SS Yoma SS " Yoma " was a British passenger liner that served as a troop ship in the Second World War . She was built in Scotland in 1928 , and from then until 1940 " Yoma " ran a regular route between Glasgow in Scotland and Rangoon in Burma " via " Liverpool , Palma , Marseille and Egypt . She became a troop ship in 1941 and was sunk with great loss of life in the Mediterranean in 1943 . " Yoma " was a ship of the Henderson Line of Glasgow . She was managed by P Henderson & Company and initially owned jointly by two other P Henderson companies : British and Burmese Steam Navigation Company Ltd and Burmah Steam Ship Company Ltd . From 1934 the British and Burmese SN Co Ltd was " Yoma " s sole owner . " Yoma " was one of a family of similarly - sized liners built for Henderson ' s by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton on the River Clyde . These were , , and – completed in 1920 , ' 21 , ' 24 and ' 25 respectively . Each was about and carried cargo as well as passengers . Namesakes . " Yoma " was the second of four similarly - named vessels in Henderson ' s fleet . The first was , which was built in 1926 and sold in 1927 . The third was , which was built in 1948 , and transferred in 1952 to Elder Dempster Lines . The fourth was MS " Yoma " , which was built for Elder , Dempster in 1958 as and renamed " Yoma " in 1965 when she was transferred to Henderson ' s . Engines . " Yoma " s boilers had oil - burning furnaces and supplied steam to a quadruple expansion steam engine rated at 550 NHP . In 1939 a low - pressure steam turbine was added to supplement the reciprocating engine . The turbine ran on exhaust steam from the reciprocating engine ' s low - pressure cylinder and drove the propeller shaft by double - reduction gearing and an hydraulic coupling . The combination of reciprocating and turbine propulsion gave " Yoma " a speed of . Civilian service at war . For 15 months after the UK ' s entry into the Second World War " Yoma " continued her service between Britain and Burma , but sailing in convoys for the most hazardous parts of her route . On 19 September 1939 she left Liverpool for Rangoon with general cargo and 125 passengers . She sailed with Convoy OB - 7 until it dispersed in the North Atlantic , then from Gibraltar as far as Alexandria she sailed with Convoy Green - 3 . She returned from Rangoon to Britain carrying general cargo , sailing with Convoy HG - 10 from Gibraltar to Liverpool for the last leg of her voyage . In January 1940 " Yoma " left Liverpool for Rangoon , sailing with Convoy OB - 73 which at sea became the fast convoy Convoy OG - 15F to Gibraltar . On her return from Rangoon she joined Convoy HG - 24 at Gibraltar at the end of March , which reached Liverpool in the first week of April . Before the end of April she left Liverpool for Rangoon , sailing with Convoy OB - 133 which at sea became the fast convoy Convoy OG - 27F to Gibraltar . However , before " Yoma " s return from Rangoon Italy entered the war , making the Mediterranean unsafe for Allied merchant shipping . She therefore made a longer return voyage " via " the Cape of Good Hope , the South Atlantic and West Africa . At Freetown in Sierra Leone she joined the fast Convoy SL - 39F , which caught up with and joined Convoy SL - 39 at sea . SL - 39 reached Liverpool at the end of July . At the end of August 1940 " Yoma " left Liverpool for Rangoon , sailing with Convoy OB - 204 until it dispersed at sea . Using the loger route " via " the Cape of Good Hope it was not until December that she returned , joining Convoy SL - 58 for the homeward leg of the voyage from Freetown to Liverpool . Indian Ocean troop ship . In January 1941 " Yoma " was converted into a troop ship . On 18 February carrying 1 , 628 troops she sailed from the Firth of Clyde with Convoy WS - 6B to Freetown , and on 8 April 1941 she left Freetown with Convoy WS - 6 to Cape Town . After rounding the Cape of Good Hope she spent the next two years in the Indian Ocean , moving troops mostly between Mombasa , Aden , Bombay , Colombo and Bandar Abbas . In January 1942 Japan invaded the Dutch East Indies and in February " Yoma " took troops from Colombo to Batavia , arriving with Convoy JS - 1 and returning with Convoy SJ - 5 . " Yoma " s final Indian Ocean voyage was with Convoy PA - 33 from Bandar Abbas to Aden in April 1943 . Convoy GTX - 2 and sinking . On 13 May Axis forces in Tunisia surrendered , ending the North African Campaign and opening the way for the Allied Invasion of Sicily . " Yoma " was transferred to the Mediterranean , and on 17 May she sailed with Convoy KMX - 14X from Gibraltar to Alexandria . On 8 June she again left Gibraltar for Alexandria , this time in Convoy GTX - 2 . She called at Sfax in Tunisia and Tripoli in Libya , leaving the latter on 16 June . She left Tripoli carrying 134 officers and 994 other ranks of the British Army and 22 officers and 643 ratings of the Free French Naval Forces . Many of the British troops were Royal Engineers , including 994 Dock Operating Company and 1010 Dock Operating Company , who were going to Alexandria to be kitted out and were then to operate port facilities for the Sicilian campaign . On the morning of 17 June the convoy was northwest of the port of Derna , Libya . At 0733 hours many of the men were below decks having breakfast when commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Johann - Otto Krieg fired two torpedoes . Accounts differ as to what followed . U - boat historian Guðmundur Helgason states that one torpedo hit " Yoma " , but Second World War blogger Martin Cherrett states that both of them hit her , one in her engine room and the other in her number 4 hold , sinking her within five minutes . Either way , the Chief Officer , A Olding , reported that she sank rapidly . Olding stated that the explosion destroyed the after engine room bulkhead , rapidly flooding the engine room , boiler room and no . 5 hold and blowing the hatches of nos . 3 and 4 holds . As men scrambled for safety , the ladders on No . 2 mess deck collapsed , trapping many men below decks . " Yoma " settled rapidly by her stern and was shrouded by escaping steam and clouds of coal dust . Her Master , George Patterson ordered " abandon ship " and Chief Officer Olding was among those who made for their boat stations . Olding and his lifeboat crew succeeded in releasing their boat so that it floated as the ship went down . The ship sank stern first , and as she did her bow rose more steeply . Olding described : " " . . . by this time the Yoma was well down by the stern and the next thing I knew she sank under my feet and I found myself in the water . . . as the boat rose I saw a lot of men on the foc ’ sle head : they would not jump into the water . . . as the bow lifted a number of them lost their footing and fell onto the bridge , many others being dragged under by the ship . " " Two of the Royal Engineers having breakfast were Herbert Cullum from County Durham and his friend George Monk . Monk told the Cullum family : " " Bert was at hand ' s reach from me , when it happened . We all got thrown across seats and on the floor and after I managed to regain my feet , which was very difficult , I looked around for Bert . He was nowhere to be seen . . . after great difficulty and luck I found myself in the water , and for the one and three quarter hours in which I was drifting around my eyes were constantly looking for Bert , but could not see him . " " 484 people were killed : Captain Patterson , 29 crew members , three DEMS gunners and 451 military personnel . Because of the danger from enemy submarines Convoy GTX - 2 continued on its way . However , a rescue operation was undertaken by the Royal Australian Navy s and , Royal Navy coastal motor minesweepers HMS " MMS - 102 " and HMS " MMS - 105 " and a British - registered merchant ship : the Park ship . Between them the five vessels rescued 130 crew members , five DEMS gunners and 1 , 342 military personnel . Monuments . Most of the 484 people killed in " Yoma " s sinking have no known grave . The Brookwood Memorial in Surrey lists those who were UK or Commonwealth military personnel . The Second World War part of the Tower Hill Memorial in the City of London lists those who were members of " Yoma " s Merchant Navy crew . Successor ships . In 1948 Henderson ' s took delivery of a new " Yoma " , a turbine steamship that at was considerably smaller than her predecessor . In 1952 Elder Dempster Lines took over Henderson ' s and transferred TSS " Yoma " to the Elder Dempster fleet . In 1965 TSS " Yoma " was sold to Taiwanese owners and renamed " Hai Ping " . In the same year Elder , Dempster transferred a 1958 - built motor ship , the MS " Daru " , to the Henderson fleet and renamed " Yoma " . Also in 1965 , Elder , Dempster took over John Holt & Co and its subsidiary Gulf Guinea Line . In 1966 Elder , Dempster changed MS " Yoma " back to " Daru " and transferred her to Guinea Gulf Line . In 1979 she was sold to Liberian owners and renamed " Lone Eagle " .