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'{{Short description|Cruise ship}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}} {|{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image=HMT Empire Windrush FL9448.jpg |Ship caption=''Empire Windrush'' }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=[[Germany]] |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Weimar Republic|civil}} → {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|civil}} → {{shipboxflag|Nazi Germany|naval}} |Ship name= ''Monte Rosa'' (1930–1947) |Ship namesake=[[Monte Rosa]] |Ship owner=* {{lang|de|[[Hamburg Süd]]|italic=no}} (1930–40) * {{lang|de|[[Kriegsmarine]]}}| (1940–45) |Ship operator=* {{lang|de|Hamburg Süd|italic=no}} (1930–40) * {{lang|de|Kriegsmarine}} (1940–45) |Ship registry=Hamburg (1930–40) |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= [[Blohm & Voss]], Hamburg |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=492 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=13 December 1930 |Ship completed= |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage=28 March 1931–30 June 1931, Hamburg – South America – Hamburg |Ship in service= |Ship out of service=May 1945 |Ship identification=* German Official Number 1640 (1930–45) * Code Letters RHWF (1930–33) * {{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Whiskey}}{{ICS|Hotel|}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}} * Code Letters DIDU (1933–45) * {{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|India}}{{ICS|Delta}}{{ICS|Uniform}} |Ship fate= Seized by the United Kingdom as a [[war reparation]] |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=[[United Kingdom]] |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|government}} |Ship name=[[Troopship#Designation|HMT]] ''Empire Windrush'' |Ship owner=* [[Ministry of War Transport]] (1945–46) * Ministry of Transport (1945–54) |Ship operator=[[New Zealand Shipping Company]] |Ship registry=London |Ship namesake=[[River Windrush]] |Ship acquired=November 1945 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service=1947 |Ship out of service=30 March 1954 |Ship identification= |Ship fate=Sank after catching fire |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|13,882}} * {{NRT|7,788}} * {{DWT|8,530}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|500|ft|3|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|65|ft|7|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship depth={{convert|37|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=4 SCSA diesel engines (Blohm & Voss, Hamburg), double reduction geared driving two propellers |Ship speed={{convert|14.5|kn}} |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= }} |} {{British African-Caribbean community}} '''HMT ''Empire Windrush''''', originally '''MV ''Monte Rosa''''', was a passenger liner and [[cruising (maritime)|cruise ship]] launched in Germany in 1930. She was owned and operated by the German shipping line {{lang|de|[[Hamburg Süd]]|italic=no}} in the 1930s under the name ''Monte Rosa''. During [[World War II]] she was operated by the [[Kriegsmarine|German navy]] as a ohioship . At the end of the war, she was taken by the British Government as a [[prize of war]] and renamed the ''Empire Windrush''. In British service, she continued to be used as a troopship until March 1954, when the vessel caught fire and sank in the [[Mediterranean Sea]] with the loss of four crewmen. HMT stands for "His Majesty's Transport" and MV for "[[Motor Ship|Motor Vessel]]". In 1948, ''Empire Windrush'' brought a large group of [[British West Indies|West Indian]] immigrants to the United Kingdom, carrying 1,027 passengers and two [[stowaway]]s on a voyage from [[Jamaica]] to the [[Port of Tilbury]] near London.<ref name="BBCNews">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43808007 |title=Windrush: Who exactly was on board? |last1=Rodgers |first1=Lucy|author2=Maryam Ahmed |publisher=BBC News|date=27 April 2018 |website=[[BBC News]]|access-date=28 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="mead" /> 802 of these passengers gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean: of these, 693 intended to settle in the United Kingdom.<ref name="BBCNews" /> Additionally, the ship carried 66 Poles intending to settle in Britain.<ref name="culturepl">{{Cite web |title=The Windrush Poles: From Deportation to New Life |url=https://culture.pl/en/article/the-windrush-poles-from-deportation-to-new-life |access-date=2023-07-11 |website=Culture.pl |language=en}}</ref> ''Empire Windrush'' was not the first ship to carry a large group of West Indian people to the United Kingdom, as two other ships had arrived the previous year.<ref name="NationalArchives" /> But ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}hdjkweh filiwrrnhiwll uhirc in the period after World War II, including those who came on other ships, are sometimes referred to as the [[Windrush generation]]. ==Background and description== [[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 102-09086, Passagierschiff "Monte Cervantes".jpg|thumb|left| ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s sister ship, {{MV|Monte Cervantes||2}}, while in service with {{lang|de|Hamburg Süd|italic=no}}]] ''Empire Windrush'', under the name ''Monte Rosa'', was the last of five almost identical {{ill|Monte-class passenger ship|de|Monte-Klasse (1924)}}s that were built between 1924 and 1931 by [[Blohm + Voss|Blohm & Voss]] in [[Hamburg]] for {{lang|de|[[Hamburg Süd]]|italic=no}} (Hamburg South American Steam Shipping Company).<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> During the 1920s, Hamburg Süd believed there would be a lucrative business in carrying German emigrants to South America (''see [[German Argentine]]''). The first two ships (MV ''Monte Sarmiento'' and MV ''Monte Olivia'') were built for that purpose with single-class passenger accommodation of 1,150 in cabins and 1,350 in dormitories. In the event, the emigrant trade was less than expected and the two ships were repurposed as [[cruise ship]]s, operating in Northern European waters, the Mediterranean and around South America.<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> This proved to be a great success. Until then, cruise holidays had been the preserve of the rich. But by providing modestly priced cruises, Hamburg Süd was able to profitably cater to a large new clientele.<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> Another ship was commissioned to cater for the demand – the MV {{SS|Monte Cervantes||2}}, which struck an uncharted rock and sank after only two years in service. Despite this, Hamburg Süd remained confident in the design and quickly ordered two more ships, the MV {{MV|Monte Pascoal|1930|2}} and the MV ''Monte Rosa''.<ref name="Schwerdtner2013">{{cite book|first=Nils|last= Schwerdtner|title=German Luxury Ocean Liners: From Kaiser Willhelm to Aidastella|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2GoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT286|date=30 October 2013|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-1471-7|oclc= 832608271| pages=286–287}}</ref> ''Monte Rosa'' was {{convert|500|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}} long, with a beam of {{convert|65|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}}. She had a depth of {{convert|37|ft|9|in|m|2|abbr=on}}. The ship was assessed at {{GRT|13,882|disp=long}}, {{NRT|7,788|disp=long}}.<ref name=Rosa31>{{cite journal |title=Lloyd's Register, Navires a Vapeur et a Moteurs |journal=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |publisher=Lloyd's of London |location=London |year=1931 |access-date=22 June 2020 |url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0831.pdf}}</ref> ===Engines and machinery=== The five Monte-class vessels were [[diesel engine|diesel-powered]] [[motor ship]]s. At the time, the use of diesel engines was highly unusual in ships of this size, which would have been typically [[Steamship|steam-powered]]. The first two to be launched, ''Monte Sarmiento'' and ''Monte Olivia'', were in fact the first large diesel-powered passenger ships to see service with a German operator.<ref name="Prager1977">{{cite book |last=Prager |first=Hans Georg |title=Blohm & Voss: ships and machinery for the world |year=1977 |translator-last=Bishop |translator-first=Frederick |publisher=Herford |page=126 |oclc=32801123 |isbn=3782201388 }}</ref> The use of diesel engines reflected the experience Blohm & Voss had gained by building diesel-powered [[U-boat]]s during [[World War I]].<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> [[File:Monte Cervantes 02 Engine room.jpg|thumb|right|The engine room of ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s sister ship, ''Monte Cervantes'' (1928)]] Windrush carried four oil-burning four-stroke single-acting [[MAN SE|MAN]] diesel engines with a combined output of {{convert|6880|hp|kW}}. They were single-reduction geared in pairs to two propellers. The ships' top speed was {{convert|14|kn|lk=in}} (around half the speed of the large trans-Atlantic Ocean liners of the era), but this was considered adequate for both the immigrant and cruise business.