British-India Steam Navigation Company
Encyclopedia
British India Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company
. The company had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading partnership of the Scots
William Mackinnon and Robert Mackenzie
, to carry mail between Calcutta
and Rangoon. It became British India SN Co in 1862. Under the hand of Lord Inchcape (James Mackay) who had become chairman in 1913, the company became part of the P&O
group of companies in 1914 through a complex amalgamation
, but continued with its own identity and organisation for another nearly 60 years until 1972, when it was entirely absorbed into P&O.
As one of the largest shipowners of all time, the company owned more than 500 ships and managed 150 more for other owners. At its height in 1922, BI had more than 160 ships in the fleet, many built on Clydeside, Scotland
. The main shipping routes of the line were: Britain
to India
, Australia
, Kenya
, Tanganyika
. The company ran services from India to Pakistan
, Ceylon, Bay of Bengal
, Singapore
, Malaya
, Java, Thailand
, Japan
, Persian Gulf
, East Africa
and South Africa
. BI had a long history of service to the British and Indian governments through trooping and other military contracts. In the last decade of its operational existence BI carried thousands of school children on educational cruises.
One of the most notable of the company's cargo vessels is the SS Gairsoppa
, which was sunk by a Nazi U-boat, carrying the richest cargo of any ship in world history that was sunk to the sea bottom.(C.Michael Hogan. 2011) Some of the company's more famous passenger ships included SS Rajula, HMT Dunera
, SS Scindia, SS Sirdhana
, SS Leicestershire
, SS Dwarka
, the sister ships Kampala / Karanja and Kenya / Uganda, and MV Dara
, which was sunk by a terrorist bomb in 1961.
SS Nevasa of 1956 was the final passenger vessel built for BI. Serving as a troopship
until redundant in 1962, Nevasa was assigned new duties with the BI educational cruise ship
flotilla until 1974, when she became surplus and was scrapped in 1975. Having earlier been joined in this trade by the more economic Uganda
, this highly popular vessel was taken up (STUFT
) by the British Ministry of Defence
in 1982 as a hospital ship
during the Falklands war
with Argentina
. Returning to BI's tradition of government service again in 1983 - this time as a troopship - Uganda
was "the last BI" when finally withdrawn in 1985. SS Dwarka holds the distinction of closing British-India's true "liner" services, when withdrawn from the company's Persian Gulf
local trades in 1982, in her 35th year.
Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company
Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company was formed in 1856 and was the immediate forerunner of British India Steam Navigation Company...
. The company had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading partnership of the Scots
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
William Mackinnon and Robert Mackenzie
Robert Mackenzie
Robert Warren Mackenzie was a politician in Ontario, Canada. He was a New Democratic Party member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 1975 to 1995, and a prominent cabinet minister in the government of Bob Rae....
, to carry mail between Calcutta
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
and Rangoon. It became British India SN Co in 1862. Under the hand of Lord Inchcape (James Mackay) who had become chairman in 1913, the company became part of the P&O
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
group of companies in 1914 through a complex amalgamation
Consolidation (business)
Consolidation or amalgamation is the act of merging many things into one. In business, it often refers to the mergers and acquisitions of many smaller companies into much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group...
, but continued with its own identity and organisation for another nearly 60 years until 1972, when it was entirely absorbed into P&O.
As one of the largest shipowners of all time, the company owned more than 500 ships and managed 150 more for other owners. At its height in 1922, BI had more than 160 ships in the fleet, many built on Clydeside, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The main shipping routes of the line were: Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, Tanganyika
Tanganyika
Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...
. The company ran services from India to Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, Ceylon, Bay of Bengal
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal , the largest bay in the world, forms the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. It resembles a triangle in shape, and is bordered mostly by the Eastern Coast of India, southern coast of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to the west and Burma and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, Java, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
, East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. BI had a long history of service to the British and Indian governments through trooping and other military contracts. In the last decade of its operational existence BI carried thousands of school children on educational cruises.
One of the most notable of the company's cargo vessels is the SS Gairsoppa
SS Gairsoppa
The SS Gairsoppa was a British steam merchant ship that saw service during the Second World War. She sailed with several convoys, before joining Convoy SL 64. Running low on fuel, she left the convoy and headed for Galway, Ireland, but was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat...
, which was sunk by a Nazi U-boat, carrying the richest cargo of any ship in world history that was sunk to the sea bottom.(C.Michael Hogan. 2011) Some of the company's more famous passenger ships included SS Rajula, HMT Dunera
HMT Dunera
His Majesty's Transport Dunera was a British passenger ship built as a troop transport in the late 1930s. She also operated as a passenger liner and as an educational cruise ship. Dunera saw extensive service throughout the Second World War....
, SS Scindia, SS Sirdhana
SS Sirdhana
SS Sirdhana was one of the larger D Class passenger ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company. The ship was commissioned in 1947 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1972.- External references :* * *...
, SS Leicestershire
SS Heraklion
The SS Heraklion was a car ferry operating the lines Piraeus - Chania and Piraeus - Irakleio between 1965 and 1966. The ship capsized and sank on 8 December 1966 in the Aegean Sea, resulting in the death of over 200 people.-Background:...
, SS Dwarka
SS Dwarka
SS Dwarka was the second of four "modern D Class" passenger/cargo sister ships of the British India Steam Navigation Company . The only one of the quartet to be built by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, SS Dwarka entered service in 1947 on her owners' Persian Gulf local...
, the sister ships Kampala / Karanja and Kenya / Uganda, and MV Dara
MV Dara
The MV Dara was a Dubai based passenger liner, built at a shipbuilding yard in Scotland during 1948. The vessel travelled mostly between the Persian Gulf and the Indian subcontinent, carrying expatriate passengers who were employed in the Gulf States....
, which was sunk by a terrorist bomb in 1961.
SS Nevasa of 1956 was the final passenger vessel built for BI. Serving as a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
until redundant in 1962, Nevasa was assigned new duties with the BI educational cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
flotilla until 1974, when she became surplus and was scrapped in 1975. Having earlier been joined in this trade by the more economic Uganda
SS Uganda
SS Uganda was a passenger liner, then cruise ship, hospital ship and troop ship between 1952 and 1986.-Passenger liner:Initially Uganda operated as a passenger/cargo liner of the British-India Steam Navigation Company , between London and East Africa, calling at Gibraltar, Naples, Port Said, Aden,...
, this highly popular vessel was taken up (STUFT
STUFT
STUFT is a nautical acronym for Ship Taken Up From Trade, and applies to civilian ships requisitioned for government use.The Falklands conflict of 1982 saw a diversity of Ships Taken Up From Trade...
) by the British Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
in 1982 as a hospital ship
Hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital; most are operated by the military forces of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones....
during the Falklands war
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
with Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. Returning to BI's tradition of government service again in 1983 - this time as a troopship - Uganda
SS Uganda
SS Uganda was a passenger liner, then cruise ship, hospital ship and troop ship between 1952 and 1986.-Passenger liner:Initially Uganda operated as a passenger/cargo liner of the British-India Steam Navigation Company , between London and East Africa, calling at Gibraltar, Naples, Port Said, Aden,...
was "the last BI" when finally withdrawn in 1985. SS Dwarka holds the distinction of closing British-India's true "liner" services, when withdrawn from the company's Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
local trades in 1982, in her 35th year.
External links
- BI Ship site
- A Short History of British India Steam Navigation
- Clydeside built BI ships
- The Last Blue Water Liners by William H. Miller, Conway Press, London, 1986 - ISBN 0-85177-400-8