# Empire Windrush



## Roger Bentley (Nov 15, 2005)

Can anyone help? The loss of this troper came up at today's meeting of the York Branch of the Korean Veterans Association. There were some rather wild and woolly comments. So basically what I would like to confirm is that as she was managed by NZCS she would have had a white crew and the four people who lost their lives were all engingeers or as I seem to recall one of them was an electrician. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Regards, Roger


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## John Rogers (May 11, 2004)

Early history of the ship

The diesel-powered motor ship was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany and launched on 4 December 1930. She was delivered to Hamburg-Südamerikanische-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft (Hamburg South American Steam Shipping Company) in 1931, which named her '''Monte Rosa''' and used her for cruises. Many passengers on these cruises were aboard as privileged Nazi Party members, as part of the Nazi Strength Through Joy programme, intended to reward and encourage party members and as a reward for services to the Party.

During the Second World War, the ship was used as a barracks ship at Stettin, then as a troopship for the invasion of Norway in April 1940. She was later used as an accommodation and recreational ship attached to the battleship Tirpitz, stationed in the north of Norway, from where the Tirpitz and her flotilla preyed on Allied convoys en route to Russia. By 1945, the ship was in the Baltic, being used as a refugee evacuation ship rescuing Germans trapped in East Prussia and Danzig by the advance of the Red Army.

In May 1945, the Monte Rosa was captured by advancing British forces at Kiel and taken as a prize of war. The following year the ship was assigned to the British Ministry of Transport and converted into a troopship. She was renamed HMT Empire Windrush on 21 January 1947, for use on the Southampton-Gibraltar-Suez-Aden-Colombo-Singapore-Hong Kong route, with voyages extended to Kure in Japan after the start of the Korean War. The vessel was operated for the British Government by the New Zealand Shipping Company, and made one voyage only to the Caribbean before resuming normal trooping voyages.

Later history of the ship

She set off in February 1954 on what proved to be her final voyage, sailing from Yokohama and Kure to the United Kingdom with approx 1,500 recovering wounded United Nations veterans of the Korean War, including soldiers from the Duke of Wellington's Regiment wounded at the Third Battle of the Hook in May 1953. The voyage was plagued with engine breakdowns and other defects, taking ten weeks to reach Port Said, from where the ship sailed for the last time.

An inquiry later found that an engine room fire began after a fall of soot from the funnel fractured oil-fuel supply pipes. The subsequent explosion and fierce oil-fed fire killed four members of the engine room crew. The fire could not be fought because of a lack of electrical power for the pumps because the back-up generators were also not in working order, and the ship did not have a sprinkler system. The lack of electrical power also prevented many lifeboats from being launched and the remainder were unable to accommodate all the survivors, who were mostly clad in their nightclothes. Many were in the water for up to six hours before rescue vessels appeared to take them to Algiers, where they were cared for by the municipal authority and the French Army.

The first ship on the scene was the Alfred Holt, Blue Funnel Line, wartime victory ship, S.S. Mentor which rendered assistance and picked up the first survivors.

The burned-out hulk of Empire Windrush was taken in tow by the destroyer HMS Saintes of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, 32 miles northwest of Cape Caxine. HMS Saintes attempted to tow the ship to Gibraltar in worsening weather, but Empire Windrush sank before first light the following morning, Monday 30 March 1954.


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## McCloggie (Apr 19, 2008)

My old man served on HMS Saintes about that time but I do not know when or in what capacity.

We may laugh at some "Health and Safety" rules today but this would appear to be a case where today's more stringent standards may well have stopped or at leased minimised this incident.

McC


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## Roger Bentley (Nov 15, 2005)

John, Many thanks for the information, I will supply this to the chap who is proposing to make a small article about it for a reunion. One of his chums had been on the Windrush and he wanted to get the facts right. One thing that did come up at today's meeting was the tale of a paymaster who dealt with claims for lost effects, apprently it was amazing how many army wives appeared to have lost fur coats and expensive watches. All viewed with jaundiced eyes at the RAPC offices! Cheers, Roger


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## John Williams 56-65 (Feb 12, 2008)

