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P&O Lines – SS Ranchi

October 1, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

The S.S. Ranchi was built for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. at Newcastle Upon Tyne, England and was launched on 24 January 1925. Her gross registered tonnage was 16,650, her length was 547 feet and her beam 71 feet. She was one of the P&O ‘R’ class liners from 1925 that had much of their interiors designed by Lord Inchcape’s daughter Elsie Mackay. Named after Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state in eastern India, she sailed on a regular route between England and Bombay, India. Later she sailed to the Far East. She carried 600 passengers.

The ship was requisitioned into the Royal Navy on 27 August 1939 (at the onset of World War II) and commissioned on 23 October 1939 as the armed merchant cruiser HMS Ranchi (Pennant F15). As an armed merchant cruiser, her gross registered tonnage was 16,738.

History of P&O and Orient Lines… great video presentation…

Her sister ships SS Rawalpindi, SS Rajputana and SS Ranpura were also converted to armed merchant cruisers. Except for small corvettes, the converted passenger ships like HMS Ranchi were the only armed protection for most of the early convoys. With their six-inch guns, they were the only escorts that could engage German surface ships. Very few convoys received the protection of the larger cruisers or battleships. From October 1939 until February 1942 she served the East Indies Station; from March 1942 until January 1943 she was part of the Eastern Fleet (Indian Ocean). She was returned and use as a troopship by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) on 16 March 1943.

Two months after the end of World War II in the Pacific, in October 1945 the Ranchi sailed from Singapore to Southampton carrying amongst others released prisoners of war and civilian internees recently liberated from Japanese camps. Hilda Bates, who had been interned in Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Borneo, wrote on 23 October 1945: “We are now speeding towards England aboard the Ranchi, which is packed with troops and other ex P.O.W.s like ourselves … In our cabin there are twelve women, – five of whom are returning home as widows.”

On 18 July 1947 the Ranchi was returned to her owners, P&O. The Ranchi was used as an emigrant ship between June 1948 and 1952, when she completed 15 voyages from England to Australia. The shipping nominal rolls are held at the Victorian Public Records Office, Melbourne, Australia. Her first post war voyage was from Tilbury Docks on 17 June 1948, although her journey was delayed into Fremantle as there were rough seas off the coast of Western Australia. During her refit at Southampton and London Docks, her second funnel was removed and she also retained her traditional P&O colors of a black funnel and cream hull. The Ranchi was broken up at Newport, Monmouthshire in 1953.

Filed Under: STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Cruise History, cruise ship history, CUNARD LINE, FRENCH LINE, HOLLAND AMERICA LINE, Liner History, P&O HISTORY, P&O Lines, P&O LINES HISTORY, passenger liners, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) HISTORY, RMS TITANIC, S.S. RANCHI, SOCIAL HISTORY, SS RANHI, Titanic, united states lines, white star line, world war 2

VOGUE LIVING was assisted by the CRUISING THE PAST resourses and the website’s historical collection of steamship-liner-cruise memorbalia for the magazine’s Nov/Dec issue.

December 1, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruising The Past assisted the editors of Australia’s VOGUE LIVING. The major publication drew upon our historical collection of steamship-liner-cruise memorabilia in connection with the magazine’s 14 page guide to cruising in November/December issue. To read all about the popular chic down under fashion journal click here for VOGUE LIVING.

Recalling the grand days of cruising and sailing above P&O Lines, Cunard Line, White Star Line, the French Line, Orient Line… leading up to a major feature on modern day cruises in all parts of the world.

Cruisingthepast.www – helped editors with research for cruise report and provided many of the photos from our collections.

Photo is of the Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes luxury liner La Marseillaise departing from France in the early 1950s. The ship was symbolic of MM’s recovery after the Second World War and was the company’s new flagship. Her maiden voyage on August 18, 1949 was from Marseilles to Yokohama. Although in service for only 6 years after 11 years under construction, La Marseillaise rivalled the Normandie and Pasteur as magnificent exemplars of the French paqueboat at its zenith. She was the largest liner yet built for MM and the fastest due to her triple-screw Sulzer diesels and a very fine hull form. Unlike her unorthodox square funnelled predecessors, she was truly yachtlike with an all-white livery and a heavily flaired bow with her Normandie like “turtleback” over the mooring deck. When France far east colonies diminished the ship was sold to the Arosa Line.

The photo at the top left is of the grand shopping arcade of the French liner L’Atlantique. Probably one of the world’s most beautiful liners – her life was tragically brief… built in 1931 for the Europe to South America run… she suffered a major fire in 1933 and burned off the Channel Islands.

P&O offered major liner service from the UK to Australia, India, South Africa and the Orient. In the 1960s the company merged with the Orient Line and offered liner service from Los Angeles to Europe – around-the-world or via the Panama Canal.