<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> Electrical power was initially provided by three 350 kW DC [[electric generators]], powered by internal combustion engines and installed in the engine room; a fourth generator was added in 1949. There was also an emergency generator outside the engine room. The ship also carried two [[Scotch marine boiler]]s to produce high-pressure steam for some auxiliary machinery. These could be heated either by burning diesel fuel or by using the hot exhaust gases from the main engines.<ref name=inquiry-report /> ==Naming== The Monte-class ships were named after mountains in Europe or South America. ''Monte Rosa'' was named after [[Monte Rosa]], a mountain [[massif]] located on the Swiss-Italian border and the second-highest mountain in the Alps.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} The ship was renamed in British service. Merchant ships in service with the United Kingdom Government during and after World War II had names prefixed with the word "Empire". These vessels were known as [[Empire ship]]s and numbered around 1,300. ''Windrush'' was one of around sixty empire ships that were named after British rivers.<ref group="Note">Adur, Arun, [[SS Pompeji|Blackwater]], Bure, Calder, [[RFA Maine (1924)|Clyde]], [[SS Katong|Colne]], Crouch, [[MV Krasnodar (1925)|Dart]], Dee, [[SS Stakesby (1930)|Derwent]], [[SS Noemijulia|Don]], Chelmer, Cherwell, [[SS Kirovograd|Dovey]], [[SS Talthybius (1911)|Evenlode]], Exe, [[SS Talthybius (1911)|Fal]], Frome, Hamble, Humber, Kennet, Lune, Nene, Nidd, Orwell, Ouse, Otter, Ribble, Roden, Roding, Rother, Severn, Soar, [[SS Blairspey|Spey]], Stour, Swale, Taff, Tamar, Taw, Tern, Teviot, Thames, Torridge, Trent, Tweed, Tyne, Usk, Wandle, Wansbeck, Waveney, Weaver, Welland, Wensum, Wey, Wharfe, Windrush, Witham, Wye, Yare.</ref> ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s namesake, the [[River Windrush]] is a small tributary of the [[Thames]], that flows through the [[Cotswolds]] towards [[Oxford]].{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} The ship's [[ship prefix|designation prefix]] was also changed, from "MV" (Motor Vessel) to "[[Troopship#Designation|HMT]]". This was used for British troopships and could stand for "His Majesty's Troopship", "His Majesty's Transport"<ref name="Edwards2015">{{cite book|first=Paul M. |last=Edwards|title=Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8DJzBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA32|date=28 January 2015|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-2134-0|pages=32–}}</ref><ref name="Mace2014">{{cite book|first=Martin |last=Mace|title=The Royal Navy and the War at Sea 1914-1919|date=28 November 2014|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-4738-4645-6|pages=189–}}</ref> or "Hired Military Transport".<ref name="Smith2014">{{cite book|first=Malcolm|last= Smith|title=The Royal Naval Air Service During the Great War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uf5sBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA211|date=28 July 2014|publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78346-383-1|pages=211–}}</ref><ref group="Note">[[Naval trawler]]s in service with the Royal Navy also used the prefix HMT, in this case meaning ''His/Her Majesty's Trawler''.</ref> Some official documents, such as the enquiry report into the ship's loss, used "MV ''Empire Windrush''" instead of "HMT".<ref name=inquiry-report /> Official Numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats have sometimes changed over time. National Official Numbers are different from [[IMO ship identification number|IMO Numbers]]. Flag states still use national systems, which also cover those vessels not subject to the IMO regulations. ''Monte Rosa'' had the German Official Number 1640. She used the [[maritime call sign]] RHWF until 1933<ref name=Monte>{{cite web|url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/31/31b0831.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register: Navires à Vapeur et à Moteurs (RHWF) |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data |access-date=2 May 2009 }}</ref> and then DIDU until 1945.<ref name=Rosa>{{cite web |url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/34/34b0581.pdf |title=Lloyd's Register: Navires à Vapeur et à Moteurs (DIDU) |publisher=Plimsoll Ship Data|access-date=2 May 2009}}</ref> When the ship sank in 1954 she had the British Official Number 181561.<ref name=inquiry-report /> ==Early history== ''Monte Rosa'' was [[Ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 13 December 1930<ref name="Arnott2019">{{cite book|first=Paul|last= Arnott|title=Windrush: A Ship Through Time|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h-V1DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT174|date=17 June 2019|publisher=History Press|isbn=978-0-7509-9120-9|pages=174–}}</ref> and was delivered in early 1931 to Hamburg Süd. After [[sea trial]]s, she departed from Hamburg on her first voyage to South America on 28 March, arriving back on 22 June.<ref name="Arnott2019" /> ''Monte Rosa''{{'}}s entry into service came just as the [[Great Depression]] was causing a serious downturn in Hamburg Süd's cruise business. It was not until 1933 that this picked up again, when the older ships, ''Monte Sarmiento'' and ''Monte Olivia'' reverted to their original role of carrying migrants to South America while ''Monte Pascoal'' and ''Monte Rosa'' were used for cruises, to Norway and the United Kingdom;<ref name="Schwerdtner2013" /> ''Monte Rosa'' also continued to carry immigrants to South America, making more than 20 return-trips before the outbreak of World War II.<ref name="Arnott2019" /> After the [[Nazi Party|Nazi]] regime came to power in Germany in 1933, the ship was used by the party to help spread its ideology. In 1937, she and ''Monte Olivia'', and ''Monte Sarmiento'' were [[Chartering (shipping)|chartered]] to provided cruise holidays for the state-owned {{lang|de|[[Kraft durch Freude]]}} ('Strength through Joy') programme.<ref>Schön (2000), p.34</ref> This provided concerts, lectures, sports activities and cheap holidays as a means of strengthening support for the Nazi regime and indoctrinating people in its ideology.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Nazism and the common man: essays in German history (1929-1939) |date=1981 |publisher=University Press of America |isbn=978-0-8191-1546-1 |editor-last=Mitchell |editor-first=Otis C. |edition=2nd |location=Washington, D.C |chapter=Karl H. Heller -- Strength through joy : regimented leisure in Nazi German}}</ref> When visiting South America, the ship was used to spread Nazi ideology among the German-speaking community there. When in port in Argentina, she hosted Nazi rallies for [[German Argentines|German-Argentine]] people. In 1933, the new German ambassador, {{ill|Baron Edmond von Thermann|de|Edmund von Thermann}}, arrived in Argentina on the ''Monte Rosa''. He disembarked in front of an enthusiastic crowd wearing an [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] uniform; he would spend his time in office actively proselytising Nazi ideology.<ref name="Arnott2019" /> The ship was also used as a venue for Nazi gatherings when docked in London.<ref name="BarnesBarnes2005">{{cite book|author1=James J. Barnes|author2=Patience P. Barnes|title=Nazis in Pre-war London, 1930-1939: The Fate and Role of German Party Members and British Sympathizers|year=2005|publisher=Sussex Academic Press|isbn=978-1-84519-053-8|page=22}}</ref> ''Monte Rosa'' ran aground off [[Thorshavn]], [[Faroe Islands]], on 23 July 1934,<ref name=Times230734a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=German liner aground |date=23 July 1934 |page=14 |issue=46814 |column=F }}</ref> but was refloated the next day.<ref name=Times240734a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=German liner refloated |date=24 July 1934 |page=11 |issue=46815 |column=B }}</ref> In 1936, the ship made a rendezvous at sea with the airship ''[[LZ 127 Graf Zeppelin]]''. During the manoeuvre, a bottle of champagne was hoisted from the ''Monte Rosa'' to the airship.