The Swift Flames of the Alsia (1939)

Radio Officer King, of HMS Grasshopper, described what he had witnessed in the Straits Times on the 18th of May, 1939: “As we circled round her,” he said, “flames from the pitch pine and other timber in the fore’ and aft’ holds of the Alsia rose to about 100 feet, and the whole ship was afire. We could see through all the ports and windows as the interior of the ship flared up and the cranes stood out starkly in the inferno.” Ship Name: Alsia Tonnage: 5812Ship Type: Steel-Hulled Diesel Twin Screw Cargo and Passenger Vessel Year Built: 1929Nationality: Denmark Year Wrecked: 1939Location Wrecked: Coast of Galle, Sri LankaReason for Wreck: Engine Fire Lives Lost: NoneSources: https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitsbudget19390525-1.1.12https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19390511-1.2.84?qt=alsia&q=alsiahttps://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/pinangazette19390606-1.1.5https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/page/straitstimes19390517-1.1.14https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/maltribune19390518-1.2.110?qt=alsia&q=alsiahttps://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19330128-1.2.53https://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/digitised/article/straitstimes19330130-1.2.84?qt=alsia&q=alsiahttps://www.google.com/books/edition/Lloyd_s_Register_of_British_and_Foreign/glcgAQAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=alsiahttps://www.google.com/books/edition/Casualty_Returns_1939/ibpgEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=alsia+ship+fire+1939&pg=PA9-IA7&printsec=frontcover