SS Ormonde

RMS Ormonde at anchor in Sydney Harbour, 1931

SS Ormonde or RMS Ormonde was a British ocean liner and later troopship. It was notable as the first post-war migrant ship from the Caribbean to dock at Tilbury Docks on 31 March 1947, over a year before the better known HMT Empire Windrush.^[1] For this journey there were 241 passengers, including 11 stowaways and 6 distressed seamen (sailors without a ship).^[1] Poet Hannah Lowe's father, Ralph, was among those on board.^[2]

History

Soldiers of the 43rd Battalion, who embarked at Port Melbourne, Victoria on RMS Ormonde on 7 March 1918

Ormonde had a troubled construction. She was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank for the Orient Steam Navigation Company as their first ship with a cruiser stern and geared turbines. However, in August 1914 construction was delayed by the outbreak of World War I. In October 1917, she was requisitioned as a troopship, arriving in Sydney in February 1918 to take Australian troops to Egypt. In 1919, she was returned to John Brown & Co to be fitted out as a passenger liner, taking her first passenger voyage to Brisbane on 15 November.^[3]

She was damaged in April 1920 in the Suez Canal, having to be repaired in Colombo, Ceylon.^[4] In 1922 she was transferred to the Norway route.^[3] In April 1923 she was converted to oil and in 1933 she was refitted to single class accommodation, providing a capacity of 770.^[4][3]

World War II saw her again requisitioned as a troopship, this time with a capacity of 1,560.^[3] She was involved in the evacuation from Norway and from France.^[4] Her final return from the Caribbean marked the first substantial landing of Caribbean migrants to the UK.^[1] In April 1947, she was released from military service and refitted, only to be chartered by the government again in October 1947 to transport emigrants to Australia (now with a capacity of 1052).^[3][4]

Following the Indonesian National Revolution, Ormonde was chartered by the Dutch government to evacuate citizens from Indonesia in March 1950. Then in November she returned as a troopship for New Zealand troops in the Korean War.^[3]

Finally, she was scrapped on 5 December 1952 at Troon.^[3][4]

References

1. Searle, Kevin (22 June 2022). "The Empire Windrush and the post-war ships that came before". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
2. Lowe, Hannah (2014). Ormonde. Hercules Editions.
3. "Twice a Trooper - Memories of the RMS Ormonde". www.mastermariners.org.au. Retrieved 8 December 2025.
4. "Orient Line - R.M.S. Ormonde 1917 to 1952 - Page One". ssmaritime.com. Retrieved 8 December 2025.