RMS Strathaird

The Vickers-Armstrong shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness built all five "Strath" class liners.[1] Strathaird was launched on 18 July 1931,[5] completed in January 1932,[1] and left Tilbury on her maiden voyage on 12 February 1932.[5]

In 1929, P&O had introduced its first large 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[1] and they were about 3 knots (5.6 km/h) faster than Viceroy of India.

Strathaird was very similar to Strathnaver. Each had four water-tube boilers and two auxiliary boilers.[1] The boilers had a combined heating surface of 56,000 square feet (5,203 m²) and supplied steam at 425 lb_f/in² to two turbo generators.[1] These supplied current to two electric motors with a combined rating of 6,315 NHP[1] or 28,000 shp.[7] British Thomson-Houston of Rugby, Warwickshire built the turbo-generators and motors.[1] The motors drove a pair of inward-rotating[7] screw propellers.[1] Like Strathnaver, Strathaird had three funnels but only the middle one served as a smoke stack: the first and third funnels were dummies.[2]

Strathaird and Strathnaver were each equipped with direction finding equipment, an echo sounding device and a gyrocompass[1] As built, Strathaird had accommodation for 498 first class and 668 tourist class passengers.[5]

Stern view of RMS Strathaird in her original form, leaving Hamilton on the Brisbane River

RMS Strathaird in Fremantle Harbour in about 1950, with only one funnel after her 1947 refit

Strathaird joined Strathnaver on the Tilbury — Brisbane route via the Suez Canal. However, in December 1932, Strathaird became the first P&O ship to work a cruise, when she took a five-day excursion from Sydney to Norfolk Island. Later in the 1930s, she made occasional cruises from UK ports.[2]

In 1939[5] or 1940,[7] the two sisters were requisitioned as troop ships. Strathaird made two convoy voyages taking troops from Australasia to the Middle East Theatre of the Second World War and then went to Liverpool for a refit. This was interrupted in June 1940 when Strathaird was ordered to take part in Operation Aerial to evacuate British and Allied personnel from western France. Strathaird evacuated 6,000 civilians and troops from the port of Brest.[5] In 1941, she supported the transfer of the first unit of Foresters from British Honduras (Belize) to Trinidad before transporting 114 Foresters to Greenock, Scotland. She remained a troop ship until the end of 1946 when she was returned to P&O.[5]

P&O had Vickers-Armstrong refit and overhaul Strathaird, starting in 1947 and completing work in January 1948. Her capacity for first class passengers was increased to 573 and her tourist class accommodation was reduced to 496.[5] This reduced her total passenger capacity from 1,166 to 1,069. Her dummy first and third funnels were removed,[5] which made Strathaird look more like her later sisters Stratheden, Strathallan and Strathmore.

In 1954, P&O had Strathaird refitted again.[5] First class was abolished and all accommodation was made tourist class, which increased total passenger capacity from 1,069 to 1,252.[5] Strathaird made her first departure from Tilbury in her new form on 8 April 1954.[5]

At the beginning of the 1960s, Strathnaver and Strathaird were almost three decades old and no longer reliable enough for mail and passenger service, so P&O replaced both ships with SS Canberra.[5] P&O sold Strathnaver and Strathaird for scrap to Shun Fung Ironworks of Hong Kong.[7][5] Strathaird left Tilbury on 17 June 1961 for Hong Kong, where she became the first of the "Strath" class liners to be scrapped.[5] Strathnaver followed her to the breakers in 1962.[7]

• Harnack, Edwin P (1938) [1903]. All About Ships & Shipping (7th ed.). London: Faber and Faber.
• Talbot-Booth, E.C. (1942) [1936]. Ships and the Sea (Seventh ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. Ltd.

• Media related to Strathaird (ship, 1932) at Wikimedia Commons