T.S.S Kedmah - The Ship's Story

1. Queen of Mallaca Straits

2. The Second World War

3. "The first Hebrew Ship"

4. Epilogue

1. "Queen of Mallaca Straits"

 In 1926 the straits steamship company, an associate of the Blue Funnel Line, decided to build a ship designed especially for the express line between Singapore and Penang. Until then the company operated 36 small vessels which were the main, sometimes the only, connection, between many small ports in the area. The specifications put down by the company were quite a challenge to marine architecture, and only three firms offered tenders for her construction. The contract was placed with Vickers shipyard, of Barrow. The complete ship more than satisfied all requirements. She was launched by lady Maxwell on 16 July, 1927, and named "Kedah", after the Malaya province in which she was meant to operate.



The ship was of 2499 gross tons, with a registered length of about 317 ft (100 meters) and breadth of 50 ft (about 15 meters). She had two overall decks, three holds and hatchways and 6 steam-driven cranes. A double bottom extended for the whole o? her length. She was driven by steam turbine geared to twinscrews. "Kedah" commenced service in 1927. She became very popular and was nicknamed "the little queen of malacca straits". She was a white, impressive looking ship, with mahogany-coloured life boats. Amidships she had accommodation for about 8o first-class passengers.

The ship also carried up to 960 deck passengers, access and ventilation to the spacious main deck being provided by a series of double doors and large openings. The deck crew, mostly Malayan sailors, had accommodation in the foreword deck. The petty officers were a deck above, in the forecastle. The firemen and greasers were aft, just forward of the steering flat, where there was also cabins for the ship's tally clerks. 24 stevedores were also part of the ship's crew. There were 3 galleys, for Europeans, malays and for the Chinese.

The deck passengers were of every Asian nationality, men, women and children. A permanent "sun deck" or awning was fitted over the bridge, the boat deck and the poop, as shelter from the sun and tropical rains.

"Kedah" was granted as a special favour, a marking on the charts of Singapore called "Kedah's anchorage", and conveniently within sight of her owners' office.

Sailing from Singapore at 11:30 in the morning On Thursdays, she would arrive at Penang at 8:30 The next morning. She also made weekend trips to Bellawan, returning to Singapore on Tuesdays at 1:30 in the afternoon. "Kedah" sometimes achieved an average speed of above 20 knots, and her time keeping was that of an express train service. The trip was cooler and more convenient than by train, in spite of the fact that navigation in the straits could at times be very difficult, with limited visibility and fleets of local small vessels .

"Kedah" served this line for 12 years. It did not prove very profitable, but for prestige purposes she more than paid her way!

2. The Second World War

In December 1939 the "Kedah" was requisitioned by the royal navy as an armed auxiliary patrol vessel no. FY035. The navy made several changes. The top section of the funnel was removed, and new taller masts were erected. The ship was armed with two 4 inch. Guns and a 3 inch. Anti-aircraft gun. Depth charge launchers were placed on the after deck. In the years 1940-41, H.M.S. "Kedah" patrolled the north of Borneo and outlying islands, also carrying troops.



Shortly before the fall of Singapore "Kedah" was rushed to assist in the general evacuation. She made several voyages and returned to take refugees and survivors. "Kedah" was bombed on the way there and while in port, and shelled by Japanese guns as a stream of men, women and children boarded her. She sailed with the last convoy leaving Singapore for Batavia, on 14 February 1942, two days before the capitulation of Singapore. On this run she was heavily attacked from the air for three hours, but avoided a direct hit by the skillful handling of her captain, J.L. Sinclair, D.S.O. nevertheless the shocks damaged her machinery and her speed was reduced to 7 knots. In Batavia, though in urgent need of overhaul, she was ordered to sail to Tjilatjap, to embark the staff of general Wavell and 400 refugees for Colombo. She was again attacked by air; by then her machinEry failed completely and "Kedah" was towed the rest of the way to Colombo by H.M.S. dragon.

Arriving Colombo on march 9, "Kedah" was refitted and spent the next two years operating in the bay of Bengal. But in 1945 she was chosen to be the headquarters ship for the invasion of Malaya, and was fitted out with an array of radio equipment. On September 5, 1945 "Kedah" was one of the first ships to re-enter Singapore, flying the flag of rear admiral J. A.V. Morse and carrying the combined operations staff, senior officers of the British military and the chairman of the Singapore harbour board. Her return to Singapore was certainly a dramatic moment.



Following these events the navy routed her back to England, with a temporary stop in Malta where she was an accommodation ship. In 1946 the ship returned to barrow for reconditioning. She needed extensive repairs, and the straits steamship company had no intention to return her to her old line. The company received compensation from the navy, and while the ship was in the yard she was sold, for 75,000 pounds, to Harris and Dixon of London, representing Palestinian interests, later disclosed as Zim Palestine navigation company.

