As part of ‘Exhibit of Fortnight’, the children’s section at the Government Museum, has displayed a model of ‘S. S. Irwin Ship’.
The ship, built in 1929 in Glasgow, was bought by the South Indian Railway Company to operate between Dhanushkodi, Rameswaram Island and Talaimannar Pier in Mannar Island, Sri Lanka. The ship was put on service in 1930. The tonnage of the ship is 970.11 gross, and 377.39 registered. The overall length and breadth are 259 feet and 38 feet respectively. Its passenger carrying capacity in fair and rough weather is 1552 and 1045 respectively. The normal speed of the ship is approximately 10 knots.
The ferry service was suspended following a cyclonic disaster that hit Dhanushkodi of Rameswaram Island on December 22, 1964.
The model presented to this museum by Southern Railway will be kept on display till March 24. For details, contact Govt. museum phone no. 2819 3238.
FOR THE NOTES:
Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship’s overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is calculated by measuring a ship’s volume (from keel to funnel, to the outside of the hull framing) and applying a mathematical formula.
Register tonnage is a ship’s total internal volume expressed in ‘register tons, one of which equals a volume of 100 cubic feet (2.83 m3). It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel.
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