History
 



RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE                                                                                                                                                                                                                    M/S DOMINION MONARCH
 


The Dominion Monarch was a luxurious all first class passenger-cargo liner and the largest of her type ever built. At the time of her introduction she was also the most powerful motor liner in the world.


Design and Construction (1938 – 1939): 

At the time of her building, the QSMV (Quadruple Screw Motor Vessel) Dominion Monarch was the most powerful motor liner in the world and the largest ship operating full time on the Australasian trade. Shaw Savill already had a great deal of experience in operating all first class only passenger services and was able to assure their guests a unique luxury voyage. Dominion Monarch with 525 passengers, combined with her crew passenger ratio, offered a service that is unequalled to this day.

She was an unusual ship as her design was that of a large passenger-cargo liner, with a relatively small passenger complement considering her size. To this day, Dominion Monarch remains the largest (all first class) cargo passenger liner ever to be built.

Her keel was laid in July 1937 at the Swan Hunters Ltd, Wallsend on Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK. It was laid in the same berth that the RMS Mauretania had been built in back in 1906. The Dominion Monarch was launched at 3.30 p.m. on the 27th July 1938, by Lady Essendon, the wife of the Chairman of Furness Withy and Company Ltd. The Dominion Monarch was the largest ship built on the River Tyne since the famous RMS Mauretania in 1906. Late in January 1939, she had her sea trials off St Abbs Head, after which she was delivered to Shaw Savill.

On her voyages she would normally spent a month in London at the end of each voyage unloading and loading cargo at the Royal Albert Docks. On leaving London the first port of all was Southampton to pick up passengers. From there it was a voyage of 35 days to Wellington, New Zealand via Las Palmas (to bunker fuel), Cape Town, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney and then Wellington. Here she stayed another month unloading and loading cargo. She unloaded cargo at Aotea Quay and then moved to Glasgow Wharf for loading frozen cargo and picking up passengers for the return voyage, stopping at the same ports of call as outward.

The Prewar Shaw Savill Era (1939 – 1940):

On the 17th February 1939, in the command of Captain W. G. Summers (although another source states that Captain W. H. Hartman was in command), she commenced her seven week maiden voyage from the King George V Dock in London to Wellington New Zealand via Southampton, (where passengers boarded), Tenerife, Cape Town, Durban, Fremantle (arriving on the 11th March 1939, having set a new record for the ‘Cape’ route), Melbourne and Sydney. The service was promoted as “The Clipper Route,” with fares commencing with £58. Despite the fact that the Shaw Savill offices in London had received a call claiming that the IRA had placed a bomb on board timed to go off when the ship was on the equator, she made a fast passage to Durban, arriving on a Sunday with thousands of people to welcome her. The ship was opened to the public and because of the thousands of visitors her departure was delayed for 12 hours. In Australia she visited Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney and then in New Zealand she went to Auckland and Wellington and even made a short call at the roadstead off Napier, where she became the largest ship to have worked the port and visitors had to be hoisted on board.

On the 11th March 1939 she arrived at Fremantle and set a new record for the "Cape" route. On the 24th April 1939 she collided with the 746 ton crane Hikitia in Wellington. The next day on the 25th April 1939, she departed from Wellington for Sydney and her return leg to the UK. On the 3rd August she departed London on her next voyage. On the 3rd September 1939 she was berthed at Lyttelton when Great Britain and France declared war with Germany and the Second World War started. Her ship's company started painting her grey.

She was despatched to Sydney where she arrived on the 7th September 1939 was fitted with light armament and returned to the UK via the hazardous Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Upon arrival, the Dominion Monarch was she was laid up, as it was considered that she was far too luxurious to be used as a trooper. However it was decided that she should resume her Australasian service until August 1940. So the Dominion Monarch set out again for Australia and New Zealand. Few passengers embarked, mainly owing to the threat of attack by German submarines which were known to be lurking in British waters. However, the round voyage was relatively uneventful and she returned to Britain with a full capacity of vital foodstuffs and war supplies. During the course of this journey much of her passenger accommodation was used for additional cargo space; crates of fruit and vegetables were stored in her public rooms and large stacks of wool stowed on the games deck.

