This year marks the 50th anniversary of the retirement of one of Britain’s most notable yet largely unknown passenger vessels, British India Steam Navigation Company’s 1926-built Rajula. The Barclay, Curle & Co-built liner was sold to the Government of India for interim Andaman and Nicobar Islands service in 1973 and then passed on to Bombay breakers for demolition a year later, just short of her 48th birthday.
This author was fortunate to sail on the old ship from Madras, India to Penang, Malaysia in 1970, and the following is a nostalgic look back at that voyage, which departed Madras on 24 July and arrived at Penang six days later, the ship then continuing on to Singapore. Financially pressed because of an earlier trip in cabin class across the Indian Ocean from Mombasa to Bombay aboard the Shipping Corporation of India’s 1947-built State of Haryana (ex-Santhia; see SM, Oct 2022), I chose to travel in Diet Bunked Class aboard Rajula.
After having conditions aboard read out to me, and agreeing to certain terms, I was allotted Bunk 176 on C deck at a cost of 315 Rupees, about US$42, at the Binny & Co office in Madras, following a long train trip across India. Along with my issued ticket, I was given a meal punch card which stated ‘No meals will be issued without production of this ticket’ as well as a voucher for
