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| Launched 1925: ss CHITRAL |
ss CHITRAL
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ss CHITRAL
built by Alexander Stephen & Sons Glasgow,
Yard No 504 Engines by Shipbuilders
Port of Registry: Glasgow
Propulsion: Two four cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines, 13000 ihp, twin screws, 16 knots
Launched: Tuesday, 27/01/1925
Built: 1925
Ship Type: Passenger Liner
Ship's Role: UK/Australia service
Tonnage: 15248 gross; 8756 net; 10300 dwt
Length: 547ft 0in
Breadth: 70ft 4in
Draught: 30ft 3in
Owner History:
Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company London
Status: Sold for Scrapping - 15/04/1953
Web site: http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/PandOCards.html
Remarks:
10/1923: Ordered.
27/01/1925: Launched by the Hon. Elsie Mackay, daughter of P&O Chairman
Lord Inchcape.
12/06/1925: Ran trials and delivered to The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, London. As built she could carry 203 First Class and 103 Second Class passengers. CHITRAL and her sisters CATHAY and
COMORIN were designed for the Australian run, and their delivery
enabled P&O to restore the fortnightly Australian mail schedule, but
they were also used on other routes and lacked the reserves of
speed really required by a mail steamer.
03/07/1925: Left London on her maiden voyage to Australia via Marseilles, Suez, Aden, and Colombo.
1930: Fitted with Bauer~Wach low~pressure exhaust turbines and
Wyndham heaters to augment her speed and improve fuel
efficiency.
1933: Carried the (dismantled) gunboat HMS SANDPIPER from Southampton
to Shanghai for service on the Yangtse.
1935: Transferred full~time to UK/Far East service.
30/08/1939: Requisitioned by the Admiralty for service as an armed merchant cruiser and converted by her builders. Her after funnel was removed
and seven 6~inch and two 3~inch guns were fitted.
14/10/1939: Working up at Scapa Flow when HMS ROYAL OAK was torpedoed.
20/11/1939: While serving on the Northern Patrol received news from the
captured German merchantman BERTHA FISSER of the approach of the
battlecruisers SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU.
23/11/1939: Rescued 10 survivors from P&O’s RAWALPINDI, also serving as an
armed merchant cruiser, sunk by SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU.
09/1940: Made three trooping voyages to Reykjavik as part of the
reinforcement of the garrison in Iceland.
11/11/1940: Sent to search for survivors of the armed merchant cruiser JERVIS BAY sunk by the German warship ADMIRAL SCHEER.
09/1941: Transferred to the East Indies Fleet and remained in the Indian
Ocean until the end of 1943.
10/04/1944: Redelivered from Admiralty. Converted to a troopship by the
Maryland Dry Dock Company, Baltimore, USA, during which her
second funnel was replaced.
14/09/1944: Left Baltimore for voyage New York/Clyde with US troops.
17/09/1947: Returned to her owners and reconditioned in London by R & H
Green and Silley Weir Ltd. She returned to her pre~war black hull
and funnels, not adopting P&O’s newer white livery. Her mainmast
was removed and her forward well was plated in.
30/12/1948: Re~entered the Australian trade carrying 740 emigrants on outward
journeys in extremely spartan conditions.
1950: Assisted with the repatriation of Dutch nationals from Indonesia.
02/1953: Last sailing for Australia beset by mechanical problems including
enforced conversion from quadruple to triple expansion in 36 hours.
22/03/1953: Arrived in London for the last time.
02/04/1953: Sold for £167,500 to British Iron and Steel Corporation (Salvage)
Ltd. Handed over for demolition to W H Arnott Young & Co Ltd,
Dalmuir.
Previous update by Paul Strathdee with additional data from Bruce Biddulph.
Photo from the above web page.
Previous update by John Newth
Last updated: by George Robinson from the original records by Stuart Cameron
<img src="http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/ships/1925/CHITRAL_504.jpg" alt="ss CHITRAL">
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