El Kahira

The early years

Launched in Glasgow in February 1892, the 2,034grt ship was built for Egypt's Khedivial Steamship Administration and switched to the UK flag in 1899. El Kahira was designed to carry around 70 passengers and had three holds for cargo, totalling almost 55,000 cu ft in capacity.

Requisitioned

The ship had been requisitioned by the UK government during the First World War, and spent some time as a Royal Fleet Auxiliary storeship before running as a troop transporter.

In May 1920 El Kahira was sold to the Franco-British Steam Ship Company and was laid up in the river Thames for almost two years. Following some repair work, it was decided early in 1922 to put the ship back into service, and on 7 July El Kahira left London bound for Algiers with a cargo of 1,310 tons of sugar.

Disaster and inquiry

But the vessel disappeared during a gale on the following night, with the loss of all 28 crew and one passenger. The body of the ship's master, Captain William Pepperell, was found on a French beach three weeks later.

A seven-day formal inquiry into the loss ruled that El Kahira was in an unsafe condition when it sailed and ordered the owner to pay 200 guineas towards the costs of the investigation. The court said it was 'highly improper' that the 30-year-old vessel had not been drydocked and thoroughly overhauled after so long in lay-up. The boilers were overdue for service, life-saving equipment was defective and had not been approved by the Board of Trade, and there was no wireless equipment onboard even though it was required for the voyage.

Concerns about the Board of Trade's negligence were raised in the UK parliament, and the government was urged to act on a call by the Mercantile Marine Service Association (a predecessor union of Nautilus) to ease unemployment among shipmasters and officers by increasing the number of surveyors.

Picture: EU Wrecksite