Memories of Eastern Service
1946-1950
Within British India there were two distinctly separate services. One was Home and the other Eastern. The ships of the Eastern Service, though built in Great Britain, very rarely visited its shores again. When a ship did return it was unfortunately one last trip to the breaker's yard. The Officers served for two and a half years, sometimes more. I believe that one of the incentives was avoiding the clutches of 'The Chancellor', if only we could do that now! In Laxton and Perry's history it's said that rarely did Officers do more than one stint on the coast. I thought that the opposite was the case but I stand to be corrected if I'm wrong. The following twenty odd photographs were taken in the immediate years after the Second World War by a gentleman just starting out on his career. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. One of the seventeen 'G' Class ships built as standard B Types from 1918 to 1920  Built: 1919 Palmers Co., Newcastle. Tonnage: 5, 248g, 3, 228n. Engines : Single Screw Triple Expansion, 517 N.H.P., 11 Knots. Launched 10th September 1919 as War Zebra, completed as Gurna in the December. Gurna was named after a town in Bihar, India. Not a lot said about this ship in any of my reference books. In 1939 she became a mine depot ship carrying 200 mines. She served in the Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Pacific. In 1945 she returned once more to BI and had accommodation for 30 passengers previously used for mine maintenance staff. She arrived at Rosyth November 1948 for scrapping.  Notes Taken of the Gurna.  Built : 1924 at Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Newcastle. Tonnage: 1, 466g Engines: Single Screw 6 Cylinder Neptune Diesel 1, 100 BHP. 10 Knots. In 1924 she is completed for the Singapore- Bangkok Feeder Service. She is BI's first single screw motor ship and her funnel had a slight rake. She carried four passengers. In 1940 she joined the Liner Division and became a Cased Petrol Ship serving in the Mediterranean visiting ports such as Tobruk and in 1944 becomes an armament stores issuing ship for the British Pacific Fleet. In 1946 she returns once more to the Bangkok Feeder Service and continues until the 11th June 1951 when she is sold to Heap Eng Moh of Singapore and renamed Giang Be. In 1958 she is renamed Kim Hwa of the Cathay Shipping Corporation, Panama. 1964 renamed Romeo and then Sinoe then back to Romeo in 1966. The same year she is renamed King Horse. In all these changes her companies were associated with Guan Guan Ltd. and she flew the Panamanian flag. She is broken up by National Shipbreakers PTE Ltd., Singapore in 1971. The final vessel of a four ship 'V' class. Built : 1917 by Alex. Stephen and Sons, Glasgow. Yard No. 465. Tonnage: 5, 767g, 2, 043n. Engines: Twin Screw, Two Triple Expansion, 4, 700 IHP. 16.03 Knots (Trials), Service Speed 12.5 Knots. Passengers: 29 First Class, 27 Second Class, 1, 605 Deck and 129 Crew. Her name is possibly a corruption of Wasna, a minor State in the Bombay Presidency. In 1917 she is taken over by the Government still on the stocks and completed as a Hospital Ship with 613 beds and 125 Medical Staff. She is then sent to join her sisters in the Persian Gulf and in 1918 becomes an Ambulance Transport. In April 1921 she makes her first commercial voyage for BI. The Vasna considered herself to be the best of the 'V's and gave herself the title 'Queen of the Gulf'. In 1927 she carries troops to Shanghai during the crisis and in 1938 is requisitioned for the Munich Crisis. In September 1939 she is converted to Navel Hospital Ship No. 4 at the Mazagon Dockyard, Bombay, has 278 beds and 73 Medical Staff. Commissioned on the 2nd October she joins the East Indies Squadron. She transfers to European waters in 1940 and on the 21st December suffers superficial damage whilst in Liverpool during one of the many air raids on the port at that time. She is based at Scapa Flow and had previously taken part in the evacuation of Norway. In the Spring of 1941 she spends three months on relieving duties with the South Atlantic Squadron based at Freetown before returning once more to the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow. Her only mishap occurred during the night of the 15th March 1942 when she collided with and sank the coaster Miriam Thomas in St. George's Channel. She transfers to the Eastern Fleet based in Ceylon and takes part in