On November 20th 1942 at 17:00, S.S. Tilawa set sail for the continent of Africa. She departed from Ballard Pier, Mumbai with 222 crew members, 732 passengers, and 4 gunners. There were 9 lifeboats, over 6,000 tons of cargo, including 60 tons of silver bullion.
In the middle of the Indian Ocean, 930 miles northeast of the Seychelles, on November 23rd the Japanese Imperial Navy fired 2 torpedos and sunk Tilawa.
HMS Birmingham and S.S. Carthage rescued 678 people. Sadly 280 people perished.
Follow our quest to answer many burning questions, such as:
Listen to a “Witness History” episode by Ben Henderson on at BBC World Service aired on May 9th 2023.
Featuring the forgotten tragedy of the ill-fated S.S. Tilawa. Mr. Arvindbhai Jani, and Mrs. Tejparkash Kaur Manget are 2 known survivors who were interviewed and told some of their recollections.
Also, 94 year old Mr. Mervyn Maciel lost his family, and was a teenager at the time.
Thank you Ben Henderson and BBC World Service!
Listen to our third radio interview with Ben Jackson on BBC Radio Leicester, U.K (March 27th 2023). We provide an update on the upcoming commemoration to be held on the 81st anniversary at the London Greenwich Maritime Museum.
Emile Solanki, founder of tilawa1942.com was invited to write an article for The Times of India and Sunday Mumbai Mirror. The article was published on January 1st 2023.
Mr. Chotoo Khoosal Age 98, a survivor of S.S. Tilawa is alive! His son Mr. Pravin Patel contacted our team today. Mr. Khoosal lived in South Africa and Canada for many years, but has decided to spend his remaining years in Bardoli, Gujarat.
On December 16th 2022, The Right Honorable Mr. Rishi Sunak, U.K. Prime Minister had this office write a letter acknowledging the S.S. Tilawa tragedy.
On Wednesday November 23rd 2022, the iconic Grand Hotel at Ballard Estate, Mumbai India held the first ever commemoration to officially acknowledge the forgotten tragedy of the ill-fated S.S. Tilawa. This event memorialized the loss of 280 passengers who sadly drowned. This is the 80th year since the Japanese Navy attacked the British passenger cargo liner.
Runa Ashish from Webdunia attended the Press Conference at the Mumbai Press Club on Tuesday November 22nd 2022. For the 80th commemoration of the S.S. Tilawa, we held this press conference to give the local media an opportunity to meet known survivor Mr. Arvindbhai Jani. Since the commemoration was by invitation, we were able to share some of our program with the press.
Zeeshan Kazi from Sahara Adhikar attended the Press Conference at the Mumbai Press Club on Tuesday November 22nd 2022. For the 80th commemoration of the S.S. Tilawa, we held this press conference to give the local media an opportunity to meet known survivor Mr. Arvindbhai Jani. Since the commemoration was by invitation, we were able to share some of our program with the press.
Click below to the hear the latest radio interviews, or watch recent TV news segments.
Click below to see the latest newspaper articles on recent developments on the S.S. Tilawa.
Dedicated to the missing & surviving victims of the SS Tilawa tragedy.