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.jpg) Ranchi as originally built, with two funnels | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
| Name | Ranchi |
| Namesake | Ranchi |
| Owner | Peninsular and Oriental SN Co |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |  Newcastle |
| Builder | Hawthorn Leslie & Co,Hebburn |
| Yard number | 534 |
| Launched | 24 January 1925 |
| Reclassified |
|
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped atNewport, Wales, 1953 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | P&O "R" Class |
| Type | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 548.5 ft (167.2 m) |
| Beam | 71.3 ft (21.7 m) |
| Depth | 43.2 ft (13.2 m) |
| Decks | 3 |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h) |
| Sensors & processing systems | wirelessdirection finding |
| Armament |
|
| Notes | |
SSRanchi wasPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company "R"-classsteamocean liner that was built in 1925 and scrapped in 1953. From 1939 to 1943 she was theRoyal Navyarmed merchant cruiserHMSRanchi.
From 1943 to 1947 she was atroop ship for theMinistry of War Transport and post-warMinistry of Transport.
Hawthorn Leslie and Company ofHebburn,County Durham builtRanchi for P&O. Heryard number was 534. She was launched on 24 January 1925 and completed on 29 July.[1] She was 548.5 ft (167.2 m) long and had a beam of 71.3 ft (21.7 m). Hergross register tonnage was 16,738, and as built hernet register tonnage was 8,850.[2]
P&O's "R"-Class includedRanchi'ssister shipsRanpura,Rajputana andRawalpindi, all built in 1924 and 1925. Like her sistersRanchi hadquadruple-expansion steam engines, but unlike her sisters she also had low-pressuresteam turbines to re-use exhaust steam from her reciprocating engines. The turbines were coupled to her propeller shafts bydouble reduction gearing.[2] She had twin propellers.[3] The turbines both improved her fuel efficiency and madeRanchi slightly faster than her sisters, with a cruising speed of 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h).
Ranchi had berths for 600 passengers.Lord Inchcape's daughterElsie Mackay designed much of the interiors of all the R-class ships.[4]
The ship was named after the city ofRanchi, now the capital ofJharkhand state in eastern India. Her UKofficial number was 148130. Hercode letters were KSTQ until 1933,[2] when they were superseded by thecall sign GLKW.[5]
Until the Second World WarRanchi was painted in P&O's traditional colours for steamships. Her hull was black with a white band. Herboot-topping was red, her superstructure was stone-coloured, and her funnels and ventilators were black.[6] As built, she had two funnels.[3][7]
Ranchi sailed on a scheduled route between England andBombay,India. Later she sailed to theFar East.
NovelistEvelyn Waugh travelled onRanchi in 1929 from Port Said to Malta as described in his travel bookLabels.
In 1939Ranchi's net register tonnage was revised to 8,827.
TheAdmiralty requisitionedRanchi for theRoyal Navy on 27 August 1939, less than a week before the UK enteredWorld War II. She was commissioned on 23 October 1939 as thearmed merchant cruiser (AMC) HMSRanchi with thepennant number F15. The Admiralty also requisitioned her sistersRanpura,Rawalpindi andRajputana as AMCs. AMCs escorted merchant convoys in the early years of the war, as the Royal Navy did not have enough warships to spare for the purpose.
From October 1939 until February 1942Ranchi served theEast Indies Station. From March 1942 until January 1943 she was part of the Eastern Fleet (Indian Ocean). On 16 March 1943 the Admiralty releasedRanchi from the Royal Navy, and the Ministry of War Transport had her converted into a troop ship.
In Britain in November 1943Ranchi embarked 3,542 troops for the Middle East. On 15 November she sailed from the Firth of Clyde in Convoy KMF 26. In the Mediterranean, early on 16 December,Heinkel He 111 aircraft based on Rhodes attacked the convoy. One bomb hitRanchi's fo'c'sle, penetrated the troops' toilets and went out through the ship's side before exploding. One man was killed. The ship reachedAlexandria where she underwent repairs that took 50 days.[8]
Two months after the end of the Second World War in the Pacific, in October 1945Ranchi sailed from Madras via Labuan and Singapore to Southampton carrying amongst others releasedprisoners of war and civilian internees recently liberated from Japanese camps.[9] Hilda Bates, who had been interned inBatu Lintang camp atKuching,Borneo, wrote on 23 October 1945: "We are now speeding towards England aboard the S.S.Ranchi, which is packed with troops and other ex P.O.W.s like ourselves ... In our cabin there are twelve women, – five of who[m] are returning home as widows."[10]
On 18 July 1947 the Ministry of Transport returnedRanchi to P&O. She was refitted at Southampton and London Docks. Her second funnel was removed, her hull was painted cream but her funnel was restored to traditional P&O black.
SingerCliff Richard travelled to his parents native United Kingdom aboardRanchi when his family left India in 1948.
Ranchi was used as an emigrant ship between June 1948 and 1952, when she completed 15 voyages from the United Kingdom to Australia. The shipping nominal rolls are held at the Victorian Public Records Office, Melbourne, Australia. Her first post war voyage was from Tilbury Docks on 17 June 1948, although her journey was delayed into Fremantle as there were rough seas off the coast of Western Australia.
Ranchi was broken up atNewport,Monmouthshire, beginning on 19 January 1953.
In 1984 the P&O linerCanberra doubled forRanchi in the final episode ofTenko, the BBC television drama series about civilian women interned by Japanese forces in the Far East.[11]
The Blue Lotus, fifth volume of the comic book seriesThe Adventures of Tintin, features an ocean liner namedRanchi that operates in Asia.