the Madagascar landings in October 1942. In 1943 she sees service in the UK and Mediterranean and is seconded to the Army for the allied Landings at Sicily. In 1944 she returns to the Eastern Fleet and in September takes part at the landings in Burma. In January 1945 she is present at the invasion of the Islands Ramree and Cheduba. July 1945 she is part of the British Pacific fleet and in October carries Australian ex-prisoners of war home to Sydney from Okinawa. She was the only British Hospital Ship in Japanese waters. The war over she is refitted to commence her normal peacetime role on the Persian Gulf service and continues until being sold for scrap to Bisco and arrives at Blyth in April for breaking up.  Vasna and Dumra  Vasna Boatdeck  Vasna Chartroom  Vasna First class lounge  Vasna First Class lounge  Vasna Bridge  Officers Vasna  Built: 1945 at John Readhead and Sons, South Shields. Yard Nos. 546 Tonnage: 7, 434g, 5, 181n, 10, 100dwt. Engines: Screw Triple Expansion 2, 500 IHP. 11 Knots. Passengers: 12 in Dems Gunner Accomodation. Launched 22nd June 1945. Delivered 17th September 1945 She is named after a town near Repalle, North of Madras. She returns to BI in 1946 after a brief period in the Liner Division. On the 29th November 1951, while at Lyttelton, a fire breaks out in Number 5 hold. The following morning it's brought under control with no casualties or damage to the ship. 1952 she transports materials for the building of the R.A.A.F. airstrip on the Cocos Island, and she tows the Seychelles coaster Isle of Mahe, which had broken down, to Mombasa arriving on the 23rd November. In 1958 whilst alongside she is rammed by Union Castle Line's Kawaroa just over the Engine Room Crew Accomodation. A repair is facilitated and she is able to continue. She is the first 'P' Class to be sold and her new owners Sadikzade Rusen Ogullari Denizalik rename her Sadikzada in 1959. In 1964 she is renamed Preveze for the same owners. In 1969 she has an Engine Room fire and is also in a collision whilst under tow. After the cargo is discharged the ship returns to Turkey where she is broken up. Built: 1914 at Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Newcastle. Yard Nos. 932. Tonnage: 4, 691g, 1, 956n, 5, 160 dwt. Engines : Twin Screw 2 x Triple Expansion 4, 700 IHP. 12.5 Knots. Passengers: 32 First Class, 24 Second Class, 1, 292 Deck Passengers. I assume the crewing was similar to Vasna, being 129. Launched 9th June 1914, delivered 11th August 1914. Varsova was named after a fishing village 12 miles North of Bombay, famous for its 'Bombay Duck' and was the second of the Gulf 'V' Class to be built. In October 1914 she acts as a Troopship to France, in January 1915 as an Overflow Base Hospital at Basra and in April as an Ambulance transport at Gallipoli. In April 1916 she is converted into a Hospital Ship with 475 beds for the Basra-Bombay-Karachi run. Between 1917-1920 she serves as an Ambulance Transport. Between 1920-39 she runs on her normal Gulf Service but she retains the Medical Facilities. In September 1939 she troops, Bombay- Suez. Between 1939-1945 she is mainly used as a Personnel and Military Store Ship. Her only excitement coming when she is attacked by Italian aircraft off port Sudan. Her final voyage, like most Eastern Service Ships, was back to the UK for breaking up. In this case by Metal Industries (Salvage) Ltd., Rosyth, Firth of Forth, July 1949.  Built: 1940 at Wm. Gray and Co., West Hartlepool. Yard Nos. 1106. Tonnage : 6, 793g, 4, 035n, 8, 420dwt. Engines : Single Screw, Triple Expansion and Low Pressure Turbines. 12 Knots. Launched on 3rd September 1940, completed December 1940. Originally she had a crew of 98. This was later reduced to 65 in 1949. This is so far the earliest interference by Accountants I have come across. Ismaila is a village in NW Frontier Province, now Pakistan. She served in the Liner Division until 1946. On her first convoy whilst forming up on the Clyde, Christmas Eve 1940, she was in collision with an unidentified ship, and in May 1941 she suffered a grounding off Calicut. The rest of her career was uneventful and she was sold to the Pan Islamic Steamship Co. of Karachi. Renamed Safina-E-Jamhooriyat in 1958. In 1966 she was broken up at Karachi by the Hardware Manufacturing Corporation.  Chanda in Chittagong  Chanda in Colombo Built at Barcley Curle, Whiteinch, Glasgow. Tonnage 6, 957g, 3, 903n, 10, 745dw. Engines Single Screw 6 Cylinder 2S.C.S.A. Doxford opposed piston, 7, 896BHP, 15 knots. 