3rd June 1916 – BI’s
Golconda sunk

golcondaOn 3rd June 1916 British India’s Golconda was sunk by a mine laid by the German submarine UC-3, some 5 nautical miles off Aldeburgh on the East Anglian coast. She was en route from Middlesbrough to London then Calcutta with general cargo. She sank with the loss of 19 lives, although the captain survived. In 1915 she had been requisitioned for use as a troopship for the Indian Army, and made several trips to Europe. On one trip 600 German civilian internees from a camp in Ahmednagar were transported to London, before being repatriated via the Netherlands. A further group of 500 Germans were repatriated in a similar way in March 1916. 

golconda anchoredGolconda was a twin-funnelled, two-decked whaleback passenger vessel built in 1887 by William Doxford & Sons in Sunderland. She was initially equipped with a barquentine rig on four masts to supplement the engines, was 422 feet (129 m) long, 5,874grt. When built she was operating on BI’s London to Calcutta service. She could accommodate just 80 in First Class and 28 in Second Class. Her limited accommodation proved problematic, and eventually she was redeployed onto the East African service.