Kaisar
i Hind '- the name literally means ‘Empress
of India’
in the
vernacular
of the Hindi and Urdu languages.
Launched on Sunday 28th June 1914, the day was marred by news of the
assassination, in Sarajevo, of Archduke Francis Ferdinand and his wife,
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
On the day war was declared, the ship was fitting out in the James Watt Dock in
Greenock, Scotland. Completing sea trials on 30th September, she
arrived at Tilbury, commanded by Captain Charles D Bennett RD,RNR, on 5th
October 1914, and made ready for sea. Sailing alone and unescorted, she set a
new record for the passage to India, arriving at Bombay in just under eighteen
days. One particular innovative feature that her passengers found most welcome,
was an electric fan in every cabin.
Captain, Officers, Petty Officers and British Crew members,
April 1938
During her early
voyages she became known as the luckiest of ships, for she had torpedoes aimed
and fired directly at her – and yet she survived. Fortunately the German
submarine commanders underestimated her speed, basing their calculations on that
of other P&O liners. On five separate occasions she was targeted and torpedoes
fired at her, the most famous being when the Viceroy of India, Lord Chelmsford
and his family were on board. The ship was sailing between Crete and
Malta
on 23rd March 1916, when torpedoes were sighted, approaching to
starboard. Fortunately for all on board, they passed harmlessly astern. In
1917, she was taken up from trade under the Government’s Liner Requisition
Scheme, spending the remainder of the war as a troop transport, mainly on
Mediterranean convoys, between Marseilles, Taranto and Alexandria. Her last
encounter with the enemy was on 22nd April 1918, while she was in the
Mediterranean, with 3,000 troops and 500 crew on board, when a torpedo struck
her in way of the engine room and stokehold – but failed to explode. She had
lived up to her name ‘Lucky Kaisar’ and the dent in her side was painted green,
in contrast to her normal P&O red boot-topping.
One of the most photographed passenger liners of her era, the following
photographs show her during peacetime
Starboard side, looking aft from the bridge
Main
Dining Room
Main
Saloon
Music Room
Smoking Room
Main
Lounge
Passenger bedroom and en-suite
Wartime 1914-1918
A rare photograph
of the Kaisar i Hind in wartime disruptive camouflage
Prior to duties as a
troopship
Arriving Melbourne as a
troopship, with extra lifeboats on her davits
The
final days - paying off on Friday 22nd April 1938
At the breakers yard - Hughes Bolkow and Co of Blyth, 29th April 1938 - sold for
£28,500
Colonel T E Lawrence - Of Arabia - who took passage in the ship immediately
after the war
Fourth Officer Harper's Noon Position, 22nd March 1936
William
Thomas Foreman's Discharge Book
Kaisar I Hind’s - Quartermaster & Yeoman from 1926 to 1937
A
Passenger List of 1923
Library cash box and ledger
