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Started First Details W/ Infobox

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{{for|other ship|SS Jalabala (1945)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox ship
|infobox_caption=
|section1={{Infobox ship/image
| image =SS Jalabala (1927).png
| image_caption = Still of ''Jalabala'' from film, ''[[India's Struggle for National Shipping]]'' }}

|section2={{Infobox ship/career
| hide_header = no
| country= British India
| flag= {{shipboxflag|British India|civil}}
| name = SS ''Jalabala''
| owner = [[Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.]]<ref name="LRS"/>
| operator =
| registry = [[Bombay]]
| route =[[Colombo]] – [[Bombay]] – [[Karachi]]
| ordered =
| builder =[[Lithgows]], [[Glasgow]]<ref name="LRS"/>
| original_cost =
| yard_number =801 (Kingston SB Yard)<ref name="Clyde"/>
| way_number =
| laid_down =
| launched = January 1927
| completed = 12 August 1927<ref name="Clyde"/>
| christened = 14 July 1927
| acquired =
| maiden_voyage =
| in_service =
| out_of_service =
| identification = [[Official number]] 153807<ref name="LRS"/>
| fate = Torpedoed and sunk on 11 October 1943<ref name=Jalabala/>
| notes =
}}

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics
| hide_header =
| header_caption =
| class =
| type = Cargo general (Steel Screw Steamer)
| tonnage = {{GRT|3610}}, {{NRT|2211}}, 3345 tons under deck<ref name="LRS"/><ref name="Clyde"/>
| displacement =
| length = {{convert|349.9|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="LRS"/>
| beam = {{convert|49.0|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="LRS"/>
| height =
| draught =
| draft =
| depth = {{convert|24.3|ft|m|2|abbr=on}}<ref name="LRS"/>
| decks =
| deck_clearance =
| ramps =
| ice_class =
| sail_plan =
| power = 398 [[Horsepower|hp]]<ref name="LRS"/>
| propulsion = Steam
| speed = 10 [[Knot (unit)|knots]]
| capacity =
| crew = 74
| notes = as per ''[[Lloyd's Register of Shipping]]''<ref name="LRS"/>
}}
}}

'''SS ''Jalabala''''' was the cargo [[steamship]] owned by [[Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.]], the British Indian shipping company, which was completed in 1927. She was torpedoed and sunk in the [[Laccadive Sea]] west of [[Cape Comorin]] by the German submarine {{GS|U-532||2}} with the loss of five of her 77 crew members on 11 October 1943 during [[World War II]].<ref name=Jalabala>{{cite web |url= http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/3105.html |title=Jalabala |publisher=Uboat |access-date=5 April 2012}}</ref>

==Design==
She was built by [[Lithgows]] Ltd., [[Glasgow]] in eight months in 1927. She was made of steel sheathed with copper and had two decks. She was lighted by electricity. She had cellular construction of double bottom which was 207 feet long and capacity of 850 tons. Its forepeak was of 85 tons while afterpeak was of 30 tons. Her register tonnage were {{GRT|3610}}, {{NRT|2211}}, 3345 tons under deck. Her triple expansion steam engine with single shaft and one screw had 3 cylinders with 24" and 40" diameter and had stroke of 65" and 45" generating 398 nominal [[horsepower]]. These engines were built by J. G. Kincaid & Co. Ltd., [[Greenock]]. She was owned by the [[Scindia Steam Navigation Company Ltd.]], [[Bombay]] and was registered in port of Bombay. She was 304.9 feet long, 49.0 feet broad and 24.3 feet deep.<ref name="LRS">{{cite web | title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping | website=Plimsoll ShipData | url=http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/ship.php?ship_id=27711&name=Jalabala | access-date=6 February 2017 | archive-date=6 February 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206185514/http://www.plimsollshipdata.org/ship.php?ship_id=27711&name=Jalabala | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="Clyde">{{cite web | title=JALABALA| website=The Clyde Shipbuilding Database Caledonian Maritime Research Trust | url=http://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?a1PageSize=&year_built=&builder=&a1Order=Sorter_ship_list_bld_ref&a1Dir=DESC&ref=10848&vessel=JALABALA | access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?131957|title=SS Jalabala (+1943)|date=12 August 2013|website=Wrecksite|access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref>