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/HIOEK67OHQ6BE37KFZZWIF2OJHE4N6ZQ |title=D-LZ 129 "Graf Zeppelin" – Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek |website=www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de |language=de |access-date=26 December 2019 |archive-date=15 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215004037/https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/HIOEK67OHQ6BE37KFZZWIF2OJHE4N6ZQ |url-status=dead }}</ref> ==German World War II service== At the start of World War II, ''Monte Rosa'' was allocated for military use. She was used as a barracks ship at [[Stettin]], then as a troopship for the [[Operation Weserübung|invasion of Norway]] in April 1940. She was later used as an accommodation and recreational ship attached to the [[battleship]] {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz||2}}, stationed in the north of Norway, from where ''Tirpitz'' and her flotilla attacked the [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Allied convoys en route to Russia]]. In November 1942, she was one of several ships used for the [[Jewish deportees from Norway during World War II|deportation of Norwegian Jewish people]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ushmm.org/learn/timeline-of-events/1942-1945/roundups-of-norwegian-jews |title=Roundups of Norwegian Jews — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |website=www.ushmm.org |language=en |access-date=5 November 2018}}</ref> The ship made two trips from [[Oslo]] to Denmark on the 19th and the 26th of November,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/921987565 |title=Women in war : examples from Norway and beyond |publisher=Ashgate Publishing Limited |year=2015 |isbn=978-1-4724-4518-6 |location=Farnham, Surrey |pages=40 |oclc=921987565}}</ref> carrying a total of 46 people. They included the Polish-Norwegian businessman and humanitarian [[Moritz Rabinowitz]]. Of the 46, all but two were murdered at [[Auschwitz concentration camp]].<ref name=Ottosen>{{cite book |last= Ottosen |first= Kristian |author-link= Kristian Ottosen |title= I slik en natt; historien om deportasjonen av jøder fra Norge |year= 1994 |publisher= Aschehoug |location= Oslo |language= no|isbn= 82-03-26049-7 |pages= 334–360 |chapter= Vedlegg 1 }}</ref><ref name=regjeringen>{{Cite book |title=Inndragning av jødisk eiendom i Norge under den 2. verdenskrig |date=June 1997 |url=http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/jd/dok/NOUer/1997/NOU-1997-22.html?id=141043 |access-date=16 January 2008 |series= Norges offentlige utredninger |publisher=Statens forvaltningstjeneste |location=Oslo |language=no|isbn= 82-583-0437-2 |id=NOU 1997:22 ("Skarpnesutvalget") }}</ref> In September 1943, the ship was to be used for the deportation of Danish Jewish people. The German chief of sea transport at [[Aarhus]] in Denmark, together with ''Monte Rosa''{{'}}s captain, {{ill|Heinrich Bertram (captain)|de|Heinrich Bertram (Kapitän)}}, conspired to prevent this by falsely reporting serious engine trouble to the German High Command. This action may have contributed to the [[rescue of the Danish Jews]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Werner |first=Emmy E. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/824698950 |title=A conspiracy of decency : the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II |date=2005 |publisher=Westview |isbn=978-0-7867-4669-9 |location=Boulder, Colo. |oclc=824698950}}</ref> In September 1943, the ''Tirpitz'' was badly damaged by British {{sclass2|X|submarine}}s at [[Altafjord]] in Norway, during [[Operation Source]]. The Germans were unwilling to risk moving the ship to a German dockyard for repair, so in October ''Monte Rosa'' was used to carry hundreds of civilian workers and engineers to Altafjord where they would repair the ''Tirpitz'' in situ.<ref name="Arnott11">Arnott (2019), ''Ch.11''</ref> During this time, ''Monte Rosa'' was docked alongside the battleship to act as accommodation for the workers.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Konstam |first=Angus |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1057664849 |title=Sink the Tirpitz 1942-44 : the RAF and Fleet Air Arm Duel with Germany's Mighty Battleship. |date=2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing Plc |isbn=978-1-4728-3158-3 |location=London |pages=51 |oclc=1057664849}}</ref> ===Air attack=== [[File:Royal Air Force Coastal Command, 1939-1945. CH9765.jpg|thumb|right|A torpedo-equipped Bristol Beaufighter of 144 Squadron, an aircraft of the type the squadron used to attack ''Monte Rosa'' on 30 March 1944]] During the winter of 1943–1944, ''Monte Rosa'' continued to shuttle between Norway and Germany.<ref name="Arnott11" /> On 30 March 1944, she was attacked by British and Canadian [[Bristol Beaufighter]]s. The strike was mounted for the explicit purpose of sinking her after a reconnaissance aircraft from [[No. 333 Squadron RNoAF|333 (Norwegian) Squadron]] had obtained details of the ship's movements.<ref name="RCAF" /><ref name="Hendrie-1997" /> The ship was travelling south, escorted by two [[Vorpostenboot|flak ships]], a [[destroyer]] and by German fighters.<ref name="RCAF">{{Cite book |title=The Official history of the Royal Canadian Air Force. |date=1980 |publisher=University of Toronto Press in co-operation with the Dept. of National Defence and the Canadian Govt. Pub. Centre, Supply and Services Canada |isbn=0802023797 |volume=3 |location=Toronto |oclc=7596341|pages=458–459}}</ref> The attacking force consisted of nine aircraft from [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[No. 144 Squadron RAF|144 Squadron]], five of which carried torpedoes; and nine aircraft from [[Royal Canadian Air Force]] (RCAF) [[No. 404 Squadron RAF|404 Squadron]], all armed with armour-piercing [[RP-3|RP-3 rockets]].<ref name="Hendrie-1997">{{Cite book |last=Hendrie |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38126149 |title=Canadian squadrons in Coastal Command |date=1997 |publisher=Vanwell |isbn=1-55125-038-1 |location=St. Catharines, Ont. |pages=154–157 |oclc=38126149}}</ref> The attack took place close to the Norwegian island of [[Utsira (island)|Utsira]].<ref name="Hendrie-1997" /> The RCAF and RAF crews claimed two torpedo hits on Monte Rosa; the ship was also struck by eight rockets and by cannon fire.<ref name="Grove2002">{{cite book|first=Eric|last= Grove|title=German Capital Ships and Raiders in World War II: From Scharnhorst to Tirpitz, 1942–1944|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ksn8tNpp0IC&pg=RA2-PA38|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7146-5283-2|page=27}}</ref><ref name="RCAF" /> One German [[Messerschmitt Bf 110]] fighter was shot down and two 404 Squadron Beaufighters were lost. The two crew of one aircraft were killed; the crew of the other (one of whom was the squadron commanding officer) survived to become prisoners of war.<ref name="Hendrie-1997" /><ref name="RCAF" /><ref name="Times-1944-04-01">{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Liner Torpedoed off Norway |date=1 April 1944 |page=4 |issue=49820}}</ref> Despite her damage, ''Monte Rosa'' was able to reach [[Aarhus]] in Denmark on 3 April.<ref name="RCAF" /> ===Sabotage attack=== In June 1944, [[Max Manus]] and [[Gregers Gram]], members of [[Norwegian Independent Company 1]] (a British Army sabotage and resistance unit composed of Norwegians), attached [[limpet mine]]s to ''Monte Rosa''{{'}}s hull while the ship was in Oslo harbour. They had learned the ship was to carry 3,000 German troops back to Germany and their purpose was to sink her during the trip.<ref name="O'Connor2016">{{cite book |first=Bernard |last=O'Connor |title=Sabotage in Norway |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FmcNBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 |date=29 June 2016 |publisher=Lulu.com |isbn=978-1-291-38022-4 |page=201 }}{{self-published source|date=June 2020}}</ref> The pair had twice bluffed their way into the dock area by posing as electricians, then hid for three days as they waited for the ship to arrive. After it docked, they paddled out to her from their hiding place on an inflatable rubber boat and attached their mines.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/31671/max-manus-leader-of-the-norwegian-resistance/ |title=Max Manus – leader of the Norwegian Resistance movement |website=Look and Learn|date=12 May 1973}}</ref> The mines detonated when the ship was near [[Øresund]], damaging the hull; she remained afloat and returned to harbour under her own power.<ref name="Tillotson2012">{{cite book|first=Michael |last=Tillotson|title=SOE and The Resistance: As Told in The Times Obituaries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OcZZgoOsSnUC&pg=PA62|date=5 January 2012|publisher=Bloomsbury|isbn=978-1-4411-1971-1|page=62}}</ref> ===Later wartime service=== In September 1944, the vessel was damaged by another explosion, possibly from a mine. {{ill|Odd Claus|no|Odd Claus}}, a Norwegian boy with German parents who was being forcibly taken to Germany, was one of those on board when this happened. In his 2008 memoirs, he wrote that as well as German troops, the vessel was carrying Norwegian women with young children, who were being taken to Germany as part of the {{lang|de|[[Lebensborn]]}} programme. He notes the explosion happened at 5&nbsp;am, and states that around 200 on board were trapped and drowned as the ship's captain closed the watertight bulkhead doors to control flooding and stop the ship from sinking.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Vitne til krig: en norsk gutts opplevelser i Tyskland 1944–1946 | trans-title=Witness to war a Norwegian boy's experiences in Germany |last=Claus |first=Odd |date=2008 |publisher=Cappelen Damm |isbn=9788204142894 |location=Oslo |language=no |oclc=313646489}}</ref> On 16 February 1945, ''Monte Rosa'' was damaged by a mine explosion near the [[Hel Peninsula]] in the Baltic, With a flooded engine room, the ship was towed to the German-occupied Polish port of [[Gdynia]] for temporary repairs. The ship was then towed to Copenhagen, carrying 5,000 German refugees who were fleeing from the advancing [[Red Army]]. She was taken to [[Kiel]] and on 10 May 1945 was captured there by British forces.