View source for RMS Strathnaver

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= StateLibQld 1 170511 Strathnaver (ship).jpg
|Ship caption= RMS ''Strathnaver'' in 1937
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=*RMS ''Strathnaver'';
*SS ''Strathnaver''
|Ship namesake= [[Strathnaver]] in [[Sutherland]], Scotland
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|civil}}
|Ship owner= [[File:P&O-house flag.svg|border|20px]] [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company|P&O Steam Navigation Co]]<ref name=LR>{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/37/37b0833.pdf |year=1937 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |location=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] |access-date=30 April 2013}}</ref>
|Ship operator= [[File:P&O-house flag.svg|border|20px]] P&O Steam Navigation Co
|Ship route= [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]] — [[Port of Brisbane|Brisbane]]<ref name=TB>{{harvnb|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=397}}</ref>
|Ship ordered=January 1930 
|Ship builder= [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering|Vickers-Armstrong]], [[Barrow-in-Furness|Barrow]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number= 663<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/94606STRATHNAVER-1931pdf.pdf |title=Strathnaver (1931) |work=poheritage.com |access-date=5 October 2019}}</ref>
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched= 5 February 1931<ref name=ST>{{cite web |url= http://www.simonstown.com/archives/stdc_aa_02-011.htm |title=R.M.S. Strathnaver in Simon's Town |work=Simon's Town Archives |access-date=30 April 2013}}</ref>
|Ship completed= September 1931<ref name=LR/>
|Ship christened=5 February 1931 <small>by Lady Janet Bailey</small>
|Ship acquired=
|Ship maiden voyage= 2 October 1931<ref name=ST/>
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship registry= {{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} [[Port of London|London]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship identification=*UK [[official number]] 162619<ref name=LR/>
*[[Maritime call sign|Call sign]] GRPZ<ref name=LR/>
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{ICS|Zulu}}
|Ship homeport= Tilbury
|Ship fate= Scrapped in [[Hong Kong]], 1962<ref name=ST/>
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= "Strath" class [[ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|22283}}<ref name=LR/>
*12,675 tonnage under deck<ref name=LR/>
*{{NRT|13,361}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship displacement= 
|Ship length= {{convert|638.7|ft}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship beam= {{convert|80.2|ft}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= {{convert|29|ft|2|in|1}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship depth= {{convert|33.1|ft}}<ref name=LR/>
|Ship decks= 
|Ship deck clearance= 
|Ship power=*6,315 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR/>
*28,000 [[Horsepower#Shaft horsepower|shp]]<ref name=ST/>
|Ship propulsion=*[[turbo-electric transmission]];
*twin [[Propeller (marine)|screw]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship speed=*{{convert|22|kn}}{{sfn|Harnack|1938|p=560}}
*or {{convert|23|kn}}<ref name=TB/>
|Ship sensors=*[[direction finding]] equipment,<ref name=LR/>
*[[echo sounding]] device,<ref name=LR/>
*[[gyrocompass]]<ref name=LR/>
|Ship capacity=*''as built:''
*498 1st class, 670 tourist class<ref name=ST/>
*''after 1948 refit:'' 1,252 tourist class<ref name=ST/>
|Ship crew= 
|Ship notes= [[sister ship]]: {{RMS|Strathaird}}<ref name=LR/>
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Strathnaver''''', later '''SS ''Strathnaver''''', was an [[ocean liner]] of the [[Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company]] (P&O).

She was the first of five [[sister ship]]s in what came to be called the "Strath" class. All previous P&O steamships had black-painted hulls and funnels but ''Strathnaver'' and her sisters were painted with white hulls and buff funnels,{{sfn|Talbot-Booth|1942|p=534}}{{sfn|Harnack|1938|p=559}} which earned them the nickname "The Beautiful White Sisters"<ref name=TB/> or just "The White Sisters". ''Strathnaver'' and her sister ships {{RMS|Strathaird}} and  {{RMS|Strathmore}} were [[Royal Mail Ship]]s that worked P&O's regular liner route between [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]] in [[Essex]], England and [[Port of Brisbane|Brisbane]] in [[Queensland]], Australia.<ref name=TB/>

''Strathnaver'' remained in service for just over 30 years, being scrapped in 1962.

==Building== 
[[File:RMS Strathnaver lifeboats in davits, 1934.jpg|thumb|upright|left|RMS ''Strathnaver''{{'}}s [[Port and starboard|port]] [[Lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]] in their [[davit]]s in 1934]]
The [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering|Vickers-Armstrong shipyard]] at [[Barrow-in-Furness]] built all five "Strath"-class liners.<ref name=LR/> ''Strathnaver'' was launched on 5 February 1931,<ref name=ST/> completed in September 1931<ref name=LR/> and left Tilbury on her maiden voyage on 2 October.<ref name=ST/>

In 1929 P&O had introduced its first large [[turbo-electric transmission|turbo-electric]] liner, {{RMS|Viceroy of India}}. The company chose the same propulsion system for ''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'', but the "Straths" were slightly larger ships, their turbo-electric equipment was much more powerful<ref name=LR/> and they were about {{convert|3|kn|km/h}} faster than ''Viceroy of India''.

