Possible location: HMS Ranchi, Fremantle Port, Western Australia.
Photographer: Allen. C. Green.
Projecting an illusion of floating in a calm ocean without even a ripple to indicate her gentle approach, the HMS Ranchi nears what possibly is the Fremantle Harbour in Western Australia, in this photo captured by Allen Charles Green – a professional portrait photographer by trade, yet one whose love for maritime photography led to a vast collection of war and sail ship photos, mostly in the black and white medium.
Named after the yesteryear town of Ranchi, which once was the regional administrative headquarters of the Bengal Presidency’s Chota Nagpur province, the HMS Ranchi was a top-of-the-line passenger ship of her time, built to ferry passengers and their belongings from England to India via the Suez Canal. But one whose career had been altered by the outbreak of World War II, and in that phase made her sail dangerous waters, sometimes without the protection of formidable warships.
Where the HMS Ranchi was built.
The HMS Ranchi was constructed at the 537 Newcastle-upon-Tyne yard by English shipbuilders Hawthorn Leslie. She was 174 meters in length with twin screws and equipped with two quadruple-expansion steam engines capable of generating 15000 ihp.
She also had a top speed of 17 knots and was among the first to offer refrigerated spaces for the transportation of perishable commodities. The ship’s spacious interior was large enough to comfortably accommodate 953 people, including a crew of 366 personnel. This while her cargo hold measured some 9,744 cubic metres.
The ship had begun her maritime career with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. A successful maritime venture that since its founding in 1837 had operated for 163 years before relinquishing its holdings and commercial interests to the British-American Luxury Cruise provider: The Carnival Corporation, and the Danish shipping giant Maersk Line, in the year 2000.
She had been acquired for £ 919,080, and had begun operating in 1925, having been commissioned to serve alongside her sisters, the HMS Ranpura, the HMS Rawalpindi and the HMS Rajputana. All three ships, a part of the yesteryear Bombay-England mail service – that connected harbours at London and Southampton with Bombay.
Wartime Duty of the HMS Ranchi.
The HMS Ranchi had begun her military service on the 27th of August, 1939 – four days before Germany had invaded Poland on the 1st of September, 1939.
She had been requisitioned by the British Admiralty to serve as an armed merchant vessel and refitted for combat duties at the Bombay Harbour. Here, her after funnel had been removed and her decks outfitted with a pair of 3-inch and 8 six-inch guns.
In October 1939, the ship had sailed for active service with the East Indies Station (a squadron of the British Navy, patrolling the Indian Ocean). Later she had served with the British Eastern Fleet, on escort and patrol duties – a tour that had lasted till 1943 and had her clocking a total of 300,000 miles of sailing time.
On the 16th of March 1943, the HMS Ranchi had docked at Southampton to be once more refitted for her new role of troop transport. On this occasion, she had been assigned to operate in the Middle East and the Mediterranean arena, and later had come to participate in the allied invasion of Italy.
In 1943, while serving as the flagship of an eastbound convoy, she had come close to being crippled by an enemy bomb, near Benghazi. The bomb, however, having been deflected by the wirespan of her forecastle had fallen through a troop’s latrine without exploding – the lucky encounter saving her, her crew and her passengers, a possible death at sea.
Transporting the 407th Air Division.
The historical work, Chinese America: History and Perspectives 1993, reveals the HMS Ranchi had transported troops of the American 407th Air Division to Burma in 1944.
On this occasion, and as given in the book, the ship had been filled to maximum capacity. Soldiers and officers had not only occupied her first and second-class compartments but had made use of every inch of her floors, especially to sleep.
Furthermore, the showers on board had provided the salt water of the sea for baths and the troops had been fed with only two meals a day – with the morning meal comprising of salted fish, biscuits, margarine and tea, and the evening meal, watery stew, sausages and biscuits.
The book also reveals, the narrative of soldiers, who thought that the living conditions on board was much more worse for the ship’s own East Indies Crew, especially those of the lowest ranks.
On this voyage too, the HMS Ranchi had been spotted by a German reconnaissance plane, somewhere in the Mediterranean. Fearing an aerial assault she had assembled the troops on the deck in full gear, in anticipation of having to abandon ship if hit.
Last years of service of the HMS Ranchi.
Although after service in the Mediterranean and Middle East, the HMS Ranchi had been assigned to participate in the liberation of Malaya from Japanese control and accordingly prepped up to blockade a Malayan river. The surrender of the Japanese army on the 2nd of September 1945, had brought her military career to a close.
Not long after the end of the war, she had been derequisitioned by the British Admiralty – after having successfully ferried 54,711 troops over 86,000 miles.
Upon returning to civilian life, the HMS Ranchi had once more been refitted and requipped for what eventually was to be her last role at sea. An emigrant ship ferrying passengers both homebound and to new destinations.
A role she is known to have performed admirably well from 1947 to 1952 – and during which time she transported a total of 925 emigrant passengers to Australia in 1948, and later from Jakarta to Amsterdam.
HMS Ranchi: A Farbound.Net Wallpaper.
Dismantling of the HMS Ranchi.
On the 7th of January 1953, a year after she had suffered from a fire near Sydney Harbour, the HMS Ranchi had been sold to the salvage company: The British Iron and Steel Corporation for £ 200,000.
Handed over to the salvage company on the 19th of January 1953, she had been dismantled shortly afterwards, bringing to an end her 27-year career at sea. A time span that had witnessed her sailing more than 600, 000 miles of salty waters with her military duties alone making up, 386,000 miles.
Out of the four sister ships of the England-Bombay mail service, only the HMS Ranchi and the HMS Rangpura survived the war.
