MV Rajah Brooke
The steel-hulled 2312-gross registered ton MV Rajah Brooke was built by Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd in 1948 for the Sarawak Steamship Co for service between Singapore and Sarawak.
She was sold to the Straits Steamship Company and is seen here in their colours in late 1972 using her own derricks to load or unload sacks in what I believe is Jesselton.
Jesselton was renamed in 1967 as Kota Kinabalu and is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo; however, at that time ex-pat Brits still used the earlier name.
A passenger/cargo tramp steamer, Rajah Brooke shuttled between Sarawak and Singapore, taking about five days each way, and stopping in at a variety of very small ports along the way.
The split superstructure was typical of many of the tramp steamers operating in the region at the time. By positioning the bridge forward and high, it allowed the Captain and helmsman to see over the tops of the trees and round the bends in estuaries and rivers as the ships negotiated poorly-charted and shifting navigable waters to reach inland ports.
Scanned from a slide, this image was taken by a relative who was working in the Far East, sometimes travelling aboard her.
MV Rajah Brooke
The steel-hulled 2312-gross registered ton MV Rajah Brooke was built by Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Co Ltd in 1948 for the Sarawak Steamship Co for service between Singapore and Sarawak.
She was sold to the Straits Steamship Company and is seen here in their colours in late 1972 using her own derricks to load or unload sacks in what I believe is Jesselton.
Jesselton was renamed in 1967 as Kota Kinabalu and is the capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo; however, at that time ex-pat Brits still used the earlier name.
A passenger/cargo tramp steamer, Rajah Brooke shuttled between Sarawak and Singapore, taking about five days each way, and stopping in at a variety of very small ports along the way.
The split superstructure was typical of many of the tramp steamers operating in the region at the time. By positioning the bridge forward and high, it allowed the Captain and helmsman to see over the tops of the trees and round the bends in estuaries and rivers as the ships negotiated poorly-charted and shifting navigable waters to reach inland ports.
Scanned from a slide, this image was taken by a relative who was working in the Far East, sometimes travelling aboard her.