''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' were very similar. Each had four [[water-tube boilers]] and two auxiliary boilers.<ref name=LR/> The boilers had a combined heating surface of {{convert|56000|sqft|0}} and supplied steam at 425 [[Pounds per square inch|lb<sub>f</sub>/in<sup>2</sup>]] to two [[turbo generator]]s.<ref name=LR/> These supplied current to two electric motors with a combined rating of 6,315 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]<ref name=LR/> or 28,000 [[Horsepower#Shaft horsepower|shp]].<ref name=ST/> [[British Thomson-Houston]] of [[Rugby, Warwickshire]] built the turbo-generators and motors.<ref name=LR/> The motors drove a pair of inward-rotating<ref name=ST/> [[Propeller (marine)|screw propellers]].<ref name=LR/> ''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' had three funnels but only the middle one served as a smoke stack: the first and third funnels were dummies.<ref name=TB/>

''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' were each equipped with [[direction finding]] equipment, an [[echo sounding]] device and a [[gyrocompass]]<ref name=LR/> As built, ''Strathnaver'' had accommodation for 498 first class and 668 tourist class passengers and 476 crew.<ref name=Launch>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=P. And O. Liner Launched |date=6 February 1931 |page=11}}</ref> In first class the ship had 262 single-berth rooms with the rest double-berthed, a special suite on "D" deck had 12 de luxe cabins each with a private bathroom.<ref name=Times>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Strathnaver |date=5 September 1931 |page=7}}</ref> The tourist-class cabins were either two or four-berthed.<ref name=Times/>

The ship was launched at Barrow on 5 February 1931 by Lady Janet Bailey, daughter of [[James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape|Lord Inchcape]], the Chairman of P&O.<ref name=Launch/>

==Service==
[[File:P&O passenger liner RMS Strathnaver at Lisbon, 1934.jpg|thumb|upright|left|RMS ''Strathnaver'' in [[Lisbon]] in 1934]]
''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' mostly worked the [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]]–[[Port of Brisbane|Brisbane]] route<ref name=TB/> ''via'' the [[Suez Canal]].<ref name=SSM>{{cite web |url= http://www.ssmaritime.com/strathaird.htm |last=Goossens |first=Reuben |title=RMS Strathaird |work=P&O Line |publisher=SS Maritime |date=2011–2012 |access-date=30 April 2013}}</ref> They also undertook occasional cruises.<ref name=TB/>

In October 1938 the ship was chartered to move 1,200 British troops from India to Palestine.<ref name=Brief>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=News in Brief |date=10 October 1938 |page=14}}</ref>

In 1939<ref name="SSM"/> or 1940<ref name=ST/> the two sisters were requisitioned as [[troopship|troop ships]]. ''Strathnaver''{{'}}s war service included bringing [[Australian Army|Australian]] and [[New Zealand Army|New Zealand]] troops to [[Suez]] and Allied troops to the [[Operation Shingle|Anzio landings]].<ref name=ST/> She remained a troop ship until November 1948, when she was returned to P&O.<ref name=ST/> In her nine years of government service she carried 129,000 troops and travelled 352,000 miles.<ref name=Brief/>

P&O had [[Harland and Wolff]] in [[Belfast]] refit her for civilian service. First class was abolished and all accommodation was made tourist class, which slightly increased total passenger capacity from 1,168 to 1,252.<ref name=ST/>{{Clarify|date=August 2013}} The dummy first and third funnels were removed,<ref name=ST/> which made ''Strathnaver'' look more like her later sisters ''Stratheden'', ''Strathallan'' and ''Strathmore''. ''Strathaird'' had already had her dummy funnels removed in 1947.<ref name=SSM/> When she returned to service in 1950 she had accommodation for 567 passengers in first-class and 458 in tourist-class.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Strathnaver Back In Service |date=4 January 1950 |page=2}}</ref>

Originally planned to be retired in mid-1962 the ''Strathnaver'' was retired a few months earlier due to an Australian government decision not to reserve any more berths for migrants in the first five-months of 1962.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Two Liners To Be Broken Up |date=12 December 1961 |page=6}}</ref> P&O sold ''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' for scrap to Shun Fung Ironworks of Hong Kong.<ref name=ST/><ref name=SSM/> ''Strathnaver'' arrived in Hong Kong in April 1962 on her last voyage.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=News in Brief |date=3 April 1962 |page=10}}</ref> {{SS|Canberra||2}} replaced both ''Strathnaver'' and ''Strathaird'' on the Australia route.<ref name=SSM/> 
[[File:StateLibQld 1 128731 Strathnaver (ship).jpg|thumb|[[Stern]] view of RMS ''Strathnaver'']]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{Commons category|Strathnaver (ship, 1931)}}
* {{cite book |last=Harnack |first=Edwin P |orig-year=1903 |year=1938 |title=All About Ships & Shipping |publisher=[[Faber and Faber]] |location=London |edition=7th }}
* {{Cite book |last=Talbot-Booth |first=E.C. |orig-year=1936 |year=1942 |title=Ships and the Sea |edition=Seventh |publisher=[[Sampson Low]], Marston & Co. Ltd |location=London }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strathnaver}}
[[Category:1931 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness]]
[[Category:Cruise ships]]
[[Category:Ocean liners of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships of P&O (company)]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Turbo-electric steamships]]