SS India (1896)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

SS India was a British ocean liner operated by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) from 1896 to 1915. It was the first of five sister ships for P&O—Persia, China, Egypt, and Arabia—and was the largest ship P&O had built at the time. Built by Caird & Co in Greenock, Scotland, it was launched on 15 April 1896 and entered service later that year, sailing between Britain, India, and Australia. In 1900, it became the first P&O ship to use Fremantle’s harbour facilities in Western Australia.

During World War I, India stayed in service for a while and even carried Admiral Doveton Sturdee back to England after the Battle of the Falklands. On 13 March 1915, the Admiralty hired her as an armed merchant cruiser for the Royal Navy, serving with the 10th Cruiser Squadron. On 8 August 1915, while stopping near Helligvær off Bodø, Norway to check a suspected blockade runner, India was torpedoed by the German submarine U-22 and sank. Of those on board, 160 died. The remaining 141 survived (22 officers and 119 men) and were taken to Narvik.