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Visit http://www.garcabranca.com for details/booking/confirmation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are brief reports of the tragedy in The Times (UK) of Jul 18 and 19 1947. However, googling, I came across a fuller description in the Times of India Relief Fund Appeal which is copied below. The account was probably written soon after the disaster. There is no reference to Goa or Goans. It reports that most people on the ship belonged to the lower sections of society living in the Girgaum and Parel. The people in those areas were largely mill workers. The poorer Goans lived in Dobitalao. Moreover the ship was sailing from Bombay to Rewas which is about the same latitude as Pune. Curiously, the wreckage of the ship disappeared after the disaster and resurfaced a decade later Source: The Times of India Relief Fund at http://www.timesrelieffund.com/ramdasship/ramdas.htm Full text: Ramdas Ship Disaster (1947) It is, perhaps, one of the worst shipping disasters off Bombay to date. At 10 a.m. on July 17, 1947, the 406-ton "Ramdas" sank near Gull Island, ten miles from the Colaba Point. Over 600 of the 700-odd people aboard the ship, which was bound for Rewas, died. According to the master of the ship, Sheikh Suleman Ibrahim, the ship had been streaming ahead at slow speed after leaving at 8.05 a.m., when it was struck by a high swell on the starboard side. All the passengers from this side rushed to the port side, which became overweight and resulted in the ship listing heavily and capsizing within the next two minutes. Strangely, there were no reports of rough weather on the morning of July 17. In fact, the port authorities had no inkling of the tragedy until a few of the survivors swam to safety and reached the Sassoon Docks and related the news at 3 p.m. After a two-day search operations by a fleet of naval, Port Trust and mercantile vessels rounded up about 155 survivors. According to reports, most people travelling aboard "Ramdas" belonged to the lower sections of society living in the Girgaum and Parel areas of Bombay. Although an extensive search was launched by Port authorities no wreckage was found immediately after the disaster. However, a decade later, the wreckage resurfaced on its own at Ballard Pier off Bombay Coast. In order to help families who had to deal with the twin tragedies of losing their dear ones as well as suffer economic hardships due to the loss of their bread-winner, The Times of India Relief Fund set up a special fund to collect donations for their benefit. The Governor of Bombay also contributed Rs. 1,000 to the fund, which was disbursed between government and local agencies involved in relief operations. Photographs at http://www.timesrelieffund.com/ramdasship/ramdas.htm Eddie Fernandes ======================================================================== =========== Can anybody shed further light and take this discussion forward with Arnold? Thank you - bosco On 31/07/06, Arnold Noronha <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Dear Frederick: > > At the outset of the 1949 monsoons (If I remember correctly) , a passenger > ship plying between Bombay and Goa went down in a terrible storm. The > apparently overloaded vessel sank off the Western coast, tragically drowning > hundreds if not thousands returning to Bombay after their May vacations. > > Could anyone in your editorial staff or readership shed further light on > this terrible calamity at sea? > > > Regards > > Arnold _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org