In May 1940 while on the return passage from Australia, whilst coming up the English Channel completely blacked out and at full speed, she collided with a small coaster which was part of a convoy. However the liner sustained only minor damage and continued onto London where she docked in early May 1940. She then returned to Sydney, loading a large cargo and embarking 100 Australian soldiers, who were part of a larger contingent that had already left Australia for England. These men were able to enjoy all the luxury of her first class accommodation on their passage which ended in Liverpool. 

The War Years (1940 – 1948):

In August 1940 the Dominion Monarch was requisitioned by the British Government. She was stripped of her fine fittings and was fitted out with 3,556 berths. She was painted grey and commenced her service as a troop ship. This work was done at Liverpool and she was refitted to carry 142 commissioned officers and 1,341 other ranks. When she sailed again it was for Suez, with a full complement of troops. On the 8th September 1940 she departed Liverpool in the evening with an Anti-Aircraft Regiment bound for Egypt. On the 19th October 1940 she arrived at Port Suez, Egypt after a 42 day voyage via Freetown, Sierre Leone and Cape Town. The troops were ferried ashore by lighter at Port Tewfik and she was ordered to proceed to Sydney via Colombo. By then decked out in wartime grey, she arrived in Sydney to undergo dry docking at Cockatoo Island, during which she received additional armaments and further work was carried out to adapt her troop accommodation to conform to Australian regulations. Once this was completed she crossed to Wellington where she loaded a full cargo and embarked 1,400 New Zealand troops. Sailing day was a big occasion with government dignatories attending and most of the people turning out to see the troops off. She returned to Sydney in company with the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Russia.

On the 28th December 1940 rough weather was experienced whilst steaming round to Fremantle from Sydney in convoy with the Queen Mary, Aquitania, Mauretania, Carmania, Awatea, HMAS Sydney, HMAS Canberra and HMNZS Leander. The Aquitania was the elder of the fleet so the convoy had to come down to her speed of 17 knots. The convoy sailed on via Trincomalee to Suez. At the entrance to the Red Sea the Dominion Monarch collided with an unknown small coaster off Perim, but once again she suffered only minor damage. After disembarking her troops, she went to Aden where she picked up about 300 Abyssinian refugees from the campaign in Eritrea and took them to Mombasa. All this time she was carrying huge quantities of frozen meat and dairy products which were much needed in the UK and so she was ordered back to Liverpool via Cape Town.

On the 23rd April 1941 the Dominion Monarch departed the UK carrying reinforcements for the Middle East as part of convoy WS8A (one of the Winston Specials). 10 large troopships were included in this convoy including the Empress of Asia and P&O's Strathaird. During the voyage to Freetown the Dominon Monarch had a collision with the Royal Mail Lines ship Highland Chieftain, on her starboard side. Fortunately the damage was not bad, but when the rest of the convoy went on to Suez, the Dominon Monarch had to put into Freetown for repairs to a hole in her shell plating, on her starboard side, amidships. From Cape Town, she went unescorted direct to Wellington and after embarking troops there she crossed the Pacific, passing through the Panama Canal and then continued to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. There a large group of airmen disembarked for training and their places were taken by trained airmen for the passage to Liverpool, which the Dominion Monarch made with Canadian Pacific's Empress of Asia. The next destination for both ships was to be Singapore, a voyage which would end in disaster for one ship and near disaster for the other.