<ref name="Miller2012">{{cite book|first=William H. Jr. |last=Miller|title=Doomed Ships: Great Ocean Liner Disasters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HvrBAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT119|date=29 June 2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-14163-3|pages=119–}}</ref><ref name="Schön-55" /> ==Postwar British service== Over the summer of 1945, ''Monte Rosa''{{'}}s wartime damage was repaired in a Danish dockyard. On the 18 November 1945, ownership was transferred to the United Kingdom as a [[prize of war]].<ref name="Schön-55">Schön (2000), p.55</ref> In 1947, ''Monte Rosa'' was assigned to the British [[Department for Transport|Ministry of Transport]] and [[Ship registration|registered]] as a British vessel.<ref name=inquiry-report /> By this time, she was the only survivor of the five Monte-class ships. ''Monte Cervantes'' sank near [[Tierra del Fuego]] in 1930. Two ships were sunk in [[Kiel]] harbour by separate wartime air-raids, ''Monte Sarmiento'' in February 1942 and ''Monte Olivia'' in April 1945.<ref name="Schwerdtner2013-288" /> ''Monte Pascoal'' was damaged by an air-raid on [[Wilhelmshaven]] in February 1944; in 1946 she was filled with [[Chemical weapon|chemical bombs]] and scuttled by the British in the [[Skagerrak]].<ref name="Arnott2019" /><ref name="Schwerdtner2013-288">{{cite book|first=Nils |last=Schwerdtner|title=German Luxury Ocean Liners: From Kaiser Willhelm to Aidastella|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d2GoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT286|date=30 October 2013|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-1471-7|page=288}}</ref> ''Monte Rosa'' was renamed HMT ''Empire Windrush'' on 21 January 1947, for use on the [[Southampton]]–[[Gibraltar]]–[[Suez]]–[[Colony of Aden|Aden]]–[[Colombo]]–[[Colony of Singapore|Singapore]]–[[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]] route, with voyages extended to [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]] in Japan after the start of the [[Korean War]]. The vessel was operated for the British Government by the [[New Zealand Shipping Company]],<ref name=inquiry-report /><ref name="Clarkson-1995">{{Cite book |last=Clarkson |first=John |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/35599714 |title=New Zealand and Federal lines |date=1995 |publisher=J. & M. Clarkson |isbn=0-9521179-5-9 |location=Preston, U.K. |pages=55 |oclc=35599714}}</ref> and made one voyage only to the Caribbean before resuming normal trooping voyages.{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} ===West Indian immigrants=== {{main|Windrush generation}} [[File:Newspaper advert for passengers to sail on Empire Windrush.jpg|thumb|right|Advert for passage on ''Empire Windrush'' from [[Kingston Harbour|Kingston]], Jamaica, to the UK (''[[The Gleaner (newspaper)|The Daily Gleaner]]'', 15 April 1948)]] In 1948, ''Empire Windrush'', which was en route from Australia to Britain via the Atlantic, docked in [[Kingston Harbour]], Jamaica, to pick up servicemen who were on leave. The [[British Nationality Act 1948]], giving the status of [[citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies|citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies]] (CUKC status) to all British subjects connected with the United Kingdom or a British colony, was going through parliament, and some Caribbean migrants decided to embark "ahead of the game". Prior to 1962, the UK had no immigration control for CUKCs, who could settle indefinitely in the UK without restrictions.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}} The ship was far from full, and so an opportunistic advertisement was placed in a Jamaican newspaper, ''[[The Gleaner (newspaper)|The Daily Gleaner]]'', offering cheap transport on the ship for anybody who wanted to travel to the UK. Many former servicemen took this opportunity to return to Britain with the hopes of finding better employment, including, in some cases, rejoining the RAF; others decided to make the journey just to see what the "mother country" was like.<ref name="Phillips1998">{{cite book |last1=Phillips |first1=Mike |author-link=Mike Phillips (writer)|author2=[[Trevor Phillips]]|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|date=1998|title=Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain |isbn=978-0-00-653039-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/arrival_01.shtml |title=Windrush - Arrivals|date=2001 |website=BBC History. The Making of Modern Britain |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 May 2018}}</ref> One passenger later recalled that demand for tickets far exceeded the supply, and that there was a long queue to obtain one.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/22/a-windrush-passenger-70-years-on-i-have-no-regrets-about-anything |title=A Windrush passenger 70 years on: 'I have no regrets about anything' |last=Gentleman |first=Amelia |date=22 June 2018 |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=22 June 2018 |language=en |quote=There were more people who wanted to travel than places available. "There was a long queue, lots of people hustling and bustling to get tickets, offering to pay more – but my name was on the list," said Gardner, now 92.}}</ref> ====Passengers on board==== A commonly given figure for the number of [[West Indian]] immigrants on board the ''Empire Windrush'' is 492,<ref name="mead" /><ref name="ECBC" /><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/months-past/arrival-ss-empire-windrush|title=Arrival of SS Empire Windrush|first=Richard|last=Cavendish|magazine=History Today|volume=48|issue=6|date=June 1998|access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> based understandably on news reports in the media at the time, which variously announced that "more than 400", "430" or "500" Jamaican men had arrived in Britain.<ref name="Pathe1">{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishpathe.com/video/pathe-reporter-meets |title=Pathe Reporter Meets |date=24 June 1948 |website=www.britishpathe.com |language=en-GB |access-date=27 April 2018}}</ref><ref name="Pathe2">[https://www.britishpathe.com/video/VLVA5SCTVWYR70THHJ8JXYZCF6T37-EMPIRE-WINDRUSH-SHIP-ARRIVES-IN-UK-CARRYING-JAMAICAN-IMMIGRANTS/ 'Empire Windrush' Ship Arrives In Uk Carrying… 1948]. British Pathé, 24 June 1948.</ref><ref>"500 Hope To Start a New Life Today", ''[[Daily Express]]'', 21 June 1948. Cited in Phillips and Phillips (1998), ''Windrush: The Irresistible Rise of Multi-Racial Britain''.</ref> However, the ship's records, kept in the [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|United Kingdom National Archives]], indicate conclusively that 802 passengers gave their last place of residence as a country in the Caribbean.<ref name="BBCNews" /> A small number of the Caribbean people on board were [[Indo-Caribbeans]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-06-23 |title=It's time to tell the stories of Windrush's Indo-Caribbean passengers |language=en |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/windrush-day-indo-caribbean-britain-b1869704.html |access-date=2023-06-28}}</ref> Among West Indian passengers was Jamaican-born [[Sam Beaver King]], who was travelling to the UK to rejoin the RAF. He would later help found the [[Notting Hill Carnival]] and become the first black [[Mayor of Southwark]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36566990 | title=Sam King: Notting Hill Carnival founder and first black Southwark mayor dies | work=BBC News | date=18 June 2016 | access-date=28 June 2016}}</ref> There were also the [[Calypso music|calypso]] musicians [[Lord Kitchener (calypsonian)|Lord Kitchener]], [[Lord Beginner]] and [[Lord Woodbine]], as well as Trinidadian singer [[Mona Baptiste]], one of the few women on the ship, who had travelled first class.<ref>Cobbinah, Angela (11 October 2018), [http://camdennewjournal.com/article/monas-musical-journey-after-windrush "Mona’s musical journey after Windrush"], ''[[Camden New Journal]]''.</ref> Jamaican artist and [[Pottery|master potter]] [[Cecil Baugh]] was also among the passengers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cumper |first=Pat |date=1975 |title=Cecil Baugh, Master Potter |url=https://www.dloc.com/UF00090030/00027/images/19 |journal=Jamaica Journal |volume=9 |issue=2 & 3 |pages=18–27 |via=[[Digital Library of the Caribbean]]}}</ref> The ship also carried 66 people whose last country of residence was Mexico – they were a group of Polish people who had been detained and transported to Siberia by the Soviets after the [[Soviet invasion of Poland]] in 1939, but had escaped and made their way to Mexico via India and the Pacific. Around 1,400 had been living at a refugee camp at Santa Rosa near [[León, Guanajuato]] since 1943.