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

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

) in India. The Indian

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

SS ''Ramdas'', while bound for

Rewas Rewas Port (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 con ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

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

Colaba Colaba (; or ISO 15919, ISO: Kolābā) is a part of the city of Mumbai, India. It is one of the four peninsulas of Mumbai while the other three are Worli, Bandra and Malabar Hill. During the Portuguese rule in the 16th century, the island was ...

(

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahalaxmi (Western side), Byculla ...

)Point, killing 724 of the people on board.

The disaster

''Ramdas'' was a coastal

passenger ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

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 Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front). Vessels with bil ...

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 Hamburg, Manch ...

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 harbour 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. History Girgaon has a deep-rooted connection with the celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi, particularly ...

and

Parel Parel (ISO 15919, ISO: Paraḷ, pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, əɾəɭ is a neighbourhood in the south of Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Originally one of the Seven Islands of Bombay, Parel became an industrial center after the unificatio ...

areas. They were mostly workers from

Pen PEN may refer to: * (National Ecological Party), former name of the Brazilian political party Patriota (PATRI) * PEN International, a worldwide association of writers ** English PEN, the founding centre of PEN International ** PEN America, located ...

, Roha, and

Alibag Alibag, also known as Alibaug (Pronunciation: �libaːɡ, is a coastal city and a municipal council in Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is the headquarters of the Raigad district and is south of the city of Mumbai. Alibag is part of the ...

. Survivors included the ship's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, 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 man-made structure that protrudes from land out into water. A jetty may serve as a breakwater (structure), breakwater, as a walkway, or both; or, in pairs, as a means of constricting a channel. The term derives from the French la ...

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

Bombay Port Trust Mumbai Port (also known as the Bombay Port) is a port which lies midway on the west coast of India, on the natural deep-water Mumbai harbour in Maharashtra. The harbour spread over is protected by the mainland of Konkan to its east and north an ...

decided to salvage it in August 1951 and the work was entrusted to an Italian firm for a cost of 13.8

lakh A lakh (; abbreviated L; sometimes written lac) is a unit in the Indian numbering system equal to one hundred thousand (100,000; scientific notation: 105). In the Indian 2, 2, 3 convention of digit grouping, it is written as 1,00,000. F ...

. However, the wreck resurfaced on its own at

Ballard Pier The Ballard Estate business district is situated in the financial district of Fort. Located between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Fort in South Mumbai, it hosts the offices of shipping companies and the headquarters of the Mumbai Port ...

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