| |
 |
 |
Booth Line's R.M.S. "Hilary" 3 |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Built: |
Cammell
Laird & Company Ltd., Birkenhead |
|
| |
O.N.: |
162350 |
|
|
Dimensions: |
424’ 3” x 56’ 3” x 34’ 3” |
|
| |
Tonnage: |
Gross:
7,403 Net: 4,350 |
|
| |
Propulsion: |
Triple expansion 3-cyl. Steam engine and LP turbine with direct
gearing and hydraulic coupling by Cammell Laird (Shipbuilding & Engineering) Co. Ltd., Birkenhead. |
|
| |
Type: |
Passenger/Cargo Liner |
|
| |
Launched: |
17/4/1931 by Cammell Laird
(Shipbuilding & Engineering) Co. Ltd., Birkenhead (Yard No.
975), for Booth Steamship Co. Ltd. Liverpool as Hilary. |
|
| |
Delivered: |
8/1931 for the United Kingdom to Amazon
service, with accommodation for 80 1st and 250 3rd Class passengers |
|
| |
Requisitioned: |
16/10/1940 as a Ocean Boarding Vessel (pennant No. F22)
by the admiralty and sent to South Shields for conversion and fitted with 2 x
6in guns, 1 x 12 pounder AA, 4 x 303mm AA |
|
| |
Commissioned: |
21/1/1941as HMS Hilary for use in the North Atlantic |
|
| |
3/05/1941: |
Stopped the Italian tanker Recco, 350 miles north of the Azores.
But crew scuttled their ship |
|
| |
10/05/1941: |
Intercepted and captured the cargo vessel Gianna M
of Cia Italiana Transporto Olii Minerali, Genoa. A prize crew took ship to
Belfast |
|
| |
15/04/1942: |
Paid off and returned to MoWT director (Booth SS Co.
Ltd., managers), and used in the North Atlantic as a convoy commodore ship |
|
| |
10/1942: |
Pursued by two U-boats, and torpedoed
amidships, the torpedo did not
detonate |
|
| |
Commissioned: |
1943 for a second time as HMS Hilary,
and converted at Birkenhead into an Infantry Landing
Ship (Headquarters) with the addition of 6 assault craft and accommodation for
313 crew and 378 troops |
|
| |
10/07/1943: |
Employed as Headquarters Ship by
Rear Admiral Sir Philip Vians during Operation Husky, the Allied
invasion of Sicily, and carried the 1st Canadian Division and No.2 R. Marine
commandos to the island |
|
| |
10/09/1943: |
Used by Flag Commodore G N Olivers
(North Atlantic Force) as his headquarters for the Allied invasion of Salerno |
|
| |
12/1943: |
Returned to United Kingdom and based
at Portsmouth |
|
| |
05/06/1944: |
Operation Neptune, at 19.25 left the Spithead Gate,
having embarked troops while at anchor (Anchorage 19W/2) by tender from
Southampton |
|
| |
06/06/1944: |
As Headquarters Ship for Force “J” Commodore Olivier, and lead ship for
Assault Convoy J11 arrived off Juno to disembark her troops |
|
| |
13/06/1944: |
Slightly damaged by a bomb near miss |
|
| |
23/06/1944: |
Became Rear Admiral Vians Flagship, Eastern Task Force. His
previous Flagship HMS Scylla was badly damaged by a mine |
|
| |
Decommissioned: |
1945 and sent to Cammell Laird, Birkenhead for post-war
reconditioning |
|
| |
Returned: |
03/1946 to South American Service with accommodation altered
for 93 1st and 138 3rd Class passengers |
|
| |
Refurbished: |
1956 at Antwerp to allow her to carry 86 first class and
122 tourist class passengers |
|
| |
Replaced: |
1957 by the Hildebrand |
|
| |
Sailed: |
12/09/1959 from Liverpool for
Shipbreakers |
|
| |
Arrived: |
15/09/1959 at Inverkeithing, Scotland to be broken up by T W Ward
Ltd. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Allow page to fully load before clicking on
image to enlarge |
|
| |
 |
|
|
|
Booth Steamship Company's Hilary 2 departs
Liverpool C1931 |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Postcard of Hilary pre-1945 - Fraser Darrah Collection |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
Postcard of Hilary post-1945 - Fraser Darrah Collection |
|
| |
|
|
| |
This nostalgic and graceful vessel was built for the United
Kingdom - Amazon service, to Manaus and Iquitos. However her life in this trade
was short lived, being requisitioned in October 1940 by The Admiralty.
Thereafter as can be seen from her record above, she enjoyed a somewhat more
exciting career. Though damaged twice, she survived WWII relatively unscathed,
to re-enter commercial service.
Although having
steam reciprocating machinery
she also had exhaust turbines.
These extracted the remaining energy from the steam exhausting from the
reciprocating engine, increasing the overall efficiency of the plant.
|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
R.M.S. Hilary - Plan of First Class Accommodation |
|
| |
Full sized image (2054 kb) |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Originally in the traditional Booth Steamship colours as shown
top postcard, the houseflag logo was added in 1945 on decommissioning from
naval service. The white hull, Booth's first, was painted in 1956 when she was
chartered to Elder Dempster for service to West Africa.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
 |
| The postcard (left) depicts Lifeboat Drill on a Booth
Line's ship. The clinker-built boat would hardly fill one with confidence in the
open Atlantic, compared with today's modern fully enclosed lifeboats, The
seamen are shown wearing Sou'westers, presumably for the cameraman, hardly
necessary for the conditions. |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
The Booth Line ran passenger services from the United Kingdom
right up to
Manaus - 1,000 miles up the Amazon. Founded in the 1860s, they took
over the Red Cross Line in 1901 and the Iquitos Steam Ship Company in 1911. In
1946 the Booth Line was sold to the Vestey Group of companies and in 1975 all
the group's ships were pooled under Blue Star Ship Management Ltd and the Booth
Line ceased to exist as a separate entity.
|
|
| |
History kindly supplied by
Tony Atkinson |
|
| |
|
|
| |
Links: Manaus
, Hilary 2
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Map of
Amazon |
|
| |
|
|
| |
 
 |
|
|
|
Home Page
Blue Star Ships |
|
|
|
Updated:
18-02-2008 |
|
