Remembered today

[Malcolm]

Name: AMIRULLAH AHMAD KHAN

Nationality: Indian

Rank: Fireman

Regiment: Indian Merchant Service

Unit Text: S.S. 'NYANZA' (Greenock).

Date of Death: 09/12/1917

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Cemetery: BOMBAY 1914-1918 MEMORIAL

Cemetery: BOMBAY 1914-1918 MEMORIAL

Country: India

Locality: unspecified

Location Information: The names of the dead are recorded on eight panels in the memorial hall of the Indian Sailors' Home, and the memorial may be visited by obtaining the key from the Secretary of the Indian Sailors' Home. The main road leading to the Port Area is P.D. Mello Road which runs to the "Gateway of India". The entrance to the Sailors Home is on Thana Street.

Historical Information: THE BOMBAY MEMORIALS. The three Memorials of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Chatham and the Memorial of the Merchant Navy at Tower Hill record the names of those European sailors who met their death in combatant service, or at the hands of the enemy, and whose graves are not known. There remain, however, the sailors of Asiatic or African birth who took the same risks and met the same fate, and for these men two other Memorials at two great Eastern ports have been erected. The names of the Chinese sailors are erected at Hongkong; the Indian, Adenese and East African sailors are commemorated at Bombay, and with them are associated those Indian dead of the Royal Indian Marine who fell in the Great War and whose graves are in Eastern waters. The Bombay 1914-1918 Memorial commemorates more than 2,000 sailors who died in the First World War and have no other grave than the sea. Of 29 Officers and Warrant Officers of the Royal Indian Marine who fell in the War, twenty-three are buried in known graves and the name of one appears on the Basra Memorial. A tablet erected in Bombay (St. Thomas) Cathedral records the names of these dead, and forms a Memorial to the five whose names are given separately under the heading of the Bombay Cathedral Memorial.

No. of Identified Casualties: 2210

The NYANZA was a requisitioned P&O ship.

NYANZA: 6,695 grt; 449 x 52; Caird & Co., Greenock, 1907; Far East service; 94 passengers; sisters: NAMUR, NILE, and NORE; broken up Japan 1928.

see http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/PO-Vintage/Nyanza-2-1907-01.jpg

(not to be confused with the ex German Esslingen interned Manila 1914 siezed 1917 by USA and renamed NYANZA on which a US Navy Cross was won in 1918.)

Remembering the Indian Merchant Service.

Aye

Malcolm

[Michael Lowrey]

To add a bit to what Malcolm wrote, Khan was one of 49 killed when Nyanza was torpedoed by U 53 10 miles off the Lizard on December 9, 1917. The ship reached port, was repaired, and soon torpedoed again, this time by UB 40 on February 25, 1918 10 miles off Brighton with the loss of 4 lives. Again, Nyanza was repaired and returned to sea.

Also not to be confused with the 4053 grt steamer of the same name. That Nyanza, built in 1897, was sunk on September 29, 1918 10 miles NWxW Corsewall Pt LH by UB95 with the loss of 13 lives.

Best wishes,

Michael

[David Seymour]

Michael,

Nyanza seems to have been very lucky. Any information on how she managed to survive the torpedoes?

Best wishes,

David

[Michael Lowrey]

David,

No, nothing specific. Probably a combination of being a relatively large ship for the time, being torpedoed while only 10 miles from land, and, as you said, being lucky. Effective ASW so as to keep the U-boat down and unable to fire a second torpedo to finish off the steamer was likely also a factor.

Best wishes,

Michael

[David Seymour]

Michael,

Thanks.

David

[Guest musicmarine]

Hi...I know its been a few years but I'm interested in finding any information relating to the Nyanza,& the events of Dec 9 1917....

I have the death certificate of my Great Grandfather Richard Gillett Jnr (born 1875 NZ)who was supposedly killed 9.12.1917 on the Nyanza,off the Lizards..

It also states that he was a Saloon Passenger & cause of death was "Enemy's action Drowned"

The certificate is from the Marine Register Book of Deaths kept in the General register Office,Somerset House,London.

He was a New Zealander based in Kuala Lumpur & was a surveyor,on his way back to New Zealand at the time of the incident...

On a recent trip to London I went to Somerset House to find more information,only to be told that all the records had been moved to Kew Gardens...

Unfortunately we ran out of time to get there...

I'm looking for any information relating to this event but especially how I go about finding who was killed on the Nyanza & access to official reports,burials,memorials,medical reports etc

Heres some info;

http://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/4499.html

& here-See "Monday 4th February 1918" -073;

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~ashleigh/1870-1908/1918.February.PRESS.Snippets.html

We've struck a bit of a brick wall so any help appreciated..

Thanks!

Dave

New Zealand