951 and the work was entrusted to an Italian firm for a cost of 13.8 lakh. However, the wreck resurfaced on its own at Ballard Pier off the coast at Bombay in 1957.

References

External links

Times Relief Fund
History of Mumbai (1947–present) Maritime incidents in India Maritime history of India Shipwrecks in the Arabian Sea Shipwrecks of India Maritime incidents in 1947 Shipping in India 20th century in Mumbai Disasters in Maharashtra 1947 disasters in India {{India-transport-stub