==Career and fate==
[[Vithalbhai Patel]], then the speaker of the [[Central Legislative Assembly]] of [[British India]], performed her [[ceremonial ship launching]] in Glasgow on 14 July 1927.<ref name="Piramal2010">{{cite book|author=Gita Piramal|title=Business Legends|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pAltAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT250|date=1 December 2010|publisher=Penguin Books Limited|isbn=978-93-5118-148-4|pages=250–251}}</ref><ref name="Jog1969">{{cite book|author=Narayan Gopal Jog|title=Saga of Scindia: Struggle for the Revival of Indian Shipping and Shipbuilding [1919–1969]|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70326|year=1969|publisher=Scindia Steam Navigation Company|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.70326/page/n76 52]}}</ref> The footage of launching was later presented in [[documentary film]] ''[[India's Struggle for National Shipping]]'' (1947). The ship was completed on 12 August 1927.<ref name="SK2014">{{cite web | author=Shikha Kumar | title=A Struggle in Restoration | website=The Indian Express | date=12 June 2014 | url=http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/a-struggle-in-restoration/ | access-date=30 January 2017}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Mistry|first=Ketan|title=ભારતીય સમુદ્રી જહાજના ઇતિહાસનો કોહિનૂર...|trans-title=Kohinoor of Indian Shipping History|journal=Chitralekha|language=gu|publication-date=14 December 2015|pages=36–38}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Fairplay Weekly Shipping Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OXkeAQAAMAAJ|date=21 July 1927|publisher=Fairplay Publications Limited|page=165|chapter=Launch of the "Jalabala"}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Shipbuilding & Shipping Record: A Journal of Shipbuilding, Marine Engineering, Dock, Harbours & Shipping|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S2EfAQAAMAAJ|date=July 1927|page=116}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Shipbuilder and Marine Engine-builder|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cU0fAQAAMAAJ|year=1927|publisher=Shipbuilder Press|page=446}}</ref>

[[Mahatma Gandhi]] had written his concerns in ''[[Young India]]'' on its launch,{{blockquote|text=The ceremony {{omission}} does not evoke any feeling of national pride or rejoicing. It only serves as a reminder of our fallen state. What is the addition of one little ship to our microscopic fleet? The sadness of the reminder is heightened by the fact that our mercantile fleet may at any moment be turned into a fleet warring against our own liberty or against that of nations with which India has no quarrel...|author=Mahatma Gandhi|source=''Young India'', 4 August 1927<ref name="Piramal2010"/><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.gandhiserve.org/cwmg/VOL039.PDF|title=The Collected Works Of Mahatma Gandhi (Electronic Book)|last=Gandhi|first=Mahatma|date=4 August 1927|publisher=Publications Division, [[Government of India]]|volume=39|location=New Delhi|publication-date=1999|pages=334–335|chapter=328. Indian Shipping (Young India)}}</ref><ref name="Jog1969"/>}}

The ship was used to transport cargo between [[Karachi]], Bombay and [[Colombo]]. The ship left from Colombo to Bombay in convoy of nine ships (MB-50) in four columns on 9 October 1943. It had 2000 tons of copra and 1800 tons of general cargo. The convoy was escorted by a minesweeper {{HMIS|Carnatic|J199|6}} and an armed trawler {{HMIS|Baroda|T249|6}}. She had the crew of 74 with three gunners and led by Master James George Connor. She was armed with one 3-inch gun and four machine guns. On 11 October, the weather was fine and it was moving at 8 [[Knot (unit)|knots]]. At 16:30 hours, ''Jalbala'' was torpedoed by the German submarine {{GS|U-532||2}} when she was in station #11 of convoy. It was hit on the port side abreast bridge and second hatch. She sent distress signals and the crew soon abandoned the ship in the lifeboats. After being hit, she started to settle by the head after 10 minutes and sank by the bow after 25 minutes. It sank in the [[Laccadive Sea]] west of [[Cape Comorin]] ({{coord|11|40|N|75|19|E}}). HMIS ''Carnatic'' dropped depth charges in a counterattack. As she was the only escort, she soon joined the convoy again without picking up survivors due to fear of repeat attack. The master was last to leave the ship but four crew members were lost. The lifeboats with 66 survivors landed on the nearby coast and were taken to [[Calicut]] the next day. The chief officer had died two hours before landing of boats. The master had joined six members on a raft which landed later and they were taken to [[Mangalore]] on 15 October.<ref name="Jalabala"/><ref name="TheShipsList 1944">{{cite web | title=Scindia S.N. Co. | website=TheShipsList | date=14 April 1944 | url=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/scindia.shtml | access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref><ref name=":1" /><ref name="Tennent2001">{{cite book|author=Alan J. Tennent|title=British and Commonwealth Merchant Ship Losses to Axis Submarines, 1939–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJjfAAAAMAAJ|year=2001|publisher=Sutton|isbn=978-0-7509-2760-4|page=260}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nL_23i67lQ Footage of sea launching ceremony conducted by Vittalbhai Patel]
* [http://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/3105.html Information of ''Jalabala'' with list of crew on the day of sinking]

{{October 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalabala (1927)}}
[[Category:Maritime incidents in October 1943]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Arabian Sea]]
[[Category:Ships built by Lithgows]]
[[Category:1927 ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of India]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of India]]
[[Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II]]

SS Jalabala (1927) - Revision history

PQRS1: Started First Details W/ Infobox