HMHS Talamba as a hospital ship on 24 April 1943.
History
United Kingdom
Name	SS Talamba
Namesake	Talamba
Owner	British India Steam Navigation Company (1924-1938) Royal Navy (1938-1943)
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie, Hebburn
Yard number	533
Laid down	1924
Launched	16 July 1924
Completed	2 October 1924
Reclassified	HMHS Talamba (No.35 & 43)
Identification	Callsign: GKNM
Fate	Sunk by Luftwaffe in 1943.
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner Hospital ship
Displacement	8018 tons
Length	137.4 m (450 ft 9 in)
Beam	19.4 m (63 ft 8 in)
Draft	9' 1''
Depth	17.1 m (56 ft 1 in)
Installed power	4x Triple expansion turbines 2x shafts
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h)
Boats & landing craft carried	14 x Lifeboats
Capacity	8100 dwt

SS Talamba was a British ocean liner which was converted to a hospital ship in 1941. She was named after Tulamba, Pakistan.

Construction and career

She was launched and completed in 1924. She was owned by British India Steam Navigation Company. SS Talamba while sailing from Singapore, an attempt to rush the ship’s bridge by the Chinese deportees but was contained and escorted by HMS Carlisle to Hong Kong.^[1]

In 1937, she was grounded after a typhoon at Hong Kong. SS Talamba was designated as a hospital ship in June 1941.

HMHS Talamba assisted in the evacuation of Singapore in January 1942 after the Imperial Japanese have started their conquest over Asia, part of the Pacific Theatre of World War II.

During the amphibious invasion of Sicily, she was attacked twice by the Italian Regia Aeronautica and German Luftwaffe. A bomb fell into her engine room which caused an explosion that killed 5 of her crew but all 400 wounded were evacuated to safety. HMHS Talamba, sank off Syracuse on 10 July 1943.^[2]

References