24 passengers, reduced to 12 in 1947 then again reduced to 9 later. Launched 9th May 1944, delivered 12th July 1944. Yard No. 695. 44, 000cu.ft. refrigeration space added 1948 at Melbourne. Requisitioned for the Liner Division on completion, she served until March 1946. She was in collision with Cygnet III off Tilbury on 18th November 1950, outward bound for Brisbane, and berthed in the Royal Albert Dock for repairs. She served BI on various routes until being sold on to Jebshun Shipping Company and renamed Precious Pearl on 17th September 1969. She was then sold to Taiwanese Breakers at Kaohsiung in June 1971 but they sold her on to the Development Navigation Co. Ltd. of Singapore. A few months later she caught fire whilst en route from Kaohsiung to Saigon on 15th October 1971 and whilst undertow foundered in the South China Sea.  Built: 1919 at Sir Raylton Dixon, Middlesbrough. Yard No. 616. Tonnage: 5, 181g, 3, 160n, 8, 230 dwt. Engines: Single Screw Triple Expansion, 2, 400 IHP. 11 Knots. Launched as the 'War Acacia' in November 1918. A standard 'A' type having one deck. The 'B' type had two decks, one of five sisters. Binfield is a small town in Berkshire. She is completed on the 29th March 1919 and acquired by BI. On the 9th July 1919 on her way to port Said she has a collision with a coaster off Orfordness and had to put into Gravesend for repairs. She spent most of her working life as a collier in the Bay of Bengal and her only other mishap was a grounding off Northern Ceylon on the 13th of June 1934. She served in the Liner Division 1940-1946 and in 1950 is sold to Trans Oceanic S.S. Co., Karachi. They sell her to Wheelock, Marden and Co. Ltd., Hong Kong the same year. In 1951 she becomes the Kyuko Maru when acquired by Kobe Kinkai Kisen K.K. of Kobe and in 1960 she is broken up at Mihara, Japan.  Built: 1923 by Hawthorn, Leslie and Co., Newcastle. Yard Nos. 529. Tonnage : 10, 000g, 6, 154n, 9, 416 dwt. Engines : Single Screw, Quadruple Expansion 900 NHP. 14.39 Knots (trials) 12 Knots Service Speed.. 2, 500 Tons Coal Bunkers. Passengers: 60 First Class, 74 Second Class, 3, 156 Deck and 220 Crew. Launched 14th June 1923, delivered 13th September 1923. Talma is a village in Faridpur District, East Bengal now Bangladesh. The first new design of Deep Sea Passenger Ships built for BI though Duncan Haw's book is quite scathing about the earlier 'T's looks. Quote ' It was said of these two ships that they looked awful from any angle except dead ahead'. In October 1923 she entered onto the Apcar Service to Japan- Calcutta- Rangoon- Penang- Singapore- Hong Kong- Amoy- Shanghai- Moji- Kobe. She suffered two major fires in her life, both in Number 3 Hold and on the 17th August 1936 she was driven ashore at Junk Bay, Hong Kong by a typhoon. Miraculously breaking only her stern post. She had an incident-free war and she was the last of BI's ships to be released from war duties in October 1947. Her lack of speed was her handicap and with the new 'C' Class ships coming on stream she was sold for scrap and after being towed to Inverkeithing, work commenced 29th May 1949 by Thomas W. Ward. Built: 1948 AT Burntisland S.B. Co., Burntisland, Firth of Forth. Yard No. 317. Tonnage: 3, 668g, 1, 933n, 5, 530 dwt Engine: Single Screw Doxford, Opposed Piston, 1, 708 BHP. 12 Knots. Launched 17th August 1948, Delivered 26th February 1949. Warla is possibly a suburb of Bombay. Originally designed for the Japan- Calcutta Service, the Warla found herself as general work horse serving on many routes. She was sold on the 17th October 1964 to CIA. De Nav. Oriental De Panama and renamed Demetrios. Sold again in 1968 to Hsin Chong Nav. Co., renamed Hsin Chong, four years later in October 1972 she was sold for scrapping to Leung Yau, ship breakers of Hong Kong.  Built: 1924 at Barcley, Curle and Co., Glasgow. Yard Nos. 595. Tonnage: 7, 934g, 3, 750n, 8, 250 dwt. Engines : Twin Screw, 4 Cylinder Triple Expansion 2 Cylinders L.P., 7, 700 IHP. 17.32 Knots (Trials) 16 Knots Passengers: 56 First Class, 80 Second Class, 3262 Deck, 175 Crew. Launched 6th March 1924, Delivered 5th May 1924. The First of the 'T' Class sisters. Also the first and only three funnellers built for BI. The third funnel being a dummy. Duncan Haws states that they were by far the smallest ocean going ships with three funnels. Laxton and Perry rightly point out that they were built to impress the clientele, more funnels, more speed. In this they succeeded. In 1940 she is converted to Hospital Ship No. 35 at the BI workshop in Bombay. 