I remember reading somewhere about an indigenous people- Africa or South America or some place – they refuse to be photographed. They believe that their souls would be captured in the images and they would be damned forever.
Ruminating over the past, I recollect many faces. Some having some significance, some relation, some reason to remember. But curiously, there are so many others who had just passed through my life – a casual meeting, a glance- and their faces have been imprinted in my mind forever. I am, I guess, carrying a little bit of their souls in me...
When I was a little boy in the early 60s – it must have been in '64 or '65, an obituary used to appear in the Malayala Manorama Daily every year. I think it kept on appearing till mid-70s. Either I would have forgotten to look or it stopped being published. Anyway, I am sure that it hasn't come since the 80s. It was a black and white picture of a beautiful young mother with a western kind of hairstyle of the 50s.
Those who are familiar with Phantom Comics would remember Ms Diana Palmer, Phantom's girl friend and later wife, who was an Olympic diver. It was kind of bobbed, fluffed above the forehead and reached upto shoulders. This lady had the same hairstyle as that of Diana. ( Now, my young friends, laugh if you wish, but Phantom was our staple diet in the 60's. Beautiful comic books, comic strips in Sunday edition of Malayala Manorma, in the Illustrated Weekly – how I miss Illustrated Weekly – every issue would carry one SINGLE picture of a scantily-clad woman – usually in a bikini – my sister and I would conspiratorially giggle looking at it - it was very rare to see the kind of pictures that are common now.
Sorry, I have digressed. This mother and child, yes. The box said - 'In Memoriam', above the picture. The mother sat slightly turned towards her left. The young child sat on her lap. I remember she had a beautiful profile. I have forgotten her name, but beneath the photo it said - SS Dara – 1961.
I remember I was fascinated by them. Every year they would appear and I would look at them longingly, with great pain. Then, after a few years, it must have settled down at the bottom of my heart, like a decaying leaf, gently, gently...
A couple of months back, I remembered them. I googled SS DARA and there it was! On 8th April 1961, the S S Dara was on its way from Bombay to Kuwait. After leaving Oman, just a few nautical miles off shore, it blew up. It is said that it was bombed by an Omani terrorist. The sea was rough, the captain couldn't turn the ship back to the harbour. Other ships came to the rescue, but 238 passengers perished. This is what a book on SS Dara’s mishap says : "The explosion of a bomb in Dara, a steamship of the British India Line, in the early hours of 8th April, 1961, when she was at sea in the Persian Gulf with 819 passengers on board, has been attributed to Omani rebels. It was an act of war in peacetime, and its victims were Indians, Pakistanis and Arabs - men, women and children Two hundred and thirty-eight people lost their lives in the flames or in the sea...
This young mother and child must have been passengers in it. I tried tracing them through a journalist friend in Malayala Manorama, but their archives haven't been digitized that way back; he has said he would give it a try. One day I casually mentioned this to my colleagues in the Bank, and Susan, in her late 50s, said she too remembered them. What a coincidence! Susan even remembered their names; Gloria and Sayu mol.
Sometime back I had written about how seemingly unimportant incidents cling on in our memory. A face there, a face here, a flower here, a breeze there. I agree with you when you pooh-pooh all this sentimental mush. Absolutely meaningless. Quite likely the lady's husband too would have passed away. There might not be any family. Even if there is, how many would remember or care to remember something that happened 50 years ago?
Well, I would, if you don't mind. SS Dara is part of my boyhood, my life. I wish they weren't dead, that beautiful mother and sweet child. I remember a young boy of 7 or 8 lying on the floor and reading the newspaper spread before him. His chin supported by the left palm, the right, holding down the paper, he swung his calves alternately and gazed at the picture with pain in his heart. I love that boy; therefore I cannot forget SS Dara.
********** Balachandran, Trivandrum, 09.03.2010
POST SCRIPT DATED 12.06.2013
Ms Nabila Khanam, whose comment can be seen below sent me the following information about the SS Dara incident. Her aunts who are now no more, were among the survivors of the mishap. I hope those readers who are searching on SS Dara would find it useful. Among those who succumbed were fathers and mothers and family members of many amongst you. My prayers and condolences to all of you. May the departed souls rest in peace.
DOCUMENT #1
DARA
M.V.
Dara was a British Indian Steam Navigation Company liner, built in
1948, Barclay, Curle and Co; 5,030 tons 398.7 x 54.8; 14 knotts; oil
engines.
