The Sinking of the SS Khedive Ismail in the Sea

War against Japan

by Brian James Crabb

This book tells the full story of the loss of the troopship SS Khedive Ismail in convoy Kr8 in February 1944. No fewer than 1,296 people lost their lives in the space of the 100 seconds it took to sink the ship, including 77 women (the single worst loss of female personnel in the history of the British Commonwealth). Carrying 1,511 personnel from the army and the royal and Merchant Navies, the Khedive Ismail sank on Saturday 12th February 1944 when torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I- 27 in the Indian ocean. only 209 men and 6 women survived the ordeal.

The submarine was depth charged to the surface by the destroyers Paladin and Petard, and the book includes an account of their difficult but successful attempt to sink her, a campaign which forced the Navy to attack the submarine through some of the survivors. The sinking of the Khedive Ismail was the third worst allied mercantile shipping disaster of the Second World War. The book includes many appendices, including the names of the entire ship’s complement and includes over 140 illustrations.

This is an excellent book about an often forgotten ship and I would very highly recommend this book to our readers.

Published by:

Available from: Brian Crabb

Tel: 01275 844229

brian.crabb@talktalk.net

Hardback: 246mm x 190mm, 212 pp illustrated

Price: £24