Filed Under: Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, cruise reviews, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Cruise History, CUNARD LINE, Liner History, P&O Lines, the French Line, vogue living, white star line

P&O LINE’S SS HIMALAYA

September 21, 2010 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

Wonderful historical youTube video of P&O Line’s S.S. HIMALAYA.

SS Himalaya was a passenger liner of 27,955 grt built for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company by Vickers Armstrong’s Barrow Yard and delivered to them in 1949. She was initially employed solely on the Company’s service from the UK to Australia but was latterly also employed on crusing duties as well. She served the Company well until 1974 when she was sold for scrapping in Taiwan. This shot is taken from an early 1960s PLA Handbook and shows “Himalaya” sailing from Tilbury Landing Stage

In 1946 P&O Lines had ordered its first new passenger liner of the postwar period. The Himalaya finally emerged in 1949 and was a splendid ship and the fastest and largest ship P&O had ever owned until that time. She had a top speed of 25 knots.

The Himalaya was a contemporary of Orient Line’s Orcades and these ships marked a gradual coming together of the new liners of each company in the postwar era.

She was a record breaker and cut the UK to Bombay passage by 5 days and reduced the overall voyage to Australia from 38 days to just 28 days.

Indeed the six ships worked closely together on their Australian service with their sailing schedules organized so that sailings alternated between P&O and Orient. Thus they formed a Southern Dominions “Big Six” fleet.

In January 1958 P&O and Orient services to Australia were extended across the Pacific in a joint service marketed as Orient & Pacific Line.

The Himalaya inaugurated the operation and sailings continued from Sydney to Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver and San Francisco. In 1974 the venerable Himalaya was finally retired from service.

Filed Under: Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, orient line, P & O Line, Peninsular and Occidental Steamship Company Tagged With: Austrailia, CRUISE SHIPS, liners, Orient and Pacific Line, Orient Lines, P&O Lines, postwar, SS Himalaya, ss titanic

SOCIAL AND CRUISE HISTORY: ARE THESE PHOTOS FROM SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA? TAKE A GUESS OR CONTRIBUTE. DO YOU KNOW?

May 4, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Paul Swift sent us the following great photos. The ship is departing. Crowds, streamers and farewells. Paul couldn’t exactly state where the ship was departing from and had no record in connection with these photos. He suspected it was Sydney, Australia. I consulted maritime expert Peter Knego, Maritime Matters, and he thought it was most likely Sydney. He pointed out that P&O and Orient Line liners had black hulls during the 1920s. I suspected that this most likely was Sydney. Please share your opinions and comments on where these photos were taken. Email a comment today. Visit Peter’s own website by clicking here.

SAILING ABOARD THE RMS ORCADES -1960S VIDEO

January 27, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Video of 1950s sailing aboard RMS ORCADES – Tourist class pool area.

The RMS Orcades (later SS Orcades) was built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd in Barrow-in-Furness as Yard Number 950. She was launched on the 14th October 1947 and completed on the 14th November 1948. Orcades replaced her predecessor, Orcades II, which had sunk during the war when she was only five years old.

Orcades, the first ship built for Orient Lines after the war, shared her hull design with P&O Line’s Himalaya, but her superstructure was different with her having a new look with her bridge located amidships crowned with a tripod mast and a upright funnel sitting high directly aft of the mast. She was a contemporary of P&O’s Himalaya.

(Left: Orcades sailing from Sydney) As a two class ship, she provided accommodation for 773 First Class and 772 Tourist Class. Later, in 1964, she became a one class ship accommodating 1635 passengers. Her specifications are as follows. 28,164 GRT (tons), length 706ft (216m), width 60ft (27.6m), Draft 30ft 5in. With twin screws and steam geared turbines Orcades achieved 24.7 knots during her sea trials in November.

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Filed Under: Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, orient line, P & O Line, STEAMSHIP LINES, VIDEOS Tagged With: liners, orient line, P&O Lines, rms orcades, ss orcades, Sydney

THE GREAT BRITISH LINER – THE SS CANBERRA – THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

December 23, 2009 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

CRUISING THE PAST: THE SS CANBERRA – THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

A great BBC youtube video of the SS CANBERRA returning from the Falklands.

For 37 years the SS Canberra was a very familiar sight in Southampton’s Western Docks and in ports the world over, particularly Sydney which, it could be said, has been her second home. In April 1982 the unthinkable happened when Britain went to war in hopefully the last colonial campaign in her history and for the first time in 42 years a P&O liner was requisitioned for service as a troop transport.

