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BENARES (1858)
Service dates: 1858-1868
Official number: 21175
Shipping lines: P&O STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY
Ship type:
Passenger Liner.
Career
- 01.02.1858
- Launched.
- 27.03.1858
- Sailed from her builders.
- 29.03.1858
- Arrived in Southampton and registered as Benares for The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
- 03.04.1858
- Maiden sailing from Gravesend for Alexandria, with 600 troops.
- 24.06.1858
- Sailed from Southampton for Queenstown, presumably with troops.
- 08.1858
- Attended festivities at Cherbourg during Queen Victoria’s visit, together with Pera and Salsette.
- 20.08.1858
- Left Southampton in search of Colombo, delayed with a broken shaft.
- 31.08.1858
- Towed Colombo from Vigo to Southampton (arrived 4th September).
- 04.09.1858
- Arrived at Southampton with Colombo.
- 27.09.1858
- Sent out to the Suez/Mauritius/Australia run, taken over by P&O after the European & Australian RMSPCo had gone out of business.
- 24.12.1859
- Briefly aground in the Red Sea. Her captain was fined one month’s pay for not using the lead.
- 06.1860
- Took mails from disabled Northam to Suez.
- 1862
- Transferred to the Suez/Bombay route.
- 01.1862
- Sent to search for Colombo, wrecked on Minicoy in the Arabian Sea.
- 02.1864
- Towed Candia from Sandheads to Calcutta.
- 03.1864
- Towed P&O tug Colabah from Sandheads to Bombay.
- 1865
- To Galle/Hong Kong/Shanghai route.
- 15.04.1865
- Grounded briefly leaving Hong Kong.
- 08.06.1865
- Collision with Holt’s steamer Agamemnon in Hong Kong.
- 23.05.1868
- Stranded on an uncharted rock in the Fisherman’s Islands in the China Sea, on a voyage from Shanghai to Hong Kong. The accident was blamed on the two officers left on watch when her Captain went to consult a chart, who failed to alert him when land was sighted through the fog. There were no casualties and the specie and mails were subsequently recovered by divers. Ellora stood by the wreck and the steamer Douglas was chartered to take the mails to Hong Kong.