Sister Ships Die Together....

The S.S. Talodi and S.S. Taif were 1,585 and 1,590 GRT passenger/cargo ships built at Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland (Yard No.'s 521 and 520 respectively) for the Khedivial Mail Steamship & Graving Dock Company, Ltd., London. These two ships were ordered and built to replace the two larger Khedivial Mail S.S. Co. 5,800 GRT ships Famaka and Fezara upon their sale to the Australasian United Steam Navigation Company as a result of decreased passenger and mail traffic. The Khedivial Mail S.S. Co. was managed by Lord E. Hamilton at this time. The Taif was launched 17 May 1928 and completed the following June, and the Talodi was completed the following month.
The ships were steel hulled with 3 decks, the main deck being constructed of teak, and sheltered single-deck superstructure running from the 80-foot foc'sle to the 26-foot fantail. The ships were 236-feet 6-inches in length, 39-feet 4-inches in beam, and 16-feet in draught. Propulsion was provided by two 175-PSI oil-fired boilers and a triple-expansion steam engine built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Ltd., Glasgow, Scotland, which had a strock of 30-inches. The cylinders for the engine were 17.5", 29", and 47" each which provided 181 NHP to a single shaft and screw for a top speed of 11 knots. The ships are also listed as having electric lights and a wireless direction finder (Pretty hi-tech stuff for 1928!). The ships had accommodations for 26 First Class passengers, 10 Second Class passengers, and could carry 490 Deck Class passengers.
At the time of completion the Talodi was registered in Alexandria, while the Taif was registered at Suez. The Taif would later be re-registered in Alexandria as well when the the Khedivial Mail S.S & Graving Dock Co. was reorganized and reformed as the Pharaonic Mail Line in 1936.
The ships were homeported out of Suez and carried mail and passengers between the ports of Suez, Jeddah, Yambo, Tor, Port Sudan, Massawa, Djibouti, and Aden. Many of the ship's voyages included carrying pilgrims from Egypt to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj to Mecca. One interesting aspect of these trips to Mecca was that before departing on the pilgrimage, everybody onboard the ships was inspected and vaccinated for smallpox and cholera, a serious health concern at the time, by the Suez Quarantine authorities. Upon returning from Mecca, the ships were again inpected and placed in quarantine if passengers were found to be infected. Once the ships were determined to be disease-free, "Certificates of Measurements" were issued to the ships, after which they could continue service. This practice continued well into the 1950's.
Letters carried and delivered by the S.S. Talodi (L) and S.S. Taif (R).
In 1941, the Pharaonic Mail Line changed it's name to the Khedivial Mail Line and the ships continued service on the same routes without major incident until,onn 13 April 1958, the Talodi collided with the HMS Bulwark while carrying approximately 120 pilgrims to Mecca. The HMS Bulwark has been struck a glancing blow on the forward starboard quarter and received only superficial damage. However, the Talodi's bows had been crumpled in, shortening the ship's length by possibly as much as 15-feet, the foremast had fallen, and the ship's anchors were lost. However, she remained seaworthy and was able to make it to port for repairs.
Postcard from the 1950's showing what possibly be the S.S. Tolodi (behind the warehouse).
In 1961, the Khedivial Mail Line was nationalized under then president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, becoming part of the United Arab Maritime Co. where both ships continued service in the Red Sea.
During the War of Attrition, the city of Suez and Port Abadiyeh, were virtual ghost towns due to regular and frequent bombings by the Israeli Air Force. Both the Talodi and Taif were bombed and sunk at Port Suez during this conflict. Possibly during the Israeli Operation Boxer in which approximately 500 air sorties were coducted between 12 and 28 July 1969 in which targets along the Suez Canal were repeatedly bombed. No additional information concerning the sinking of these ships has been located to date. However, it is highly probable that the ships were either salvaged or broken up and removed during the clearing of the Suez Canal in 1974 and 1975.
If anyone has any additional information concerning these vessels, it would be greatly appreciated if the information could be sent to "info@shipwrecksofegypt.com"
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