During the three months of the Falklands campaign she made headlines the world over, and she became a household name as she continued her peacetime role. However, her career had not always been so secure and for a few months in 1972 it seemed she was destined prematurely for the scrapyard. Had that come about she would probably be remembered today as P&O’s `great white elephant’, the liner which it had been thought would shape the future but, instead, had fallen victim to the age of the jet airliner and steeply rising oil prices.

The P&O liner Canberra (in my opinion one of the most beautiful ships to come out of Harland & Wolff) when the ship was leaving Belfast for Southampton, to begin her maiden voyage.

Arrival in Adelaide, Australia.

THE SS CANBERRA AND THE FALKLANDS

After the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982, which initiated the Falklands War, the Ministry of Defence requisitioned the “Canberra” as use as a troopship.

Nicknamed the “Great White Whale”, the “Canberra” proved vital in transporting the Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines to the islands more than 9,000 miles from the UK. Whilst the “Queen Elizabeth 2″ was held to be too vulnerable to enter the war zone, “Canberra” was sent to the heart of the conflict. “Canberra” anchored in San Carlos Water on 21 May as part of the landings by British forces to retake the islands. Although her size and white colour made her an unmissable target for the Argentine Air Force, the “Canberra”, if sunk, would not have been completely submerged in the shallow waters at San Carlos. However, the liner was not badly hit during the landings as the Argentine pilots tended to attack the Royal Navy frigates and destroyers instead of the supply and troop ships.

SS CANBERRA SAILING WAY FROM SYDNEY

When the war ended, Canberra was used to repatriate the Argentine Army, before returning to Southampton to a rapturous welcome. After a lengthy refit, Canberra returned to civilian service as a cruise ship. Her role in the Falklands War made her very popular with the British public, and ticket sales after her return were elevated for many years as a result.

SS CANBERRA BEING SCRAPPED

Filed Under: orient line, P & O Line Tagged With: BRITISH LINERS, P&O Lines, ss Canberra, Titanic

SS CHUSAN – P&O LINES – THE LINER WAS KNOWN AS “THE HAPPY SHIP”

November 4, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

CRUISING THE PAST: SS CHUSAN – P&O LINES – THE LINER WAS KNOWN AS “THE HAPPY SHIP”

CRUISE LINE HISTORY: The SS CHUSAN was a smaller version of the Himalaya and was designed as the principal element in the postwar regeneration of the Indian and Far East service.

Indeed in some ways she was a long overdue replacement for the celebrated Viceroy of India that had been tragically lost during the Second World War.

Like her celebrated predecessor she introduced superior standards on the route to the Orient and the Far East.

Public Rooms on the “The Happy Ship”

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Filed Under: orient line, P & O Line Tagged With: Cruises, P&O Lines, S.S. Chusan, southampton, TILBURY

The Orient Steam Navigation Company

November 3, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

ORCADES in Sydney

Cruising Line History: The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late eighteenth century. From the early twentieth century onwards an association began with P&O that eventually culminated in the Orient Line being totally absorbed into that company in the 1960s.

Ten Pound Sterling immigrants from the UK to Australia during the 1950s. A family only had to pay 10 Pounds to travel to a new country.

The Beginnings (1797 – 1900):

The Orient Line’s beginnings can be traced back to the formation of a shipbroking company by James Thomson in 1797. The company was operating a small fleet of sailing ships by the early 1800s, and by the middle of the century they were sailing on routes all over the world.

In 1828 Thomson was joined by James Anderson, and the company was renamed Anderson, Thomson and Company in 1863. The inauguration of a liner service to Australia with the packet Orient in 1866 saw the company renamed Orient Line of Packets, regularly shortened to Orient Line.

The transition to steam saw another name change in 1878- the Orient Steam Navigation Company.

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Filed Under: orient line, P & O Line, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: Cruises, Orcades, Oriana, orient line, Orient Line flag, Orient Line ships, P&O Fleet, P&O Lines

P&O Liners – San Francisco Bay – 1960s

July 28, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

1960s – Photo from Cruise History – San Francisco, California – P&O liners SS CANBERRA (docked at the Matson Line pier) and the SS ARCADIA (in background) sailing away.

Filed Under: P & O Line Tagged With: 1960s, Cruising, P&O Lines, retro, San Francisco, SS Arcadia, ss Canberra

Cruise Ship History – Mothers and Children head for the Suez Canal in 1948 aboard the Orient Line’s SS OTRANTO to be with their soldier husbands.

July 27, 2008 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Orient Line’s SS OTRANTO…

British Service dependents, mothers and children, sailed in January 1948 aboard the Orient Line’s “SS Otranto” from Southampton to Egypt and the Suez.

Their husbands were already in the Suez Canal for conflicts at that time.

The mothers, along with their children, and possibly for the first time in their lives, set off alone to be with their soldier fathers.

It was a great adventure and the photographs tell the story.