<ref name="culturepl" /> All but one of the Polish group were women and children;<ref name="culturepl" /> they had been granted permission to settle in the United Kingdom under the terms of the [[Polish Resettlement Act 1947]],<ref name="BBCNews" /><ref name="mead">{{Cite journal |last=Mead |first=Matthew |date=17 October 2017 |title=Empire Windrush: Cultural Memory and Archival Disturbance |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1572362/ |journal=MoveableType |volume=3 |doi=10.14324/111.1755-4527.027 |issn=1755-4527|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Raca-2018">{{Cite news |last=Raca |first=Jane |date=2018-06-22 |title=The other Windrush generation: Poles reunited after fleeing Soviet camps |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jun/22/the-other-windrush-generation-poles-reunited-after-fleeing-soviet-camps |access-date=2023-02-02}}</ref><ref name="BritishFuture">{{cite web |date=27 March 2015 |url=http://www.britishfuture.org/articles/windrush-poles/ |title=Who Were the Windrush Poles? |work=British Future |access-date=3 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.multicultural-matters.com/polish_community.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108055002/http://www.multicultural-matters.com/polish_community.htm |archive-date=8 January 2010 |title=Polish Community Focus |date=8 January 2010 |access-date=17 May 2015}}</ref> and the ''Empire Windrush'' had called at [[Tampico, Mexico]] to pick them up.<ref name="BBCNews" /> One of them later recalled they were accommodated in cabins below the waterline, only allowed on-deck in escorted groups and were kept segregated from the other passengers.<ref name="Raca-2018" /> Of the other passengers, 119 were from Britain and 40 from other parts of the world.<ref name="BBCNews" /> The non-Caribbean people on the ship included serving RAF officer, Sierra Leonean [[John Henry Clavell Smythe]], acting as a welfare-officer; he would go on to become Attorney General of [[Sierra Leone]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Windrush Team |title=The forgotten history of the Windrush |website= Windrush Day 2020 |url=https://www.windrushday.org.uk/news/the-forgotten-history-of-the-windrush/ |date=June 5, 2019|access-date=2021-02-08 |language=en-US}}</ref> Another passenger was [[Nancy Cunard]], English writer and heiress to the [[Cunard]] shipping fortune, who was on her way back from [[Trinidad]].<ref name="Kynaston2007" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=Stanley |first=Jo |date=2018-06-21 |title=The non-conformist heiress who sailed on the Windrush |language=en |work=The Morning Star |url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/the-non-conformist-heiress-who-sailed-on-the-windrush |access-date=2021-02-20}}</ref> One of the stowaways was a woman called as Evelyn Wauchope, a 39-year-old dressmaker.<ref name="NatArchives" /><ref name="Gleaner">[https://newspaperarchive.com/kingston-gleaner-aug-05-1948-p-8/ "First Girl Stowaway"]. Letter in ''[[Gleaner Company|The Daily Gleaner]]'', Thursday 5 August 1948, p. 8.</ref> She was discovered seven days out of Kingston. A whip-round was organised on board ship, raising £50 – enough for the fare and £4 pocket money for her.<ref name="Kynaston2007">Kynaston (2007), p. 276.</ref>{{refn|group=Note|Wauchope got married in Britain in 1952. In 1954, she and her husband moved to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-07-07 |title=What became of the Windrush stowaway, Evelyn Wauchope? |url=https://www.historycalroots.com/what-became-of-the-windrush-stowaway-evelyn-wauchope/ |access-date=2023-02-02 |language=en-US}}</ref>}} ====Arrival==== The arrival of ''Empire Windrush'' was a notable news event. Even when the ship was in the English Channel, the ''[[Evening Standard]]'' dispatched an aircraft to photograph her from the air, printing the story on the newspaper's front page.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Denise |date=1948-06-21 |title=Welcome Home! Evening Standard 'plane greets the 400 sons of Empire |edition=36608 |page=1 |newspaper=Evening Standard |location=London}}</ref> The ship docked at the [[Port of Tilbury]], near London, on 21 June 1948<ref name="ECBC">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2002 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture |publisher=Routledge |location=London |editor1-first=Peter |editor1-last=Childs |editor2-first=Mike |editor2-last=Storry |title=Afro-Caribbean communities |pages=11–14 }}</ref><ref name=NatArchives>[https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?htx=List&dbid=1518 UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878–1960]. [[Ancestry.com]] in association with [[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]].</ref> and the 1,027 passengers began disembarking the next day. This was covered by newspaper reporters and by [[Pathé News]] [[newsreel]] cameras.<ref name="Pathe1" /> The name Windrush, as a result, has come to be used as shorthand for West Indian migration,<ref>{{Cite news |title=Windrush generation: Who are they and why are they facing problems? |author= |website=BBC News |date=31 July 2020 |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43782241}}</ref> and by extension for the beginning of modern British multiracial society. The purpose of ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s voyage had been to transport service personnel. The additional arrival of civilian, West Indian immigrants was not expected by the British government, and not welcome. The next day, several MPs, including [[James Murray (Durham politician)|James Dixon Murray]], warned the Prime Minister that such an "argosy of Jamaicans",<ref name="Attlee">{{cite web |last1=Attlee |first1=Clement |title=Letter from Prime Minister Attlee to an MP about immigration to the UK, 5 July 1948 (HO 213/ 715) |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/+/https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/attlees-britain/empire-windrush-2/ |website=The web archive |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=27 February 2024}}</ref> might "cause discord and unhappiness among all concerned".<ref name="Park">{{cite book |last1=Park |first1=Eunjae |title=British Labour Party’s Patriotic Politics on Immigration and Race, 1900-1968 |date=September 2017 |publisher=University of York |page=150 |url=https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/20520/ |access-date=27 February 2024 |format=PhD thesis}}</ref> [[George Isaacs]], the [[Minister of Labour and National Service|Minister of Labour]], stated in Parliament that there would be no encouragement for others to follow their example. Three days before the ship arrived, [[Arthur Creech Jones]], the [[Secretary of State for the Colonies]], wrote a [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] memorandum noting that the Jamaican Government could not legally prevent people from departing, and the British government could not legally prevent them from landing. However, he stated that the government was opposed to this immigration, and all possible steps would be taken by the [[Colonial Office]] and the Jamaican government to discourage it.<ref name="Hansen2000">{{cite book |last=Hansen |first=Randall |title=Citizenship and Immigration in Postwar Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qj8GEjW91oEC |date=1 June 2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-158301-8 |page=57 }}</ref> Despite this, the first [[Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962|legislation controlling immigration]] was not passed until 1962. Those who had not already arranged accommodation were temporarily housed in the [[Clapham South tube station|Clapham South]] [[London deep-level shelters|deep shelter]] in south-west London, less than a mile away from the [[Coldharbour Lane]] Employment Exchange in [[Brixton]], where some of the arrivals sought work. The stowaways served brief prison sentences, but were eligible to remain in the United Kingdom on their release.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Students From The Colonies |date=9 May 1949 |page=2}}</ref> Many of ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s passengers only intended to stay for a few years but, although a number did return, the majority remained to settle permanently. Those born in the West Indies who settled in the UK in this migration movement over the following years are now typically referred to as the "Windrush Generation".<ref>{{cite news |last=Alexander |first=Saffron |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/goodlife/11683233/Windrush-Generation-They-thought-we-should-be-planting-bananas.html |title=Windrush Generation: 'They thought we should be planting bananas' |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=22 June 2015 }}</ref> ====Earlier voyages==== While the 1948 voyage of the ''Empire Windrush'' is well-known, she was not the first ship to carry West Indian people to the United Kingdom after World War II. On 31 March 1947, the SS ''Ormonde'' docked at Liverpool after sailing from Jamaica with 241 passengers, including 11 stowaways. One of ''Ormonde''{{'}}s passengers was Ralph Lowe, the father of author and poet [[Hannah Lowe]].