Benlarig

Names and owners

Year	Name	Owner
1904	Benlarig	Ben Line Steamers Ltd.

Fate

At the outbreak of the First World War, Ben Line were operating nineteen ships of which seven were requisitioned for use by the Admiralty. The first ship requisitioned, in April 1915, was the Benlarig, which became known as Collier 617.

On April 2nd, 1916, she sailed from Freemantle, Australia, bound for Colombo in Ceylon (modern-day Sri Lanka), with a cargo of bagged wheat, but was not seen or heard from again. Although there was no firm evidence at the time, sabotage was strongly suspected.

All 18 crew were lost including Hartlepool-born 2nd Engineer Robert Coverdale.

The other crewmen who lost their lives were: Ah Chang; Ah Cheng; Ah Ching; Ah Foo; Ah Kee; Ah Pong; Ah Sing; Brown, Eilin; Bullmore, Alfred Henry; Carr, Roy; Chong Kok; Chong Pow; Chow Lee; Cooper, Thomas; Daltry, William James; Fat Leong; Fat Leong; Fleet, Charles Edward; Hang Wang; Harrower, Lawrence William; Hastie, William; Hopkins, Stephen John; Jack, Horatio Horace John; King Cheng; Ling Pow; Pettican, John William; Pritchard, John; Rubotham, Charles; Sealy, Francis Ludlow; Simpson, George; Smith, W.S.; Tan San; Tindall, John William; Wei Yung; Yong Chow; Yu Fook.