Indian City (2)

Comments from the forum - 1

A Tale of Two Indians. There could be no greater contrast, than the respective lives of Indian City 1 and Indian City 2.

Indian City 1, was laid down during the height of hostilities of WW1,in 1914. Built by W.Doxford & Son’s Pallion yard in Sunderland, she was launched on 4th November that year. She was then completed and fitted out, before being handed over to W.R.Reardon Smith and Sons, in early January 1915. On her maiden voyage, returning from Galveston, and barely 3 months old, she was torpedoed by U29 off the Scilly Isles, on 12th March 1915, staying afloat until the following day. Fortunately, there was no loss of life. U29, however, was sunk six days later.
Indian City 1 had the shortest life of any vessel owned by the company.

In stark contrast, Indian City 2, was built for the company, and remained with it until she was scrapped: the only vessel in the fleet to have this distinction. She made her final voyage in June 1935, just up the Bristol Channel, to Newport, where she was broken up.
She, too, was born in the North East, this time at the Ropner Yard, in Stockton. Laid down in 1919, she was launched on 22nd December that year --- one can imagine the celebrations that Xmas --- and handed over to Reardon Smith & Sons, in April 1920. Under the command of Captain Dan Davies, she set off on her maiden voyage, loading at Antwerp for the USEC.
With a gross tonnage of 6221, Indian City 2 was almost 1600 tons larger than her predecessor. However, in general outline, they appeared quite similar: in particular, despite their near vertical stems, they both displayed an attractive bow flare. Mike Jones. Posted on the forum 14 February 2011.

I'm sorry but to me there's no way that that's a "photograph" of the Indian 2 its just a stylised artistic impression...in my view everything's really wrong with it, from the style of the hull, the overall cleanliness, the name on the bow, the anchors, the smoke, the lifeboat, the sea and even to the size of the men on the open bridge compared to the scale of the ship, etc ad infinitum. Graham Mapplebeck. Posted on the forum 14 February 2011.

I wouldn't disagree with you. It was, however, commissioned by the company when the ship was built. Additionally, if you look at the only available photo of Indian City 1, in Heaton's, then you will see the point I made about the flare.
The photo is part of a collection that has come our way. Mike Jones. Posted on the forum 14 February 2011.


Disclaimer: The statements on this page are the views of the person who posted them on the forum. The events took place many years ago and in most cases rely on those people's memories, and so we cannot guarantee the accuracy although every effort is made to check it.

Indian City. Page [1]
Memories from RSL staff. Page No. [1]