| British India Steam Navigation Company Ltd. |
Ships I sailed on from 1965-1970
| Built | 1939 Fairfields, Glasgow |
| Tonnage | 11,275G; 6,758N |
| Engines | Sulzer 2x8cyl, 6,250BHP |
| Speed | 16 knots |
| Launched | as Devonshire for Bibby Bros., Liverpool |
Extensive wartime role, trooping, Africa, Mediterranean and Far East also carried troops to the Normandy Bridgeheads.
| 1953 | Refitted for trooping |
| 1954 | Commenced service |
| 1962 | Purchased by BI for £175,000, refitted as educational cruise ship at Barclay Curle, Glasgow. Accom. Cabin Class 190, Students 830, first cruise as Devonia April 16th. |
| 1967 | Broken up at La Spezia in December (sad end to such a fine ship) |
I joined her May or June 1965 and was I in for one hell of a cultural shock. I came from one of those Northern towns where the expression ‘Dark satanic mills’ was the key saying and ‘Wur tha’s muck tha’s brass’ was coined. The vast array of silverware on the table was daunting to say the least; you quickly learned what to use and when/if any mistakes occurred it cost you a round of drinks for all present in the Engineers’ mess. If that wasn’t enough I had to address my Steward, who was invariably old enough to be my Grandfather, as ‘boy’. I had also entered the domain of serangs, secunnies, tailwallahs, agwallahs and bhandahris, although the serangs were top dogs. The main man was the Bhandahri if you liked curry.
Nothing quite like sitting round an enormous steaming pot of chicken curry with a salver piled high with chapattis surrounded by hairy arsed Engineers wearing nothing more that what appeared at first to be tablecloths joined at the end, all various colours and patterns. I later learnt that these were in fact longis (all my Indian spellings are most probably wrong). If, like me, you didn’t possess one, the BI towels which had a red stripe down the middle were permissible until you could acquire the more decorous fashion accessory.
The Engine Room was unbelievable, each pipe was totally colour coded, anything that was brass or bronze was polished, as were the handrails and deck plates. It defies description. Alas as my time in the company progressed cost cuts prevailed (the dreaded accountant had arrived) and although Engine Rooms were generally very well kept I was never to see the like again.
All ports of interest in Europe and the Med were the norm, occasional trips to India and Pakistan to change crews occurred. The cruises that I didn’t enjoy were the Scottish Bird Island Studies, great for ornithologists, not very interesting for young impressionable oily rags!
Engineers that I can remember:
| Chief | Donald Binns |
| 2nds | Pete Durham and Sam Penny |
| 3rds | Jackie Wright and Ray Hodgeson (also sailed 2nd) |
| Maint. | Tony Kennedy and Joe Greenhalgh |
| Juniors | Myself and John (Wally) Leigh |
| Elec | Willie Cameron (Later to become MNAOA Official at Southampton) |
As they say all good things must come to an end and I left her in Malta December 1966.
| Built | 1951, Barclay Curle |
| Tonnage | 7,132G 4,027N |
| Engines | 6 cyl-opposed pistons 6,800 IHP |
| Speed | 14.5 Knots |
| Oct 1951 | Entered Service |
| 1966 | Crankcase explosion, towed to Glasgow by MV Svitzer for repair at Barclay Curle |
| 1972 | Sold and became Fortune Navigator. |
| 1967 | Broken up at Kaohsiung |
I joined this ship during rebuild January 1967 as 4/Engineer. The conditions were abominable, living onboard no heating, water perhaps, and the food very basic to say the least. I’m glad to say that my experiences at refits were never to be repeated like this one. Round trip to East Africa.
Engineers that I can remember:
| Chief | Harry Fowler |
| 3rd | Gavin Haggert (C/E Felixstowe) |
Thanks to James Slater for the info :)
| Built | 1966-67 |
| Tonnage | 6,474G - 3,789N |
| Engines | 2 x 10 Mirlees Monarchs 9,400 BHP |
| Speed | 17 Knots |
Transferred BISN -> RFA 14 Jan 1970.
Joined autumn 1967 as 4/E at Marchwood, Hampshire after she had completed trials. My first introduction to all Chinese crews, a big change from the Indian, the Serang now becomes number one. Ships Company worked with Royal Corps of Transport to perfect operation of Mexi Floats etc. Blue Ensign on the stern with crossed swords. Sailed for Aden for final pull out of British presence, joined multitude of other LSL’s, LST’s, RFA ships and Royal Navy in inner harbour. Stayed put for thirty-five days until we all moved out to attend fly past led by Lord Treveleyn (not sure of spelling)
Sailed for Singapore, half way across Indian Ocean dumped almost everything we’d loaded in Aden out of the stern door. I thought that Singapore was the best thing since sliced bread. Spent every penny I earned mainly in the cellar and kangaroo bars. Left ship mid-68. Excellent time onboard.
Officers I can remember:
| Captain | Walker |
| 2/O | D.A.P.Simpson (currently Senior Master P&O Dover) |
| C/E | Donald Binns |
| 5/E | Trevor Rose |
| Elec | Dennis Pringle |
There was a mix of Officers BI and ASN.
| Built | 1947 Chas. Connell, Glasgow |
| Tonnage | 5,340G 3,000N 8925 DWT |
| Engines | 3 cyl-opposed pistons Doxford |
| Speed | 12 knots |
Broken up at Bilbao 1971.
Flew out to join her in Bombay as 3/E and Batty Wallah. Cargo sugar bound for Glasgow. Voyage turned out to be memorable in as much as it took 59 days with one stop off at Dakar for bunkers.
I’m ashamed to say I can’t remember anyone onboard. The worst is that to compound my shame I traveled up to the North of Scotland to be the Best Man at the Second Mate’s wedding. I am pleased to say that the excursion more than compensated for the lousy trip.
Joined her in Singapore, circa August 1968. Really great to be back. Met up with old friends again, especially a Marine Sergeant called Robinson (Smokey) and his family. The usual trips to Hong Kong, Borneo and India. Along with the RFA and Royal Navy we took part in ‘Operation Orange’ off the East Australian Coast. Disgorged hundreds of Ghurkhas ashore who no doubt frightened the locals to death but at least we saved Australia.
In the company of three other ships we made a courtesy call to Brisbane, Australian generosity in abundance. Unfortunately for us our esteemed Purser did a runner here, what he didn’t do was to take our bar bills with him! Back to Singapore for more of the usual, and then the bombshell. Lee wanted all the Brits out, so with many regrets we sailed for the UK to refit in Southampton.
Left the Geraint on completion of refit. RFA Personnel Dept. onboard asking everyone to transfer over to them. I don’t recall any BI taking them up on their offer but some ASN lads did.
| Marconi | Ray Holborn |
| 4/E | David Bancroft |
| 5/E | David Searley |
| Purser | He’d better remain anonymous. Though Sod’s Law is invoked because I remember his name. |
Entered service 1944
20th January 1971 Broken up at Leung Yau Ship breakers, Hong Kong.
This was to be my last BI ship. I’m glad I stayed. Well go out on a BI ship as opposed to an L.S.L.
A round trip to East Africa, before we sailed the ship was stripped of every vestige of BI ever having existed. Bedspreads, towels even the cutlery to be replaced by Shipco crap.