Roger; You have probably, like me, read various accounts of the sinking of the Windrush over the years. You may also have read on this site of my membership of a small website called "The Old El Firdanians". This is run by some of those with whom I served in the RAF in the early fifties, at that particular RAF Station. I was rather surprised one day about a year ago to see a contribution to the website by one of the men from that camp. I did not know him but he left Egypt aboard the Windrush to come home on that fateful day for demob. As one of his contributions to our small and dwindling membership he wrote his eye witness account of that day, starting, before, during, and after those momentous events. As I said earlier I have read many accounts of this tragedy but none so full of personal detail as he provided in his article.
On joining this great site I decided to ask his permission to reproduce it on here. That permission was refused as it is of course his copyright and he had thoughts of including it in a book he is thinking of writing. As far as I know he hasn`t so far written this book,but I think he is leaving it rather late as he is older than me and I am 77.
If such a book does come to fruition I will let you know its title and when and where it can be obtained. It would be a great shame if this article doesn`t get to be seen by a wider audience than has so far read it. It would provide many on this site, and others, with an insight that they will find to be of great interest.


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## John Rogers (May 11, 2004)

Yes I can believe it Roger, all those poor girls loosing their fur coats. Don't you know it was standard wear in the tropics,Fur Coat and No Knickers.

John.


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## Roger Bentley (Nov 15, 2005)

> =he hasn`t so far written this book,but I think he is leaving it rather late as he is older than me and I am 77.
> If such a book does come to fruition I will let you know its title and when and where it can be obtained. It would be a great shame if this article doesn`t get to be seen by a wider audience than has so far read it. It would provide many on this site, and others, with an insight that they will find to be of great interest.


John, Many thanks for the information. I did know the wife of an engineer I sailed with had been on the ship. She was returing home with her family on the Windrush. Sadly she died recently after a long illness, but I remember her telling us of how it had been a very exciting and frightening experience for a young teenager. I have read some of your other mailings, and was interested in your time on the Cheshire, as I sailed on her for three trips in 1951 to Aussie as 3rd R/O. I am the sole MN member of the York branch of the BKVA on the strength of one trip to Korea in 1950. So am well outnumbered by the soldiers! Regards, Roger


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## stan mayes (Jul 22, 2006)

A pal of mine was crew in Empire Windrush at time of this sad incident...
I will contact him and information may be forthcoming from John.
Stan


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## Steve Davies (Dec 15, 2009)

*Windrush Fire*

I've come across this site and registered as I am trying to put together a small display for my father in law.
He was a soldier on his way back from Korea aboard the Windrush. he was given the task of guarding some prisoners below deck when the alarm was raised, he was one of the last to evacuate, the reports always state 4 crew members died, however he has always said that he believed it to be the 4 that were being held, as he couldn't see how they could have escaped.
Can anybody else confirm this.

Steve


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Greetings Steve and a warm welcome to SN. Bon voyage.


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## Mike S (Dec 27, 2005)

I have a strong connection with the Windrush. When she was brought under the management of the NZSCo the Master appointed was my grandfather John Graham Almond. He took her on her first voyages and also the one to the Caribbean. She was the first vessel to bring West Indian immigrants to the UK in I think 1948. 
He stayed on her for a while longer leaving to take the Sussex on her maiden voyage before retiring tired and rather unwell at the age of 60 in 1950. Two wars as Master had taken their toll. 
He was Master of Rangitiki when she escaped from an attack by a German battle cruiser and by the time the war was over he had lost many good friends.
I can recall him making some remarks about the state of the Windrush even in the late 40's and the emergency power supply was always a serious problem. I guess these days it all would seem easy to fix however this ship was built in 1930, was 24 years old and in his words "A nightmare in the engine room". He was also very critical of her design and fire fighting abilities and knowing him I am sure he would have made his opinion well known. However she was managed by the NZSCo for the Government and there I feel was the problem. I know that he used to drill the ships crew long and hard in fire drills and they were only too glad to do it.......they too were well aware of what she was like.
The four dead were all in the engine room and my memory agrees that one was an electrician. That much I can give you as true.
Despite the lack of power to launch the boats they did a remarkable job under the cir***stances. The weather was calm and in their favour however the close proximity of assistance was the major saving factor according the to the old feller. 
He died in 1968 at the ripe old age of 78. Still smoking his Capstan Fine Cut rollies and with his passing a large slice of Sunderland's maritime history went with him. He joined his first ship the full rigged ship "Rudland Castle" in 1904 at Sunderland and completed his time in two voyages of two two years. 
They bred them tough in those days...........


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## Lancastrian (Feb 8, 2006)

Was power really necessary to launch the lifeboats? If so it would seem unusual.


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## Mike S (Dec 27, 2005)

Not the first boats however I seem to recall that she might have had nested boats under some davits. Not sure about that at all however that could account for some problems. Maybe that was where the story came from. Other wise like you I agree........no power needed if they were single boats. The fog of time I am afraid.


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## Bill Fowler (Dec 25, 2009)

*Bill Fowler*

My late father, Francis William Fowler, was Chief Radio Officer aboard the Empire Windrush when it sank. He did not speak much of the event but that he stayed with the Captain and other crew to radio for help. I understand that although four crew were lost, there could have been much greater loss of life. He was later awarded the MBE which he believed was due to his actions in the sinking. He worked for the New Zealand Shipping Company, which was eventually taken over by P&O, for many years and retired in 1970. He passed on a number of photos taken of the ship on fire, which I assume he obtained from the rescuing ships or perhaps the NZS Co.


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## R58484956 (Apr 19, 2004)

Greetings Bill and a warm welcome to SN on your first interesting posting.
Merry christmas and a happy new year to you. Bon voyage.


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## jasonkeymer (Nov 23, 2011)

hi there my great uncle was the last ones on the ship he got the m.b.e for getting off all passagers. thats all i know but he`s still with us he is 85 now his name is lt.col g.r.dockerill.(retird) i think he mite be the captain not sure i could find out. all so there there is a book too ill fine that out to


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## Angie Jardine (Aug 21, 2013)

Hi - I am looking to contact any survivors of the sinking of the Empire Windrush in March 1954. I was 4 years old and remember it surprisingly well. 
I am in touch with another survivor - RN Capt. Michael Page (Ret’d) - who was 24 at the time and who took many of the famous photographs of the rescue and blazing ship which later appeared in the newspapers of the time.
We would like to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the sinking next March (2014) with a reunion and/or party and were hoping to find other survivors through this website.
Please reply to this post if you have any useful information. Many thanks, Angie.


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## jasonkeymer (Nov 23, 2011)

spoken to my great uncle and he said to contact the BBC and see if they still have, in their Archives, the live talk he gave about the Windrush on the Home Service at 8 p.m. on Monday 25th April 1957. The 15 minutes talk was called "On Fire at Sea". The 60th Anniversary might be a good time to resurrect it hope this helps. all so is it possable to see any of the photos that RN capt. michael page (ret`d) took as im very intresded as Geoffrey Dockerill got the M.B.E for saving the passegers on the ship. could i contact him direct 
regards
jason


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## Dartmouth Mariner (Jan 29, 2007)

Angie,
I know someone in Dartmouth who was on board Empire Windrush at the time of the fire. I have heard him give a talk on the subject. I will contact him over the next week to ask if he wants to tell you anything about the incident.


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## Stephen J. Card (Nov 5, 2006)

Dartmouth Mariner said:


> Angie,
> I know someone in Dartmouth who was on board Empire Windrush at the time of the fire. I have heard him give a talk on the subject. I will contact him over the next week to ask if he wants to tell you anything about the incident.


Dart.mouth Mariner,

I see you were a pilot... Dartmouth by any chance?

Was in Dartmouth just twice... arrived in 1988 on TOPSHAM and then sailed a year later... same ship... renamed ROYAL M. Perhaps you were my pilot?

As far as WINDRUSH is concerned.... read several accounts of teh five and whenever I sailed past Cape Caxine I used to think the disaster. I think the wreck is marked on the chart,

Stephen


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## Dartmouth Mariner (Jan 29, 2007)

Stephen,
Sorry but I was never a pilot in Dartmouth - just retired here 15 years ago. I spent 18 years piloting on the Forth before that.


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## heyhoe (Aug 19, 2013)

As Angie Jardine says I have photos and newspaper cuttings of the disaster
Am happy to share them. Michael Page


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## jasonkeymer (Nov 23, 2011)

*Windrush*



heyhoe said:


> As Angie Jardine says I have photos and newspaper cuttings of the disaster
> Am happy to share them. Michael Page


hi i would like to see the photos and newspaper cuttings of the disaster please as my great uncle was on that ship when the fire started and the last to come off it and got the M.B.E for getting the people off if before it went down. 
thank you
regards
jason


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