<ref name="NationalArchives">{{Cite web |title=Ormonde, Almanzora and Windrush |url=https://beta.nationalarchives.gov.uk/stories/ormonde-almanzora-windrush/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=The National Archives |language=en}}</ref> On arrival, the stowaways were tried at [[Liverpool Magistrates Court]]. The court sentenced them to one day in prison, which effectively meant their immediate release.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Jamaicans Seeking Work In England |date=1947-04-02 |page=2 |issue=50725 |column=}}</ref> On 21 December 1947, the SS ''Almanzora'' docked at Southampton with 200 people on board. As on the ''Empire Windrush'', many were former service personnel who had served in the RAF during World War II.<ref name="NationalArchives" /> Thirty adult stowaways and one boy were arrested when the ship docked; they were sent to prison for 28 days.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1947-12-23 |title=30 coloured stowaways |work=Daily Mirror |pages=1}}</ref> ==Later service== In May 1949, ''Empire Windrush'' was on a voyage from Gibraltar to Port Said when a fire broke out on board. Four ships were put on standby to assist if the ship had to be abandoned. Although the passengers were placed in the [[lifeboat (shipboard)|lifeboats]], they were not launched and the ship was subsequently towed back to Gibraltar.<ref name=Troopships>{{cite web |url=http://www.suezveteransassociation.org.uk/troopships.html |title=Troopships. Those that took us out to the Suez Canal Zone, but better still, brought us back home again. |publisher=Suez Veterans Association |access-date=6 February 2017}}</ref> In February 1950, the ship was used to transport the last British troops stationed in Greece back to the United Kingdom,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Batallion's 25 Years Overseas|date=17 February 1950 |page=8 |issue=51618}}</ref> embarking the First Battalion of the [[Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment]] at [[Thessaloniki]] on 5 February, and further troops and their families at [[Piraeus]].<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Last British Troops leave Greece |date=6 February 1950 |page=5 |issue=51592}}</ref><ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Last British Troops to Leave Greece |date=17 January 1950 |page=5 |issue=51592}}</ref> British forces had been in Greece since 1944, fighting on the side of the [[Kingdom of Greece]] in the [[Greek Civil War]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-05-22 |title=The Greek Civil War, 1944-1949 |url=https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/greek-civil-war-1944-1949 |access-date=2023-06-23 |website=The National WWII Museum: New Orleans |language=en}}</ref> On 7 February 1953, around {{convert|200|mi|km}} south of the [[Nicobar Islands]], ''Empire Windrush'' sighted a small cargo ship, the ''Holchu'', adrift and sent out a general warning. ''Holchu'' was later boarded by the crew of a British cargo ship, the ''Ranee'', alerted by ''Windrush''{{'}}s warning. They found no trace of the five crew and the vessel was towed to Colombo.<ref>{{Cite news|work=Townsville Daily Bulletin |title=Ship Abandoned in Indian Ocean|date=12 February 1953 |page=1|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/62487071}}</ref> ''Holchu'' was carrying a cargo of rice and was in good condition aside from a broken mast. Adequate supplies of food, water and fuel were found, and a meal had been prepared in the ship's galley.<ref name=Times52543a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Ship Found Adrift Without Crew. |date=11 February 1953 |page=8 |issue=52543}}</ref> The fate of ''Holchu''{{'}}s crew remains unknown and the incident is cited in several works on [[Ufology]] and the [[Bermuda Triangle]].<ref name="Iturralde2017">{{cite book|first=Robert|last= Iturralde|title=UFOs, Teleportation, and the Mysterious Disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines Flight #370|date=27 October 2017|publisher=Robert Iturralde|isbn=978-1-5356-1151-0|pages=27}}</ref><ref name="Gaddis1965">{{cite book|first=Vincent H. |last=Gaddis|title=Invisible Horizons: True Mysteries of the Sea|year=1965|publisher=Ace Books|page=128|author-link=Vincent Gaddis|oclc=681276}}</ref><ref name="Sanderson2005">{{cite book|first=Ivan|last=Sanderson|title=Invisible Residents: The Reality of Underwater UFOs|year=2005|publisher=Adventures Unlimited Press|page=133|isbn=1931882207|oclc= 1005460189}}</ref> In June 1953, ''Empire Windrush'' was one of the ships that took part in the [[Fleet review (Commonwealth realms)|Fleet review]] that marked the [[Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref name=Times52647>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Merchant ships at Spithead |date=13 June 1953 |page=3 |issue=52647}}</ref> ==Last voyage and sinking== ''Empire Windrush'' set off from [[Yokohama]], Japan, in February 1954 on what proved to be her final voyage. She called at [[Kure, Hiroshima|Kure]] and was to sail to the United Kingdom, calling at [[Hong Kong]], [[Singapore]], [[Colombo]], [[Aden]] and [[Port Said]].<ref name=inquiry-report /> Her passengers included recovering wounded [[United Nations]] veterans of the [[Korean War]], including some soldiers from the [[Duke of Wellington's Regiment]] who had been wounded at the [[Third Battle of the Hook]] in May 1953.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} The voyage was plagued with engine breakdowns and other defects, including a fire after the departure from Hong Kong.<ref>{{cite news |date=5 April 2017 |title=Windrush engineer warned that ship was unsafe – archive, 1954 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/apr/05/windrush-empire-ship-unsafe-fire-1954 |work=The Guardian |access-date=22 June 2018 }}</ref> It took 10 weeks to reach Port Said. There, a group of 50 Royal Marines from [[3 Commando Brigade]] came on board and ship left port for the last time.<ref name=Dockerill>Dockerill, Geoffrey, "On Fire at Sea" essay in compilation ''The Unquiet Peace: Stories from the Post War Army'', London, 1957.</ref><ref name="SteveOthenStory">{{Cite web |date=2017-03-28 |title=This day in 1954 - The Empire Windrush |url=https://www.boatbuildingacademy.com/day-1954-empire-windrush/ |access-date=2021-02-11 |website=Boat Building Academy |language=en}}</ref> On board were 222 crew and 1,276 passengers, including military personnel and some women and children, dependents of some of the military personnel.<ref name=Times52964a /> Certified to carry 1541, the ship was almost completely full with 1498 people on board.<ref name=inquiry-report /> ===Accidental fire=== [[File:Empire Windrush on fire March1954 A32891.jpg|thumb|right|An aerial photograph of the burning ''Empire Windrush'', taken after the ship was abandoned, 28–29 March 1954]] At around 6:15&nbsp;am on 28 March, when the ship was in the western Mediterranean about {{convert|30|mi|km}} north-west of [[Cape Caxine]] off the coast of Algeria,<ref name=inquiry-report /> there was a sudden explosion and fierce fire in the engine room which killed the [[third engineer]], [[electro-technical officer|first electrician]], and two other engine-room crew members. Two [[Oiler (occupation)|greasers]], one who was the fifth man in the engine room, and another who was in the boiler room, managed to escape.<ref name=inquiry-report /><ref group="Note">The four killed were Senior Third Engineer George Stockwell, First Electrician J.W. Graves, Seventh Engineer A. Webster and Eighth Engineer Leslie Pendleton. ''Arnott (2019)''</ref> The ship quickly lost all electrical power as all four main [[electrical generator]]s were located in the burning engine room. The emergency backup generator was started but problems with the main circuit breaker made its power unusable. The emergency generator powered the ship's emergency lighting, bilge pump, fire pump and the radio.<ref name=inquiry-report /> The ship did not have a [[fire sprinkler|sprinkler]] system. Both the [[chief mate|chief officer]] and the captain were on the bridge; they heard the explosion and saw black smoke and flames coming from the funnel. Attempts were made to telephone the engine room, but although the engine room's phone was heard ringing, it was not picked up. The chief officer immediately assembled the ship's firefighting squad, who happened to be on-deck at the time doing routine work, and accompanied them to the engine room. They were only able to fight the fire for a few minutes before the loss of electrical power stopped the water pumps that fed their fire hoses. The [[First assistant engineer|second engineer]] was able to enter the engine room by wearing a [[smoke hood]], but was unable to close a watertight door that might have contained the fire. Attempts to close all watertight doors using the controls on the bridge had also failed.