SS ''Himalaya'' was a British

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

of the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

, launched in 1948, which operated mainly between Britain and Australia. She was withdrawn from service in 1974 and scrapped the next year.

History

''Himalaya'' was built at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

and launched 5 October 1948. She had an identical hull and machinery to the

Orient Line The Orient Steam Navigation Company, also known as the Orient Line, was a British shipping company with roots going back to the late 18th century. From the early 20th century onwards, an association began with P&O which became 51% shareholde ...

's '' Orcades'' (yard no. 950 to ''Himalayas 951), though differing in superstructure and internal layout. She began her service on the

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

route in 1949 following her departure from the shipbuilding yard in August. During her commission ''Himalaya'' underwent a number of improvements the first of which was, although controversial at the time, a funnel cowl to keep the liner's decks clear of debris without interference to the boilers.

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science-fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. He co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A Spac ...

completed his book, ''

The City and the Stars ''The City and the Stars'' is a science fiction novel by British writer Arthur C. Clarke, published in 1956. This novel is a complete rewrite of his earlier ''Against the Fall of Night'', Clarke's first novel, which had been published in '' Star ...

'', on board ''Himalaya'' during a voyage to Sydney between September 1954 and March 1955, as mentioned at the end of the book. In 1958 she pioneered a new South Pacific route for P&O, from Melbourne and Sydney to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

via

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

and

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. The following year she was routed from Los Angeles to

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, borde ...

and then onward to London. In the winter of 1959-60 she was given a major refit by the Rotterdam Drydock Co., which include the installation of full air conditioning. In 1963, following the sale of the Strath Class liners by P&O, ''Himalaya'', along with ''Orcades'', was converted to all tourist class and was often used on assisted immigrant sailings. SS_Himalaya_Final_Voyage

''Himalaya'' arrived at Hong Kong on 31 October 1974 on her final commercial voyage. She was sold to Tong Cheng Steel Manufacturing Co. Ltd, and scrapped in

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

, Taiwan, in 1975. ''Himalaya'' was in a background scene, while docked in Hong Kong, in an episode of the series I Spy Season: 01 Ep: 02. ''A Cup of Kindness.''

References

External links

photo gallery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Himalaya (1948) Ships of P&O (company) Steam turbine-powered ships Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1948 ships

History

See also

References

External links