The Maritime Life of the Ship “Tajo” (1945-1967)

The construction of the ships “Tajo” and “Segre” took place during one of the most difficult times in the history of the Spanish shipbuilding industry, as Spain had just emerged from a civil war that, among other aspects, had devastated the industrial steel and naval capacity, while World War II was being fought in Europe, with the implications and repercussions that this had for our country.

There was a shortage of essential materials and equipment to advance the constructions and make the launching and delivery of the new units possible. For these reasons, both ships took quite a long time to complete. Contracted at the shipyard of the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval, in Sestao (Vizcaya), the ship “Tajo”, launched in February 1943, entered service in May 1945. Juan José Basabe was its first captain and it had a crew of 35 men.

In reality, the design of these ships was a repetition, with some variations, of the so-called type A from the Empresa Nacional Elcano of the Merchant Navy. Their maritime images, with some variations in the design of the funnels in the more modern ones, were practically identical, formed by a solid superstructure in the bridge, very characteristic and common in Scandinavian ships. However, the boilers of the propulsion equipment, considering the circumstances, were not very fortunate, as they were a source of constant problems.

Weighing 2,747 gross tons, 1,749 net tons, and 2,550 tons deadweight, it measured 94.80 m in overall length - 88.30 m between perpendiculars - 13 m in beam, 7.64 m in depth, and 5.30 m in maximum draft. It had four holds, with a capacity of 4,483 cubic meters. An alternative quadruple expansion engine from Christiansen & Mayer and two return flame Scottish boilers allowed it to develop a maximum power of 1,800 horsepower and in sea trials, it reached a speed of 13.9 knots. The reality is that it rarely exceeded ten knots.

On June 16, 1945, it arrived for the first time at the port of Santa Cruz de La Palma, on the 17th at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and on the 18th at La Luz (Las Palmas), where it loaded tomatoes, onions, and bananas for Alicante and Marseille. Since the world was still at war, it displayed its name in large letters and the flags of Spanish neutrality.

For two decades, the ship “Tajo” – the first of the ships of the Maritime Fruit Company of the immediate post-war – was a key player in the fruit traffic of the Canary Islands alongside its twin “Segre” and its sister ships “Vasco”, “Duero”, “Ario”, “Ebro”, “Sil”, “Turia”, “Darro”, “Tormes”, “Esla”, “Genil”, “Miguel M. de Pinillos”, “Ter”, “Duero” (2nd) and “Arga”.

In 1967 it was sold to LETASA, a company based in Bilbao, and continued to sail with the “tramp” traffic renamed as “Dinamariola”. On January 7, 1972, while in the port of Bejaia (Algeria) loading cement, a fire broke out in the boilers, causing severe damage and it was declared a total constructive loss. Later, it was towed to Burriana (Castellón), where it was dismantled.

Photo: Archive Juan Carlos Díaz Lorenzo

Bibliography: Díaz Lorenzo, Juan Carlos. “Naviera Pinillos 1840-1990. 150 years of maritime history”. pp. 111-112. Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1990.