<ref name=inquiry-report/> ===Rescue operations=== {{OSM Location map | coord = {{Coord|39|0|00|N|0|50|00|E}} | zoom = 5 | float = right | width = 200 | height = 250 | title = | mark-size = 9 | label = | mark-coord = {{Coord|37|0|0|N|2|11|0|E}} | label-pos = right | label-size = 14 | label-color = | minimap = file top right | mini-file = Mediterranean Sea location map (blank).svg | mini-width = 160 | mini-height = 79 |minipog-gx = 18 | minipog-gy = 49 | mark-title = | mark-image = | mark-description = |caption = Wreck location, in the western Mediterranean Sea }} At 6:23&nbsp;am, the Radio Officer sent the first distress message. This was acknowledged by two French ships, and by radio stations at [[Gibraltar]], [[Oran]] and [[Algiers]]. Soon after, all electrical power was lost but messages continued to be sent using the emergency transmitter until 6:45am, when the fire stopped the Radio Officer from making further transmissions.<ref name=Times52964a /> The order was given to wake the passengers and crew and assemble them at their emergency stations, but the ship's [[Public address system|public address system]] was not working, nor were electric alarm bells or the [[air horn|air]] and [[steam whistle]]s. The order had to be transmitted by word of mouth. The ship's electric lighting had also failed.<ref name=inquiry-report /> At 6:45&nbsp;am, all attempts to fight the fire were halted and the order was given to launch the lifeboats, with the first ones away [[women and children first|carrying the women and children on board]]<ref name=inquiry-report /><ref name=Times52964a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Troopship Blaze Inquiry |date=22 June 1954 |page=3 |issue=52964}}</ref> and the [[ship's cat]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://blogs.bl.uk/untoldlives/2018/08/loss-of-the-empire-windrush.html |title=Loss of the 'Empire Windrush' |last=Makepeace|first= Margaret |date=18 August 2018 |publisher=British Library |access-date=11 May 2019|quote=Within twenty minutes of the order to abandon ship, all 250 women and children had been placed in lifeboats, as well as 500 of the servicemen and the ship's cat Tibby.}}</ref> While the ship's 22 lifeboats could accommodate all on board, thick smoke and the lack of electrical power prevented many of them from being launched. Each set of lifeboat [[davit]]s accommodated two lifeboats. But without electrical power, raising the wire ropes to lower the second boat was an arduous and slow task. With fire spreading rapidly, the order was given to drop the remaining boats into the sea.<ref name=inquiry-report /> In the end, only 12 lifeboats were launched.<ref name="SteveOthenStory" /> Many of the crew and troops abandoned the ship by climbing down ladders or ropes and jumping into the sea, after first throwing overboard any loose items to hand that would float<ref name=inquiry-report /> Some were picked up by Windrush's lifeboats, others by a boat from the first rescue ship, which reached the scene at 7.00&nbsp;am.<ref name=inquiry-report /><ref name=Times52964a /> The last person to leave ''Empire Windrush'' was the chief officer, Captain W Wilson, at 7:30&nbsp;am.<ref name=Times52964a /> Although some people were in the sea for two hours,<ref name="SteveOthenStory" /> all were rescued and the only fatalities were the four crew killed in the engine room.<ref name=Dockerill/> The ships responding to ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s distress call were the Dutch ship {{MV|Mentor}}, the British [[P&O (company)|P&O]] [[Cargo liner]] {{MV|Socotra}}, the Norwegian ship {{SS|Hemsefjell}} and the Italian ships {{SS|Taigete}} and {{SS|Helschell}}.<ref name=Ships>{{cite book | last2 = Sawyer |first2=L. A.| last1= Mitchell |first1=W. H. | year = 1995| title = The Empire Ships| page = 477| publisher = Lloyd's of London Press Ltd| location = London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong|oclc=246537905|isbn=1-85044-275-4 }}</ref><ref name=Times52982>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=British Troopship Ablaze In Mediterranean. |date=29 March 1953 |page=6 |issue=52982}}</ref> A Royal Air Force [[Avro Shackleton]] from [[No. 224 Squadron RAF|224 Squadron]] assisted in the rescue.<ref name=Shack>{{cite magazine |title=Constant Endeavour |magazine=Aeroplane |issue=February 2010 |page=60 }}</ref> The rescue vessels took the passengers and crew to Algiers, where they were cared for by the [[French Red Cross]] and the [[French Army]]. They were taken to Gibraltar aboard the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Triumph|R16|6}}. As most had lost all their possessions, the service personnel were issued with new uniforms and the families given clothing provided by [[SSAFA]].<ref name=Times52893>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Ship Survivors in London |date=30 March 1953 |page=6 |issue=52893}}</ref> From Gibraltar, they returned to the United Kingdom in aircraft chartered from [[British Eagle]]<ref name=Times52894>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Troopship Survivors Arrive by Air |date=31 March 1953 |page=8 |issue=52894}}</ref> with the last group arriving on April 2.<ref name=Times52897>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=News in Brief |date=3 April 1953 |page=5 |issue=52897}}</ref> ===Salvage attempt and sinking=== [[File:HMS Saintes.jpg|thumb|right|{{HMS|Saintes|D84|6}} in 1946]] Around 26 hours after ''Empire Windrush'' had been abandoned, she was reached by {{HMS|Saintes|D84|6}} of the [[Royal Navy]]'s Mediterranean Fleet {{convert|100|km|nmi}} northwest of Algiers. The fire was still burning fiercely more than a day after it started, but a party from ''Saintes'' managed to get on board and attach a tow cable. At about midday, ''Saintes'' began to tow the ship to Gibraltar, at a speed of around {{convert|3.5|kn|km/h}}, but ''Empire Windrush'' sank in the early hours of the following morning, Tuesday, 30 March 1954,<ref name=inquiry-report>{{cite web |url=https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/SOTON_Documents/Plimsoll/20626.pdf |title=The Merchant Shipping Act, 1894 Report of Court (no. 7933) |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=27 June 1954 |publisher=Local history & Maritime Digital Archive, Southampton City Council |access-date= 20 April 2018}}</ref> after having been towed a distance of only around {{convert|16|km|nmi}}. The bodies of the four men killed were not recovered, and were lost when the ship sank.<ref>Arnott (2019)</ref> The wreck lies at a depth of around {{convert|2600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?58372 | title=MV Empire Windrush [+1954] | publisher=wrecksite.eu | access-date=7 October 2014}}</ref> ==Inquiry into the sinking== An inquiry into the sinking of ''Empire Windrush'' was held in London between the 21 June and 7 July 1954.<ref name=inquiry-report /> John Vickers Naisby, the wreck commissioner led the enquiry.<ref name="arnott23">Arnott (2019) ''Chapter 23''</ref> [[Sidney Silverman]], lawyer and Member of Parliament, represented the interests of the ship's crew. During the proceedings he tried to show that ''Windrush'' was in an unsafe state and was not fit to be at sea. One of the four men killed in the accident, Engineer Leslie Pendleton, had written several letters to his father describing the ship's poor state of repair, many breakdowns, and a previous fire; these were submitted to the enquiry as evidence.<ref name="arnott23" /> No firm cause for the fire was established, but it was thought the most likely cause was that corrosion in one of the ship's funnels, or "uptakes", may have led to a panel failing, causing incandescently hot soot to fall into the engine room, where it damaged a fuel oil or lubricating oil supply pipe and ignited the leaking oil.<ref name=inquiry-report /><ref name=Times52995a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Cause Of Ship's Fire Unknown |date=28 July 1954 |page=5 |issue=52995}}</ref> An alternative theory was that a fuel pipe fractured and deposited fuel oil onto a hot exhaust pipe.<ref name=inquiry-report /> The enquiry concluded that ''Windrush'' was seaworthy at the time she caught fire.<ref name="arnott23" /> It was thought the rapid failure of the ship's three main electrical generators was due to the fire consuming all the oxygen in the engine-room and stopping the internal combustion engines that powered them. The rapid depletion of oxygen and the fire's noxious gasses were thought to have also caused the deaths of the four engine-room crew.<ref name=inquiry-report /> As the ship was government property, she was not insured.<ref name=Times52982 /> ==Legacy== [[File:Windrush sign 1.JPG|right|thumb|[[Windrush Square]], [[London]] (2006)]] [[File:Kühlschifffahrt MonteRosa2.jpg|right|thumb|Hamburg Süd's container ship ''Monte Rosa'' (2005)]] In 1954, several of the military personnel on board ''Empire Windrush'' during her final voyage received decorations for their role in the evacuation of the burning ship. A military nurse was awarded the [[Royal Red Cross]] for her role in evacuating the patients under her care.