RMS Maloja

History

United Kingdom
Name:	RMS Maloja
Owner:	P&O Steam Navigation Co
Port of registry:	London
Route:	London, India, China, Australia mail and passenger service
Ordered:	29 November 1918
Builder:	Messrs Harland & Wolff, Ltd, Belfast
Yard number:	588
Launched:	19 April 1923
Completed:	25 October 1923
Maiden voyage:	2 November 1923
Fate:	Scrapped on 2 April 1954, Inverkeithing
General characteristics
Tonnage:	20,847 GRT 12,836 net tonnage 16,032 tons deadweight
Length:	600 ¹⁄₂ ft (183.0 m) pp
Beam:	73 ¹⁄₂ ft (22.4 m)
Draught:	34 ft 10 in (10.6 m)
Decks:	5
Installed power:	15,300 shaft horsepower (11,400 kW)
Propulsion:	2 quadruple-expansion steam engines, inverted direct acting Twin screw 6 double-ended & 2 single-ended oil-fired boilers producing steam at 215 psi (1,480 kPa)
Speed:	16 kn (30 km/h)
Capacity:	Passengers: 327 first class 329 second class
Crew:	423: 10 officers 94 seamen 22 engineers 82 firemen 215 saloon crew
Notes:	Black hull with white line, red boot-topping, upper works stone, funnels black.

RMS Maloja was a British ocean liner that saw service from 1923 to 1954.

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company ordered two sister ships, RMS Maloja and RMS Mooltan, from Harland and Wolff Ltd on 29 November 1918. Hull number 588 was named Maloja, after a previous SS Maloja that was a 1911 M-class liner that had been sunk by a German mine in 1916. The interior design was in keeping with the high standards of the Line. The public rooms were luxurious, completely decorated and lofty. All first and second class cabins had portholes. The dining saloon seated 330; it was panelled in a neo-Georgian style, finished throughout in ivory white, with the doors and architraves in polished mahogany. The reading and music saloon was in the style of Louis XVI with large French windows. RMS Maloja was launched by Hon. Elsie Mackay, daughter of the company's chairman James Mackay, 1st Earl of Inchcape, on 19 April 1923. Maloja and Mooltan eventually earned a reputation for comfort and reliability. Maloja was delivered on 25 October 1923. The two sister ships were the largest that could comfortably pass through the Suez Canal at that time.

On 2 November 1923 RMS Maloja began her maiden voyage. Her design had prioritised reliability and comfort over speed. She had broad decks and rode steadily, although (because of a small rudder) she would prove difficult to handle. On 18 January 1924 the two ships began running the fortnightly service between Tilbury and Sydney via Colombo and Melbourne. In November 1923 Maloja was caught in a dockworkers' strike in Australia and after a delayed departure was forced to abandon 6,000 tons of cargo left on the dockside. In March 1933 Maloja ran aground in Adelaide but was re-floated without sustaining significant damage. In January 1933 Maloja was in Gibraltar Bay, loading cargo from a lighter in severe weather. An anchor and 45 fathoms (270 ft; 82 m) of chain pulled free and were lost.

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