DEVONIA (1939)

Service dates: 1962-1967

Official number: 166272

Shipping lines: BRITISH INDIA STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY LTD.

Ship type:

• Passenger Ship

Educational Cruise Ship.

Career

20.12.1938

Launched.

07.1939

Completed as Devonshire for Bibby Line Ltd, Liverpool, as a troopship carrying 250 passengers and 1,150 troops; 11,275 grt, 6,758 nrt.

11.08.1939

Left Southampton and did not return to the UK for 4½ years. Her duties - under RAF management though she mostly carried soldiers - took her to Marseilles, Dakar, Durban, Basrah, Bombay, Singapore, Fremantle, Tripoli and Naples.

1942

Equipped with landing craft as a Landing Ship Infantry (L). Carried assault craft to the Salerno and D-Day landings. She then served in the Malayan campaign and post-war to Korea.

04.1953

Refitted by her builders. Permanent berths and cafeteria catering being introduced. Now 320 passengers and 825 troops; 12,773 grt, 8,508 nrt.

25.01.1954

Returned to trooping to the Far East from Liverpool (until 1957) and Southampton.

1961

Ministry of Transport charter ended.

17.01.1962

Bought by the British India Steam Navigation Company for £175,000.

1962

Converted for educational cruising by Barclay Curle & Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow. Passenger capacity now 194 cabin passengers and 834 children. Entered service at Easter, joining her near-sister Dunera (built in 1937 for BI) which had begun regular educational cruises the previous year. Her cruise career took her to most parts of the Mediterranean and the Baltic.

11.09.1964

Upperworks fouled by Swedish ore carrier Tostero whilst alongside at Greenock. Major superficial repairs were needed and she was in dry-dock for eight weeks.

15.12.1967

Sold to Cantieri Navali ‘Santa Maria’, Genoa to be broken up. She had completed 110 educational cruises for BI and was replaced in that trade by Uganda.

01.1968

Demolition began at La Spezia.

Ship technical details (PDF)