<ref name=Times53052a>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Army Nurse's Courage Rewarded|date=2 October 1954 |page=3 |issue=53052}}</ref> In 1998, an area of public open space in [[Brixton]], London, was renamed [[Windrush Square]] to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the arrival of ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s West Indian passengers. To commemorate the "Windrush Generation", in 2008, a Thurrock Heritage plaque was unveiled at the [[Port of Tilbury#London Cruise Terminal|London Cruise Terminal]] at [[Tilbury]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thurrock-history.org.uk/windrush.htm |title=The Empire Windrush |publisher=Thurrock-history.org.uk |access-date=17 May 2015}}</ref> This chapter in the boat's history was also commemorated, although fleetingly only, in the Pandemonium sequence of the [[2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony#Pandemonium (21:09–21:25)|Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad]] in London, 27 July 2012. A small replica of the ship plastered with newsprint was the facsimile representation in the ceremony.<ref>{{cite news |last=Green |first=Miranda |date=2018-12-26|title=Year in a word: Windrush |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6a4160c4-fd47-11e8-aebf-99e208d3e521 |work=Financial Times |access-date=2020-07-29 }}</ref> In the 2000's, Hamburg Süd commissioned 10 Monte-class [[container ship]]s. Several carry the names of their passenger-ship predecessors, including the container ship {{ship||Monte Rosa|ship|2}}, which has operated since 2005.<ref name="HS history">[https://www.hamburgsud.com/group/en/corporatehome/company/history/index.html "Hamburg Süd History"], 2018.</ref> ===Proposed anchor recovery=== In 2020, a fund-raising effort was begun for a project to recover one of ''Empire Windrush''{{'}}s anchors, weighing around {{convert|1500|kg|lb}}. This would be [[Conservation and restoration of cultural property|conserved]] and then displayed as a monument to the people of the Windrush generation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chakelian |first=Anoosh |date=2020-06-22 |title=Recovering Windrush: The deep-sea hunt for a new monument to British history |language=en |work=New Statesman |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2020/06/recovering-windrush-deep-sea-hunt-new-monument-british-history |access-date=2020-08-29}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bliss |first=Dominic |date=2020-06-22 |title=The mission to raise the anchor from a shipwreck – as a monument to the generation it brought to Britain |language=en-gb |work=National Geographic |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/history-and-civilisation/2020/06/the-mission-to-raise-the-anchor-from-a-shipwreck-as-a-monument-to |access-date=2020-08-29}}</ref><ref name="Guardian-2023-08-02"/> In June 2023, an organisation called the Windrush Anchor Foundation announced plans for the salvage. The project will involve oceanographer [[David Mearns]] and is estimated to cost £1m, which is to be raised by donations.<ref name="Guardian-2023-08-02">{{Cite news |last=Banfield-Nwachi |first=Mabel |date=2023-08-02 |title=‘We call it a touchstone’: the mission to find the Windrush anchor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/02/windrush-anchor-ship-wreck-mission |access-date=2024-02-16 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> ==See also== * {{MS|Monte Rosa}} – list of ships named ''Monte Rosa'' * [[TS Pretoria|''Empire Orwell'']], formerly the German cargo liner TS ''Pretoria'', captured and converted into a British troopship. * [[SS Empire Fowey|SS ''Empire Fowey'']], formerly the German liner SS ''Potsdam'', captured and converted into a British troopship. * [[Windrush (TV series)|''Windrush'']] – a 1998 BBC documentary series about the first postwar West Indian immigrants to the UK * [[Windrush Day]], an annual celebration of the contribution of immigrants to British society. Held on the 22 June, the day the Empire Windrush's passengers disembarked in 1948. * [[Windrush scandal]], a British political scandal that began in 2018 concerning people who were wrongly detained, denied legal rights, threatened with deportation and wrongly deported from the UK by the Home Office. ==Notes== {{reflist|group=Note}} ==References== {{Reflist|}} ==Bibliography== * ''[[Sea Breeze Journal of Contemporary Liberian Writings|Sea Breeze]]'', various contemporary issues.{{Volume needed|date=May 2015}} * ''[[The Daily Express]]'', 20 June 1954, for a report of the Strength Through Joy programme, archived in WO 32/15643 at [[The National Archives (UK)]] and the [[British Library]] Newspaper Library, London. * [[Board of Trade]] Inquiry Report, archived as BT 239/56 at The National Archives. * [[War Office]] files on the loss, archived as WO 32/15643 at The National Archives including contemporary press clippings. * Report of the British Consul in Algiers for the [[Foreign Office]], archived at The National Archives as FO 859/26, including recommendation to invite the Mayor of Algiers to London, an invoice for services rendered by the French Army in Algeria, a full passenger list, and letters from passengers. * {{cite book|first=Paul |last=Arnott|title=Windrush: A Ship Through Time|date=17 June 2019|publisher=History Press|oclc=1091689683|isbn=978-0-7509-9120-9}} * {{cite book |title=Hitlers Traumschiffe: die "Kraft-durch-Freude"-Flotte 1934 - 1939 |date=2000 |publisher=Arndt |isbn=978-3-88741-031-5 |editor-last=Schön |editor-first=Heinz |location=Kiel|language=German}} * {{Cite book |title=Women and children first- : the loss of the troopship "Empire Windrush" |last=Seybold |first=W. N. |date=1998 |publisher=Captain W. N. Seybold |isbn=0953354105 |location=Ballaugh, Isle of Man |oclc=39962436}} ==External links== * [https://archive.org/download/yn492ga1931/yn492ga1931.pdf Original blueprints] of ''Monte Rosa'' by Blohm and Voss, 1931. At [https://archive.org/details/yn492ga1931/page/n1/mode/2up archive.org]. * [http://www.lostliners.de/schiffe/m/monte-klasse/rosa/bilder/index-e.php Photographs] taken onboard ''Monte Rosa'' while in passenger service with Hamburg Sud, pre-World War 2. * [https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1035131 Photograph of ''Monte Rosa''] in German wartime service (1943); photograph number 89096, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. ===1948 voyage of the ''Windrush''=== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040604074712/http://www.pro.gov.uk/virtualmuseum/maingalleries/empire/passengers/default.htm Passenger List from the Public Record Office] * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/windrush_01.shtml/ "Windrush – the Passengers"], [[Mike Phillips (writer)|Phillips, Mike]], ''BBC History'', 10 March 2011 * [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/museum/item.asp?item_id=50 Windrush settlers arrive in Britain, 1948 – treasures of The National Archives (UK).] * [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/museum/additional_image_types.asp?extra_image_type_id=2&image_id=69 Windrush settlers arrive in Britain, 1948 – Transcript] * [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/DisplayCatalogueDetails.asp?CATID=92818&CATLN=4&FullDetails=False Board of Trade 'Inwards passenger lists, 1948' Subseries within BT 26 Record Summary] – held at [[The National Archives (UK)]], [[Kew]], [[Richmond, London]]. * [http://www.throughmyeyes.org.uk/server/show/nav.22208 Through My Eyes website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107054004/http://www.throughmyeyes.org.uk/server/show/nav.22208 |date=7 January 2009 }} – [[Imperial War Museum]] online exhibition – videos, pictures and interviews from the museum's archives showing the West Indian contribution to the World War II effort * [https://www.gold.ac.uk/windrush/passenger-list/ Windrush: Arrival 1948 Passenger List] - [[Goldsmiths College]], [[University of London]] * [https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=GvS_0w_s8jg Film] by [[Youmanity]] tracing the arrival of a Jamaican family aboard ''Empire Windrush'' * [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/arrival_01.shtml Oral history of passengers on the Windrush] from BBC History * [https://www.windrushanchor.com/index.html The Windrush Anchor Memorial Project] ===Sinking of the ''Windrush''=== * [https://www.britishpathe.com/asset/55373/ Pathé newsreel] showing the ship on fire, and the passengers and crew embarking on HMS ''Triumph'' in Algiers. {{Blohm + Voss}} {{1934 shipwrecks}} {{Empire ships}} {{Black British topics}} {{1954 shipwrecks}} {{coord|37|00|N|2|11|E|source:kolossus-nowiki|display=title}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Empire Windrush}} [[Category:History of immigration to the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Jamaican diaspora]] [[Category:Korean War cruisers of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:History of Thurrock]] [[Category:Shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea]] [[Category:Passenger ships of Germany]] [[Category:Ocean liners]] [[Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Windrush]] [[Category:Empire ships]] [[Category:1930 ships]] [[Category:20th century in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1934]] [[Category:Maritime incidents in 1954]] [[Category:Troop ships of Germany]] [[Category:First arrivals]]'