HMS ''Al Rawdah'' was a ship of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. She was built in 1911 and originally christened ''Chenab'' for the
Nourse Line
The Nourse Line was a shipping company formed by Captain James Nourse in 1861. After taking delivery of his first ship, the ''Ganges'', in 1861, Nourse went on to build up one of the last great fleets of sailing ships.
Early life of James No ...
of London.
In 1930 the ship was sold to
Khedivial Mail Steamship & Graving Dock and renamed ''Ville De Beyrouth''. In 1939 the ship was sold again and renamed ''Al Rawdah''.
In 1940 the British
Ministry of Shipping requisitioned the vessel and she was managed by the
British-India Steam Navigation Company
British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company.
History
The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading part ...
Ltd. In 1946 ''Al Rawdah'' was returned to her owners, and scrapped in 1953.
Internment
Between 1940 and 1946 the vessel (described as a "hulk") was used as a military base and prison ship for
Irish Republican
Irish republicanism () is the political movement for an Irish republic, void of any British rule. Throughout its centuries of existence, it has encompassed various tactics and identities, simultaneously elective and militant and has been both w ...
internees and prisoners. Internment on the ''Al Rawdah'' began in 1939 as it was moored just off
Killyleagh
Killyleagh (; ) is a village and civil parish in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is on the A22 road between Belfast and Downpatrick, on the western side of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 2,787 people in the 2021 Census. It is bes ...
in
Strangford Lough
Strangford Lough () is a large sea lough or inlet in County Down, in the east of Northern Ireland. It is the largest inlet in Ireland and the wider British Isles, covering . The lough is almost fully enclosed by the Ards Peninsula and is linke ...
. Conditions on board the ageing ship were not good - food was described as "abominable" by survivors. Internees were packed in "bronchitic squalor" for months or years.
On 18 November 1940 Irish Republican internee Jack Gaffney from Belfast died onboard the Al Rawdah. Before being sent to the Al Rawdah, Gaffney had been beaten and died suddenly, possibly from unhealed injuries. In October 1940 another Irish Republican internee - Sean Dolan from Derry died shortly after being released from the Al Rawdah. Nationalist members of the Northern Ireland Parliament raised the issue of internees being stranded on the ship while German aircraft and ships were attacking Belfast. On 12 February 1941 the last internees were relocated to other jails and they were finally released in August 1945.
In the 1920s another British prison ship (HMS Argenta) was used to house hundreds of internees at Belfast Lough where conditions were described as "unbelievable". Prisoners on the Argenta were packed into cages, often succumbing to disease and routinely suffered beatings from guards.
[McGuffin, pg 67.]
See also
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References
External links
Info on ''Al Rawdah''
Fleet auxiliaries of the United Kingdom
Defunct prisons in Northern Ireland
Prison ships
Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy
1911 ships
Internment camps in the United Kingdom
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