506 beds and 120 Medical Staff. She sails to Kismayu, Somaliland and uses her lifeboats to collect the wounded. In 1942 she sees service at Madagascar, Alexandria and Smyrna. In July 1943 she's at the Sicily Landings and assists in picking up her sister ship Talamba's survivors which had been sank by bombers whilst in full Hospital Ship livery. In 1945 she is used as a repatriation ship, Hong Kong- India. 1946 she resumes Bombay- Durban service. 1949 she reverts to Calcutta- Japan. In 1951 she's taken out of service and broken up by British Iron and Steel Corp., Blyth in 1952.  Built: 1941 AT William Gray and Co., West Hartlepool. Tonnage: 6, 793g, 4, 032n, 8, 420 dwt. Engines: Single Screw, Triple Expansion with L.P. Turbine. 12 Knots Delivered in March 1941, she joins the Liner Division and serves until April 1946. She is one of two 'I' Class ships which take part in Kyaukpyu Landings in January 1945. The other was the Itola. On the 18th October 1958 she is sold to the Pakistan S.S.Co., renamed Fatehabad. In 1965 she is transferred to the east Bengal S.S. Co. but retains her name. In 1968 she is sold for scrapping to the Sind Steel Corporation at Gadani Beach. Work commences in May of that year.   Built: 1914 at Barcley, Curle, Glasgow. Yard No. 509. Tonnage: 3, 283g, 1, 817n, 4, 250 dwt. Engines: Single Screw, Triple Expansion, 526 NHP. 12 Knots. Passengers: 30 Cabins, 1, 189 Deck. Launched 28th February 1914, Delivered 9th April 1914. Barpeta is a town in Assam. The last but one in the first series of 'B' Class ships built at Whiteinch for the Persian Gulf service. In the first year of World War I she trooped Bombay- Suez, Karachi- Suez. With just one year break in 1915 when she returned to normal commercial running she spent the rest of the war as an Indian Expeditionary Force transport Ship until August 1919. Until the outbreak of the second world war she continued on her normal Gulf routes but, like the vast majority of BI Ships, found herself in the Liner Division for the duration. February to May 1941 she served on the Tobruk ferry service, May onwards she was in the Persian Gulf. She was converted to an Infantry Training Assault Ship at Mazagon Dockyard and in 1945 took part in the following landings: Kyaukpyu Letpan Rangoon Morib in Malaysia. After the war she spent her remaining years on the Colombo- Tuticorin Service until being sold for scrap to the Indian steel Syndicate for breaking up at Bombay in 1950.  Built: 1914 at Barcley, Curle, Glasgow. Yard No. 508. Tonnage: 3, 285g, 1, 878n, 4, 250 dwt. Engines: Single Screw, Triple Expansion 2, 255 IHP. 13.07 Knots (trials). Passengers: 12 First Class, 24 Second Class, 1, 156 Deck. Launched 7th April 1914, Delivered 15th May 1914. Bamora is a village near Almora in North- West India. The final 'B' Class of this series for the Persian Gulf Service spent the whole of world war I seconded to the Indian Expeditionary force like her sisters until October 1919. She returned to her old commercial route until joining the Liner Division for the duration of World War II. Along with the Barpeta she was sold to the Indian Steel Syndicate and scrapped in Bombay in 1950.  Built: 1941 at Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd., Wallsend, Newcastle. Yard No. 1640. Tonnage: 8, 328g, 3, 967n, 6, 056 dwt. Engines: Twin Screw, 2x 3 Single Reduction Geared Turbines by Parsons. 8, 800 SHP. 16.5 Knots. Originally coal fired but oil from September 1950. Passengers: 45 First Class, 50 Second Class (A), 60 Second Class (B) and 2, 278 Deck. Launched 5th August 1940, Delivered 17th March 1941. The final 'A' to be built her completion was delayed because of wartime restrictions. This was lifted when her sister ship Aska was sunk in September 1940. Her remaining sister, Amra, appears on the History Section of this site. She spent most of her time during the war East of Suez and was present at the Malayan Landings in 1945. After the war she spent her remaining years on the Bombay- Durban run, trooping duties to Malaysia or finally the Karachi- Chittagong Service. In 1963 she was sold for breaking in Hong Kong, determined not to go quietly she ran aground on Macao but was refloated and work commenced on the 12th December.   The photographs on this page were kindly supplied by Captain John W. Cole. |