Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Turbo-Electric Passenger Liner…

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Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea Medal: Turbo-Electric Passenger Liner Viceroy of India

AssociatedAssociated with Lord Mountbatten of Burma (Frogmore House, Windsor, England, 1900 - 1979)

Medallist John Pinches, Medallists

DateMay 2004

Object NameMedal

MediumSterling Silver

ClassificationsMedals

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS072500.90

Keywords

Commemorative

About MeDevelopments in marine engineering were continuous rather than dramatic in the inter-war years, particularly in view of the increased competition induced by trade depression and the need to ensure economy in the manning and operation of tonnage. Diesel propulsion was adopted by shipowners on an increasing scale, but initial cost and uncertain reliability were still drawbacks, and many British shipowners especially were reluctant to rely on an imported fuel, with the implied risk of supply and price changes affecting costs.

A number of solutions to these problems were suggested, and in the ordering of Viceroy of India, the Peninsular and Oriental Company sought to maintain their proud supremacy in the passenger trade to India. Viceroy of India was built in 1929 by the famous shipbuilding firm of Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited at their Linthouse shipyard on the upper reaches of the Clyde, as the 519th vessel they had launched there. With a gross of 19,627 tons, she measured 586.1 feet in length, 76.2 feet in breadth, and 41.5 feet in depth. Her novelty lay in her engines, described by a leading journal of the day as 'one of the most outstanding engineering feats of the period.'

She had two steam turbines, built by Alexander Stephen and Company, driving two alternators supplying current to slow-speed synchronous electric motors, coupled in turn to twin propellor shafts. The electric motors and associated equipment were built at Rugby by British Thomson-Houston Limited.

The intended speed of the vessel was 19 knots, which she surpassed easily on her trials, and she duly began operating under the P&O colours in their Bombay service. She was capable of carrying 673 passengers, and she was the first ship to provide all her first-class passengers with separate cabins.

She proved a most valuable asset to the P&O Company and was popular with passengers and crew alike for her reliability and for the notable absence of vibration at high speeds-a problem that had long afflicted most of the world's fast passenger liners. Indeed, her owners were so favourably impressed with her performance at sea that they ordered turbo-electric vessels for their important Australian services in the 1930s.

Viceroy of India met an untimely end in the Second World War when she was torpedoed and sunk by an enemy submarine in the western Mediterranean on 11th November, 1942.

The Mountbatten Medallic History of Great Britain and the Sea, John Pinches Medallists Ltd.