EMPIRE WINDRUSH  1947
       
RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE                                                                                                                                                                                                                              THE OCEAN LINERS

 

Welcome to our S.S. Empire Windrush website celebrating this remarkable ship. She is famous as the ship that gave birth to today's modern multicultural Britain in 1948 when she brought the first wave of West Indian immigrants to Britain.

She was originally built in 1930 as the Monte Rosa for Hamburg Sud American Line (now known as Hamburg Sud). She was used for cruises as part of the Nazi "Strength Through Joy" programme. During the Second World War she performed a variety of roles including accommodation ship and troopship for the Germans.

In 1945 she was captured by British forces at Kiel and became a war prize and became a troopship as HMT Empire Windrush. Apart from her one famous voyage to the Caribbean in 1948 she mainly served on trooping voyages from Southampton to Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan. Sadly her career came to a tragic end after an engine room fire in 1954 in the Mediterranean. Efforts were made to tow her to Gibraltar but sadly she sank.
   

S.S. Empire Windrush

(1947 - 1954)

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The Ship that Gave Birth to Modern Multicultural Britain








As a symbol of the variety of different communities who have come to Britain and enriched Britain’s cultural life over the centuries, the Empire Windrush is unparalleled. The story of the S.S. Empire Windrush is a story of ambition, courage and hope. Her legacy and role in the birth of Multicultural Britain will live on forever.






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Her Regular Service Route: Germany to South America

Hamburg - Southampton - Vigo - Lisbon - Madeira - Las Palmas - Rio de Janiero - Santos - Montevideo - Buenos Aires

HAMBURG-SUDAMERIKANISCHE DAMPFSCHIFFFAHRTS-GESELLSCHAFT (HAMBURG SUD)

(HAMBURG-SOUTH AMERICA LINE)

Her Regular Service Route: England to the Far East

Southampton - Gibraltar - Suez - Aden - Colombo - Singapore - Hong Kong

THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT

NEW ZEALAND SHIPPING COMPANY

(c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2005                                                                                                                                                                                 A TRANSPORT BRITAIN WEBSITE