RMS KAISAR-HIND, Gibraltar, 1920

watercolor, 14” x 21”

$5,500

When the “Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company” (P&O) required a new liner to operate to the profitable Indian Continent service, they ordered the 11,430 GRT (Gross Registered Ton) liner on November 11, 1913 to be built by “Caird & Company Ltd” at Greenock, Scotland. Once her fitting out being fully completed, on October 1, 1914 the now named Kaiser-i-Hind departed for her deep-sea trials, which proved to be most successful.

RMS Kaiser-i-Hind departed London on October 24, 1914, bound for Bombay India. Apparently due to her remarkable speed she arrived in Bombay in the record time of 18 days. From the beginning she proved to be a very popular liner with the travelling public with both classes as she very quickly gained a reputation for being a comfortable ship to sail on and she was perfectly designed for the hotter climates. But more so, service on board was typically P&O, simply superb as was the cuisine and all the many excellent facilities available to both classes.

In 1916, the Kaiser-i-Hind began United Kingdom to Australia service transporting thousands of Australians during WWII. Towards the end of the war, she carried on of the most famous servicemen that fought in the Middle East, Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, or as he is also known, Lawrence of Arabia. Because of her extraordinary speed she became known as the ‘Lucky Ship’ that German Torpedoes couldn’t catch. In 1928 she transported the Prince of Wales on his much-publicized tour of Africa. Finally in 1938 she was sold for scrap after an astonishing 24 years of service.