On the 8th August 1941 the Dominion Monarch departed Cristobal in Panama with 1,200 troops on board. That December she arrived in Singapore, with troops and equipment that had been diverted from the Middle East. At that time, although the Imperial Japanese Army had advanced rapidly down the Malaya peninsular, it was thought that they would be held on a defensive line along the Slim River to the north of Kuala Lumpur. No-one imagined that they would be laying siege to Singapore by the end of that month, and so it was decided to dry dock the Dominion Monarch in Singapore. However, instead of holding the Japanese advance for weeks, the Slim River position was broken by the 7th January 1942 and by the end of January the British were forced to retreat to Singapore. Unfortunately the Dominion Monarch was lying disabled in dry dock, with her main engines dismantled. By this time air raids on Singapore and the docks were becoming intense and it was looking difficult for the Dominion Monarch. However, working under the Chief Engineer, the crew worked round the clock to quickly reassemble her engines and she managed to depart Singapore on the night of the 8th February 1942, on the eve of the Japanese invasion. As she left the city she sailed past the burning wreck of the Empress of Asia, the ship that had accompanyed her across the Atlantic. While the Empress of Asia had fallen, the Dominion Monarch managed just about to escape and flee the city in the last hours of the siege. Fortunately she made it to New Zealand and back home via the Panama Canal.

In March 1942 she was on the River Clyde having arrived from Cape Town on a convoy. On the 20th March 1942 she departed Liverpool with RAF 980 Squadron, the Barrage Balloon Squadron on board. They crossed the line (equator) on the 12th April 1942. On the 6th April 1942 they arrived in Bombay. On the 12th April 1942 she departed Freetown with troops from the Duchess of Atholl. On the 22nd April 1942 she arrived in Durban and transferred the troops to the Ile de France. On the 19th May 1942 some Japanese high flying dirigible balloons were observed from the Dominion Monarch. In July 1942 she departed from the UK bound for Durban in convoy with the Arkadia and the Rangitata, which had come from the Clyde with prisoners on board. The battleship HMS Warspite led the convoy and there were destroyers escorting it as well. In August 1942 the Dominion Monarch departed Halifax bound for Liverpool escorted by HMS Boadicea.

In January 1943 she departed England bound for India via Freetown, Cape Town and Durban in convoy with the Sibajak, Duchess of Richmond and Arundel Castle. By February 1943 they had reached Durban and set off bound for Aden and Bombay in a very large convoy of troopships escorted by HMS Jasmine among others. They arrived in Bombay in March 1943.

On the 18th October 1943 she was at sea again having departed Plymouth bound for Gibraltar in a convoy. On the 10th February 1944 the Dominion Monarch departed New York from Pier 57 carrying US troops to Europe for the build up to D-Day. They arrived in Liverpool on the 23rd February 1944. On the 23rd March 1944 she repeated the same voyage with more troops from New York to Europe. This convoy was a large one with ships of all types on their way to England. They arrived in Liverpool on the 4th April.

On the 1st July - 13th July 1944 the 284th Field Artillery Battalion were on board the Dominion Monarch at sea bound for Europe. This unit was part of General Patton's 3rd Army and supported the many infantry units in Northern France, the Rhine and for the invasion of southern Germany. By the 10th October 1944 she was once again departing New York bound for Liverpool.

The legendary Dominion Monarch had a most varied wartime career as a troopship. Apart from the thousands of Commonwealth troops bound for Europe and North Africa, she carried over 29,000 American and British military personnel to England, British reinforcements to India and Singapore, Axis prisoners of war to America and on one occasion 1,900 wounded servicemen from Cape Town to the UK and thus established many impressive statistics. She had carried more than 90,000 military personnel, over 70,000 tons of cargo (including 51,500 tons of butter, cheese and meat) between Australiasia and the UK, and during her heroic wartime exploits she travelled over 350,000 miles.