3. "The First Hebrew Ship"

The first task of Zim Palestine navigation company, established in 1945, was to find a ship - not a simple task, in view of the fact that about 60% of the international merchant marine was lost during the war. Only a year after its establishment the "Kedah" was located, and in partnership with the English company Harris & Dixon it was decided to purchase the ship. "Kedah" was taken to Antwerp for refitting. On the way there she broke away from her tug in a gale, the crew abandoned ship and she was nearly driven ashore on the Cornish coast. But eventually she was salvaged and arrived in Antwerp. The work lagged and there were many delays and difficulties; the crew was idle for many weeks. But in the end the ship was restored to her former glory. Several changes were made in her structure again, and her gross tonnage waS increased to 3,504. More cabins for passengers were built. The ship was renamed Kedmah.A great effort was made to find a Jewish crew for the ship, not with complete success. The captain of the ship was commander S. Miller, a British officer who was a supporter of Zionism and one of the founders of the Haifa Maritime School. The chief engineer was from Scotland. After long delays the ship finally set sail on her first voyage, to London, Marseilles, and on July 28, 1947, she arrived at the port of Tel-aviv. There was enthusiastic anticipation for her arrival, accompanied by intense national emotions. The papers headlines, as well as the speeches given by the leaders of the Jewish community, testify to the great symbolic value attached to ship : she was called "the first Hebrew ship". And though there were ship owned by Palestinian Jews before her, and the pioneers of modern Hebrew seamanship sailed on many ships during the war and afterwards, there was no other ship owned by a national company, with the naTional colors on her funnel, an integral part of the Jewish struggle for an independent state.

The enthusiasm and the national feeling did not prevent severe public criticism against mistakes that were allegedly made in purchasing and operating the ship. Zim's dr. Wydra replied during a speech given on the occasion of the signing of the contracts with about 100 Kedmah sailors: he said those critics are unaware of the objective difficulties and the state of international shipping, and that a great part of it was merely an attempt to undermine the company by competitors, afraid of Zim entering the market.

Kedmah, in spite of all the mishaps, began sailing on the Haifa-Marseilles line and became renown. During the same period, the great operation of ‘illegal` immigration to Israel was at its peak. Kedmah was not part of the clandestine fleet; her passengers, some of them survivors of the concentration camps, were of the lucky few who were given certificates to enter Palestine under the permitted quota. But as all of the Jewish community was recruited to the national struggle, the Kedmah carried illegal immigrants as well. Her crew was active in the purchase of weapons

For the Jewish underground in Marseilles. After Israel's declaration of independence, while the ship docked in Marseilles, the crew spontaneously gathered at the mast and the Israeli flag was hoisted. Since the captain objected - for formal reasons - a compromise was reached, and two flags, Israeli and mandatory, were hoisted. On her first voyage uNder the new flag she carried 450 volunteers who came to fight in the war of independence. In genova, several crew members were arrested while trying to smuggle illegal weapons, but were released. Near Crete Kedmah encountered an Egyptian liner, "El amir fawzia", which tried to maneuver her aground. Captain miller proved his navy experience and outmaneuvered the attacking ship, almost causing her to run aground. Kedmah arrived in Haifa port to the newly born independent Israeli state.

Kedmah continued to sail the same line until 1952. She was very popular, and many heads of state traveled aboard. Israel's first president, Chaim Weizman, began a tradition of vacation cruises on board the flag ship of the Israeli merchant marine.

Kedmah was sold in 1952 to the old partners, Harris and Dixon, and was renamed golden isles. She cruised in the Mediterranean till 1954, when Zim chartered the ship again for a few voyages. On the first of these voyages the ship came to the rescue of a French passenger liner, champollion, which in December 1952 grounded and sank near Beirut. She rescued 186 survivors. In 1956 she was sold for scrap .

4. Epilogue

The Kedmah was not forgotten. In 1957 her second master, captain Enrico Levi, while on board s/s Gefen, saw her being towed on her last voyage to the scrapyard in Newport, Wales. He managed to obtain the ship's bell, with the original name, "Kedah", engraved on it. He presented the bell to the Israeli nautical college in Acco where it was kept for many years until it disappeare, probably stolen [more on the bell].

Her crew members - among them Mr. Matty Morgenstern, later Zim's president - as well as the thousands of new immigrants who arrived on her in Israel, remembered her with fondness and nostalgia. In 1960 the well-known Israeli poet and writer, Ayin Hillel, published a children's book in which the hero sails on board Kedmah. The ship`s former career in the far east was also commemorated on a postal stamp issued in Singapore in 1980. She also appears on Zim's anniversary stamp, issued in 1995.

Zim organized a reunion of the ship's veterans in 1978. After the establishment of the Zim museum in 1995 it was decided to add a model of Kedmah. However, no original plans were available. The model builder, Mr. Dror Doron, used many photographs, and written descriptions, and with the assistance of two captains which served on the ship, Malachi Efrat and Enrico Levi, reconstructed the ship plans. At the same time, one of Zim’s captains, Hillel Yarkony, embarked upon a detective-like operation, and vIa the internet, with the help of Mr. Asad Amath of Zim Montreal, obtained some of the Kedmah's original plans.

in May 2001 an English gentleman, Mr. G. Essex, after reading this page, contact the Israeli Embassy in London to inform them the original bell of the Kedmah, engraved "Keddah", was in his backyard for the last 30 years. He graciously agreed to return the bell to Zim to be placed in the museum near the model of the Kedmah.

it appears the bell found in Mr. Esseex's garden originated from the yard of a  neighbour, Mr. Dick Harman. Mr. Essex located the widow of the late Dick Harman, who served as second officer on board "Keddah" during World War II. She found some pictures of the ship as "patrol vessel FY035". the wherabouts of the second bell, found by captain Enrico Levi, is still unknown.  

Sources:
1. Tzvi Herman. - Conquering a route at sea ( "hakovshim bayam netiva") - history of Hebrew seafaring. 1978, hakibutz hameuchad.
2. Yam - journal of the Israel maritime league: July 1947 p.2, August-Sep 1950, p.17
3. The Israeli Seaman, 95, June 1968, p. 30
4. J.h. Isherwood, Steamers of the past: Straits Steamship Company's "Kedah" of 1927. In Sea Breezes, 1976.
5. B. M. Leek, These Splendid ships - the Straits Steamship Co's "Kedah" of 1927.