Dara mostly travelled between the
Arabian Gulf and the Indian continent, carrying expatriate passengers
who had employment in the Gulf States. She had accomodation for 20
1st Class, 54 2nd Class and 1377 deck passengers.
A bomb exploded on board, while off
the coast of Dubai, on the 8th April 1961 which caused the vessel to
eventually sink. It was never clearly established who planted the
bomb, or why, but there was a high loss of life attributed to the
incident, despite the fact that no one was on board when it sank. At
the time, it was the worst peace time disasters on the high seas,
second to the Titanic. There is some conjecture that, due to the
circumstances, the perpetrator of the crime may also have been on
board at the time of the explosion. Captained by Charles Elson, there
was a total of 819 on board, including 19 officers and 113 crew; 238
died from burns or drowning.
The vessel had
sailed from Bombay on the 23rd May on a round trip to Basera, calling
at intermediate ports. It had arrived at Dubai on the 7th April and
was unloading cargo, embarking and disembarking passengers when a
violent storm of wind and rain prevented further work. Capt. Elison
decided to take the ship out of harbour to ride the storm. There was
not time to disembark persons on board who did not intend to travel.
These included relatives and friends seeing off the passengers,
hawkers, cargo labourers and shipping/ immigration officials. It was
while returning to harbour after the storm, at about 04.40 Hrs on the
morning of the 8th, that there was a heavy explosion between
decks (Click
here to see plan) and
the ship caught fire.
There was a certain amount of panic
among the crew and passengers and many perished by jumping into the
sea or by over crowded lifeboats, which capsized. There were several
ships close at hand and help was given by British, German, Japanese
and Norwegian vessels.
Three British frigates and a US
destroyer, sent parties on board and were able to get the fire under
control. Dara was then taken in tow by the the Glasgow salvage vessel
OCEAN SALVOR, but sank at 09.20 Hrs on April 10th.
REPORT
From HMS Buldog 22/05/70: -
The wreck lies in approximately 15 m
of water and is in a 093°/273° direction with her bowes pointing
East. It lies on its starboard side and the main mast is visible at
2m above mean high water.
RAF
Search and Rescue: -
The following message was left in
the guest book by Jack Frith on the 21/10/04. He has kindly agreed
for me to repeat the message here, (thanks Jack).
I was the captain of the Search and
Rescue Shackleton that was sent from Aden to search for and aid the
Dara. The photograph that you are using was taken by one of my crew
from the beam position on the aircraft when we arrived on scene. I
dropped a Lindholm rescue gear (contained a dingy, food, water etc)
to what appeared to be some surviviors in the water but since no
effort was made to reach the gear it had to be assumed that we were
too late. Seems a long time ago now.
First
Hand Account of Events: -
The following is an abridged
message left on the 13/12/06 by Peter Jordan, ex Chief Officer at the
time on the Dara. (thanks Peter).
I was in fact chief officer on board
that terrible night, so am fully aware of the sequence of events.
The explosion
occurred outside the vishiwala galley
which went through to the engine room bulkhead and up through 2
decks, which were the passenger and main lounge. Having checked, as
best as possible, there was no way of containing the fire due to the
fact that the bomb had disrupted all electrical, fire water and
steering module, so we had no choice but to abandon ship.
Alarms by this time were already going
off, crew were alerted and due to the weather, which was almost gale
force, the fires spread rapidly. We launched lifeboats, but due to
the panic, one lifeboat in particular, I recall, was overcrowded and
overturned in the rough sea. Another life boat manned by the second
officer Charlie ??(can't remember) had been damaged by a Greek Vessel
which had dragged her anchor and collided with our bow and damaged
the lifeboat and a few other parts of the ship some hours prior to
the explosion! This lifeboat full of people, though almost sinking
due to the damage, was rescued by a Norwegian Tanker's Lifeboat. This
same Norwegian Tanker came steaming in despite the fact they were not
gas free ( i.e. at high risk themselves of exploding) and saved many
many lives including my own. I wish to thank them very much.
As for, dare I say it, the Empire
Guillemot, we called her by Morse light and asked for help, but due
to her cargo of bombs and explosives she could not and would not come
close for fear of explosion; that is a fact!! She sat out there like,
well I’m sorry there was no excuse, they were the nearest ship to
us, and sat there, they could have steamed in, dropped some lifeboats
and moved on, but alas did not. As for reports I have read, that they
saved lives, well they did not, they may have had survivors picked up
by the Norwegians transferred to their ship, but that is all.