However despite the war being over,she still had wartime tasks to perform including repatriating troops and prisoners of war. On the 17th June 1945 she berthed at Darling Harbour, Sydney with Australian former prisoners of war from Germany. In 1945-46 she brought thousands of New Zealand troops home. Finally on the 21st July 1947 the Dominion Monarch arrived at London's King George V Dock, where she was released from Government duties. Soon afterwards she sailed to Swan Hunters on the Tyne to be completely refurbished. During the 15 month long refit her machinery was stripped out and completely overhauled and her luxurious accommodation was restored to its former glory with berths for 508 passengers.

The Postwar Shaw Savill Years (1948 – 1961): 

After being released from war duties the Dominion Monarch was returned to Shaw Savill in 1948, and after a refit she recommenced her regular duties. On the 16th December 1948 she returned to service carrying 2,000 tons of cargo for Australian ports and 8,000 tons for New Zealand. This cargo was valued at £1 million and it was a welcome addition for Britain's postwar export drive. She arrived in Southampton the next day and embarked 500 passengers bound for Australia and New Zealand. Thus she made a good start back on her prewar duties on the UK to Australia and New Zealand run via South Africa.

On the 5th May 1953 the Dominion Monarch once again returned to her builder's yard on the Tyne for an extensive refit. When the refit was completed she returned to London and resumed her usual service. She departed Newcastle on the 23rd May and arrived in London on the 16th November 1953.

In 1955 the Dominion Monarch was joined in the Shaw Savill fleet by the new Southern Cross. Soon the two ships inaugurated a round-the-world service to Wellington in alternate directions, calling at Trinidad, Curacao, Panama, Papeete, Suva and Wellington. On the return leg calls were made at Sydney, Melbounre, Fremantle, Durban, Cape Town and Las Palmas.

In 1958 Shaw Savill decided that they would replace the Dominon Monarch with a new ship similar to the Southern Cross, with accommodation for 1,412 passengers but no cargo. On the 29th May 1959 the British comedian, Spike Milligan, arrives in Sydney having travelled from the UK on board the Dominion Monarch.

Sadly, during the mid sixties the Australasian luxury passenger market was rapidly declining. All too often, the Dominion Monarch would depart with just a small complement of passengers, therefore the time came when Shaw Savill had to decide that this grand luxury liner had simply become uneconomic and had to be sold. Thus on the 30th December 1961, the Dominion Monarch departed London on her last voyage to Australia. Her farewell departures from New Zealand and Australian ports were sad occasions for many of her former passengers and for those who admired her. This was particularly so in the Dominion of New Zealand where, by virtue of her name, she had been adopted as "their" ship.

The Final Years (1961 – 1962):

After being retired from Shaw Savill service she was sold to the Mitsui Company of Japan for scrapping in March 1962, having been replaced by the short lived Northern Star. On the 15th March 1962 she departed Wellington for the final time. On the 21st April 1962 she disembarked her passengers after her final voyage from Australia and New Zealand.

The Dominion Monarch was leased from June to November 1962 as a hotel ship for the Seattle World Fair. She was moored at Pier 51, Elliot Bay. During her stay in Seattle she was opened to the public for organised tours and an official guide book was published. Towards the end of her Seattle stay, her funnels were repainted by her new owners, featuring a diamond shaped insignia and she was renamed Dominion Monarch Maru. There was interest from an American film company to buy her for use as a film prop so that they could blow her up and sink her like the Ile de France. However Shaw Savill stepped in and prohibited such an ignominious fate for the venerable Dominion Monarch. As a result the Dominion Monarch Maru departed Seattle with her dignity intact and sailed for Osaka where she arrived on November 25, 1962, where she was broken up. 

In 2001 a large and impressive shipbuilder's model of the Dominion Monarch was given to the National Maritime Museum in Auckland, New Zealand and is now installed in their Oceans Apart gallery as a fitting tribute to the legendary Dominion Monarch.

With the demise of the Dominion Monarch, the era of deluxe traditional sea travel ended. The Dominion Monarch was a truly graceful beauty and we shall never see a ship like her ever again. Long may her legacy endure.

 

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