SS Vadala was a cargo steamship that was launched in Scotland in 1890, renamed Kenkon Maru No. 12 in 1913, and sank as the result of a collision in 1928. She was built for the British India Steam Navigation Company (BI). In 1895 she took Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. In 1899 was a troop ship in the Second Boer War. From 1913 she was in Japanese ownership.
In 1890 William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton on the River Leven built a pair of sister ships for BI for £59,600 each. Yard number 440 was launched on 4 August as Vadala and completed on 13 September.[1] Yard number 441 was launched on 15 September as and completed that October.[2]
Vadalas registered length was, her beam was and her depth was . Her tonnages were,, and . Her holds had capacity for 200030cuft of cargo, and she had berths for 18 first class passengers.
Vadala had a single screw, driven by a quadruple-expansion steam engine. It was rated at 315 NHP or 1,800 ihp,[3] and gave her a speed of 10kn.
BI registered Vadala at Glasgow. Her United Kingdom official number was 98575 and her code letters were LVKP.
On 21 February 1895 Vadala left Calcutta carrying 767 Indian indentured labourers to Fiji. On her voyage a measles epidemic killed 14 of her passengers. On 26 March she reached Suva, where she was quarantined.[3]
All BI ships were designed to be converted into troop ships, by putting troop accommodation in the holds. In the Second Boer War the UK Government chartered at least 37 BI ships for war service. On 21 September 1899 Vadala left Bombay (now Mumbai) carrying a squadron of the 19th Royal Hussars. She reached Durban on 7 October.[4]
From July 1900 BI put Vadala on its route between Calcutta and Hong Kong.
In 1913 Inui Gomei Kasha bought Vadala for £12,000, and renamed her Kenkon Maru No. 12. She was registered at Dairen in the Kwantung Leased Territory, and her code letters were QBJL.
On 30 May 1928 Kenkon Maru No. 12 was involved in a collision with the Chinese steamship Hawchan in the Straits of Tsingtao (now Qingdao), about 140nmi east-southeast of Tsingtao.[1]