I am 75 years of age now, so can speak
freely of the events that occurred that night. I do not wish to
incite any anger or change to what has been said and written, but
facts are facts, and I can only say the truth as it was. I do not
wish to put a damper on the Dara as a Dive site, however, for me at
least she is Gravesite for all the people who lost their lives that
terrible day and should be respected as such.
* Note
by Clive: - While respecting Peter’s views regarding Dara being
used as a dive site, and it may be appropriated to regard it as a
memorial to those who died, it is my information that the ship had
been boarded by US and British naval personnel, as explained above,
and was in tow when it went down. As such it is assumed that all the
crew and passengers had had the chance to leave the ship. There may
have been the bodies of anyone killed by the blast, still on board
but I can say that in almost fifty years the wreck has been dived, I
had never heard of anyone coming across any remains.
Diving
on Dara
In the late 70s and early 80s the
writer was a member of the local diving club in Dubai and dived, with
the other members of the club, on the wreck of Dara.
Many souvenirs
were taken from the wreck at this time, in the way of portholes
lanterns, and anything brass. One of these portholes now serves as
opening in brick fireplace which views into a fish tank behind;
another has been made into a clock. It is doubtful whether the wreck,
to date, has anything left to be to relinquish. One of the club
members' eventually bought the salvage rights of the wreck and by now
there may be little left. (Perhaps anyone reading this, who knows the
site and the current state of the wreck, might leave a message in the
guest book on the Home Page).
This
is a recent account of the wreck. Kindly provided,on the 10/12/06, by
Doug Fontaine who is a current member of the 406 club. Thanks Doug.
The Dara is well broken up now and
it’s easy to get lost, the bow is still fairly well intact or
should I say one side of it is; the anchor is still in place, the two
masts now lie on the seabed, heading towards the wreck with the masts
in front of you the bows are to your right.
DOCUMENT #2
SINKING
OF THE M.V. "DARA"
HL
Deb 11 April 1961 vol 230 cc244-5244
3.38
p.m.
My
Lords, I think it might be convenient if I intervened at this stage
to make a statement similar to that which has just been made by my
right honourable friend the Minister of Transport in another place.
I
am informed that the British India Steam Navigation Company's motor
vessel "Dara", of 5,030 gross tons, was anchored in the
port of Dubai on Friday evening, April 7, when she was struck by
another vessel which had dragged anchor. The master decided to put to
sea as the weather was deteriorating, intending to return in the
morning. A total of 770 persons, including 132 members of the crew,
are known to have been on board.
Early
on Saturday morning, an S.O.S. was sent reporting the outbreak of
fire, and the ship was abandoned at about 6.30 a.m., when some 40
miles from the shore. An Army tank landing craft, a number of ships
of the Royal Navy, and several British and foreign merchant ships
proceeded to the scene and picked up survivors. Five hundred and
eighty persons were saved, but it is feared that the 190 who are
missing, including 30 members of the crew, have lost their lives.
After
the ship had been abandoned, fire-fighting operations were undertaken
from alongside the vessel in difficult conditions by three Royal Navy
frigates. She was taken in tow, but finally sank on Monday morning
some five miles off the coast before she could be beached.
My
right honourable friend the Minister of Transport has ordered a
formal investigation, which will be held in public, into the tragic
circumstances
attending the loss of this ship,
and the necessary preliminary inquiries are already in hand. The
House will wish me to express its deep sympathy with the relatives of
those who have lost their lives and with the injured, and to pay
tribute to the efforts of all those who took part in rescue
operations, without which the loss of life would undoubtedly have
been even more serious.
My
Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for giving the House the
statement made in another place on this shocking disaster. We join
with him in extending our sympathy, as I am sure all Members of the
House will desire to do, with the relatives of those who have lost
their lives. I do not think that it is possible at this time to make
any comment on the incident. There will be an inquiry. One wonders
how such a thing could have happened so suddenly, and I do not know
whether we shall ever be able to get the true facts. I hope that as
soon as the Minister is able, he will publish a report of the inquiry
and give us a chance of studying it.
My
Lords, on behalf of noble Lords on these Benches, I also should like
to thank the Minister for the statement he has made, and to associate
my noble friends and myself with the sympathy expressed to the
relatives of those who have lost their lives in this disaster.
This is a badge from a BI envelope
of 1939, taken from the BI web
site: http://www.biship.com/index.htm
For
some nice paintings of ships, further BI information, livery &
insignia, click on the above link to view their site.
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