City of Benares

[Administrator]

City of Benares

Tomorrow will be the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the City of Benares which left Liverpool on the 13th September.

They had set sail from Liverpool destined for Canada where they were to begin a new life - far away from deadly German bombs.

On this ship were 90 UK children being evacuated to Canada and in total there were 406 persons on board including 215 crew, 191 adult passengers including the minders and carer's of the children. There were only 158 survivors of these persons and 77 of the children died when the ship was sunk.

The steam passenger ship was holed by the torpedo and sank in the early hours of 18 September, 600 miles off Ireland after its Royal Naval escort had deployed elsewhere.

It was one of the worst sea tragedies involving children of World War II.

The German U-48 submarine's repeated torpedo shots caused wide-scale panic and terror among the 400 passengers as lifeboats were launched and children and grown-ups scrambled for life jackets.

The evacuees, many of whom were travelling with their mothers, had ironically been selected for the voyage because of their vulnerability to bombing in their home towns and cities.

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Re: City of Benares

Update- just reported:

World War Two: 80 years after sinking of child evacuee ship.

23 minutes ago.

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[Administrator]

The City of Benares, known as the Children's Ship, was torpedoed on 17 Sep 1940 ad sank with the loss of many lives.
To mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking our curator takes a closer look at a tale of survival against all odds:

Merseyside Maritime Museum

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[Administrator]

On This Day : 17 September 1940

Her Name Was “City of Benares”, “Tregenna”, “Crown Arun”.

ATLANTIC OCEAN: U-boat U-48 torpedoes and sinks the SS City of Benares, killing 77 British children and 248 crew en-route to Canada. The ship, part of convoy OB-213, had departed Liverpool, England, for Montreal and Quebec City, Canada, on 13 September carrying 199 passengers, 90 of which were children. The children are being transported to Canada as part of a government program. A few hours after the RN escort had withdrawn, the ship is torpedoed at 56.48N, 21.15W. The torpedo hits the ship on the port side and she sinks after a short time. Only 57 passengers, including 13 children, are rescued. Immediately after the sinking, the British government ceases the transportation of children to Canada and South Africa.

[Administrator]

Just before midnight of the 17 September 1940 the SS City of Benares was torpedoed in the North Atlantic by German U-48 submarine – sinking in the early hours of 18 September.

The steam passenger ship was packed with 400 adults and children on their way to Canada – with 87 children and 175 adults being killed.

Over 100 Indian Merchant Navy servicemen also died when the ship went down – being commemorated by name, due to having no known grave, on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Bombay and Chttagong Memorials.

The memorials take the form of a finely bound Roll of Honour volume, one copy held at the Indian Seamen's Home Bombay and the other in Chittagong War Cemetery.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission.