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British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company.


History

The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading partnership of the Scots William Mackinnon and Robert Mackenzie, to carry mail between
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...
and
Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
. It became British India SN Co in 1862. Under the hand of Lord Inchcape, who had become chairman in 1913, the company became part of the P&O group of companies in 1914 through a complex amalgamation, but continued with its own identity and organisation for another nearly 60 years until 1972, when it was entirely absorbed into P&O.


Fleet and routes

As one of the largest shipowners of all time, the company owned more than 500 ships and managed 150 more for other owners. At its height in 1922, BI had more than 160 ships in the fleet, many built on
Clydeside Greater Glasgow is an urban settlement in Scotland consisting of all localities which are physically attached to the city of Glasgow, forming with it a single contiguous urban area (or conurbation). It does not relate to municipal government ...
,
Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...
. The main shipping routes of the line were:
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
to
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
,
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
,
Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...
. The company ran services from India to
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
,
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
,
Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, Malaya,
Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...
,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
,
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
,
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
,
East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territories make up Eastern Africa: Due to the historica ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...
. BI had a long history of service to the British and Indian governments through trooping and other military contracts. In the last decade of its operational existence BI carried thousands of school children on educational cruises. was sunk in February 1917 by a torpedo from a German
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
off the coast of
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
with a substantial cargo of silver bullion. The cargo ship , carrying silver bullion,
pig iron Pig iron, also known as crude iron, is an intermediate product of the iron industry in the production of steel which is obtained by smelting iron ore in a blast furnace. Pig iron has a high carbon content, typically 3.8–4.7%, along with ...
and tea, which was sunk at great depth by the in February 1941 some southwest of
Galway Bay Galway Bay ( Irish: ''Loch Lurgain'' or ''Cuan na Gaillimhe'') is a bay on the west coast of Ireland, between County Galway in the province of Connacht to the north and the Burren in County Clare in the province of Munster to the south; Galw ...
, Ireland, carried the richest cargo of any sunken ship in world history. Some of the company's better known passenger ships included , , , , ''Leicestershire'', , the sister ships and , and and , and , which was sunk by a terrorist bomb in 1961. of 1956 was the final passenger ship built for BI. Serving as a
troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...
until redundant in 1962, ''Nevasa'' was assigned new duties with the BI educational
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
flotilla until 1974, when she became uneconomic due a four fold increase in crude oil prices and was scrapped in 1975 having earlier been joined in this trade by the more economic ''Uganda''. The highly popular ''Uganda'' was taken up ( STUFT) by the British
Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
in 1982 as a
hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. I ...
during the
Falklands war The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial ...
with
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest ...
. Returning to BI's tradition of government service again in 1983 – this time as a troopship – ''Uganda'' was "the last BI" when finally withdrawn in 1985. ''Dwarka'' holds the distinction of closing British-India's true "liner" services, when withdrawn from the company's
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
local trades in 1982, in her 35th year.


Company timeline


Rank badges of ship's complement

File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Commander.png, Commander File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Chief officer with superior certificate.png, Chief Officer
with superior certificate File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Chief officer with certificate.png, Chief Officer
with certificate of rank File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 2nd officer with superior certificate.png, Second Officer
with superior certificate File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 3rd officer with certificate of rank.png, Second Officer
with certificate of rank File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 3rd officer with certificate.png, Third Officer
with certificate of rank File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 4th officer with certificate.png, Fourth Officer
with certificate of rank File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 3rd & 4th officer without certificate.png, Third & Fourth Officer
without certificate File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Cadet.png, Cadet
File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Chief engineer officer.png, Chief Engineer Officer File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 2nd engineer officer with superior certificate.png, Second Engineer Officer
with superior certificate File:Placeholder-image.png, Second Engineer Officer
with certificate of rank File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 3rd engineer officer with certificate.png, Third Engineer Officer
with certificate File:Placeholder-image.png, Third Engineer Officer File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 4th engineer officer.png, Fourth Engineer Officer File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Junior engineer officer.png, Junior Engineer Officer
File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Senior electrician.png, Senior Electrician File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Second electrician.png, Second Electrician File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Junior electrician.png, Junior Electrician File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Senior purser.png, Senior Purser File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Purser.png, Purser File:Placeholder-image.png, Assistant Purser File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Chief steward.png, Chief Steward File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 2nd steward.png, Second Steward File:British India Steam Navigation Company - 3rd steward.png, Extra Second Steward File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Doctor.png, Doctor File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Nurse sister.png, Nursing Sister File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Matron.png, Matron File:British India Steam Navigation Company - Assistant matron.png, Assistant Matron Source: ''BIShip.''
2022-09-01.


References

* C. Michael Hogan. 2011
''SS Gairsoppa recovery''. Topic ed. P.Saundry. Ed.-in-chief C.J.Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. National Council for Science and the Environment, Washington DC


External links


BI Ship Site



Clydeside built BI ships
* Miller, William H., ''The Last Blue Water Liners'', Conway Press, London, 1986 - * Morton, Michael Quentin, "The British India Line in the Arabian Gulf, 1862-82", ''Liwa'' journal, December 2013, Vol. 5, No. 10, pp. 40–6

* {{Authority control Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Shipping companies of British India Shipping companies of Scotland Economic history of Myanmar History of Pakistan British companies established in 1856 1856 establishments in British India 1856 establishments in Scotland Scotland and the British Empire P&O (company)