PICTURES OF THE MONTH - July 2003
The Rebuilt Paddle Steamer Emperor of India July 1948
This summer the paddle steamer Waverley has returned to service newly rebuilt. Fifty five years ago, in July 1948, another paddle steamer, the Emperor of India of Cosens & Co of Weymouth, emerged from the Backwater at Weymouth also re-built. The aim of the work on the two ships, however, could hardly have been more different .
Where Heritage Lottery Fund finance has ensured that Waverley has been restored as an historic ship, there were no such ideas in the minds at Cosens & Co after the war. Their aim was to use the Government money they received as compensation for the poor state of the Emperor of India on her return from war service to create a "New Look" and luxurious steamer which was modern, up to date and in tune with the times as is chronicled in the Dorset Daily Echo of 10th July 1948 (picture above).
Just how much of a "New Look" the Emperor of India received is clearly shown in these two pictures, the upper one taken in her earlier guise.
The Dorset Daily Echo continued: "The new Emperor of India, pride of Messrs Cosens & Co's fleet, will make her first trip of the season from Bournemouth pier next Tuesday afternoon. Compared with the Emperor of India remembered by Bournemouth and Weymouth holiday makers in pre-war days the new Emperor of India is to all intents and purposes a brand new steamer."
"Throughout the war she served as a minesweeper, a flak ship and a training ship for stokers. When returned to her owners she was almost a wreck. Within eighteen months, Messrs Cosens & Co have rebuilt a steamer with which, for her class, there is nothing to compare on the South Coast, and on Tuesday she will join the Embassy and Monarch on the Bournemouth station and operate mainly to the Isle of Wight under the command of Capt St B Rawle, commodore of the fleet, whose service with the company is fast approaching a quarter of a century."
"Weymouth residents and holiday makers are invited to see for themselves what type of vessel this new Emperor of India really is and the quality and craftsmanship which has transformed her to her present spic and span condition. She will be open for inspection between 2 and 8pm tomorrow."
"The workmen who have been engaged in this reconditioning are quietly proud of the job they have done. Mr J M Ward, the Marine Superintendent responsible for the supervision, is also proud of his workmen. The directors are proud of the finished article. As for the people of Weymouth, they should have pride in the knowledge that such a job can be tackled and executed in their midst in these difficult days."
"Practically everything in the Emperor of India is new. Young apprentices have put in some first class work in panelling. Altogether fifty shipwrights, joiners, machinists, polishers, apprentices and labourers have worked unceasingly, yet all the while proudly, for the past eight months on the Emperor of India. Every bit of work has been done within the firm of Messrs Cosens & Co."
"Emperor of India is now converted to oil and her sea-going performances, speed etc will be watched with interest. Capable of carrying 800 passengers, this steamer represents the acme of comfort and modernity and, above all, is a credit to Weymouth's own shipbuilding yard."
"As soon as the workmen leave the Emperor of India for the last time - and today the finishing touches were being applied - they will transfer their attentions to the company's other steamer Consul, which they hope to have ready for service later in the summer."
The Emperor of India had never been quite right as a ship. Built for the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co in 1906 with an open foredeck (shown in the picture above), she did not come up to expectations and passed to Cosens & Co just two years later which, with their ususal commercial acumen, obtained a brand new steamer at a knock down price. She was lengthened, which improved her performance, but then Cosens plated in the foredeck to make her flush decked like their Majestic and this unsettled her again. Although used on the longer day excursions, Cosens & Co was often trying to get rid of her. She was chartered out for service on the Sussex Coast in 1922 and was forever on the sales lists. But nobody wanted to buy her.
After the war Emperor of India's rebuild gave her a lot of extra weight. She sat low in the water and, in a sea, her paddle boxes tended to beome clogged which slowed her down. As a result, she was more often scheduled for the Bournemouth to Totland Bay or Yarmouth service (as shown in the 1953 steamer notice above) leaving the longer day trips to Southampton, around the Isle of Wight and along the Dorset Coast etc to the more reliable and faster Embassy which was the better time keeper. So poor was the Emperor of India's performance at one stage, coupled with regular paddle wheel problems, that she was relegated to the Bournemouth to Swanage ferry service.
Emperor of India was also a big ship. She required tugs in Weymouth Harbour and at Poole Quay. Her last master Capt Rawle described her as "built like a battleship and a nightmare for all who had to handle her right up to the end". It is therefore not altogether surprising to find that, as the market for excursions diminished in the mid 1950s, the Emperor of India became surplus to requirements and 1956 was her last season.
The "New Look" steamer on which such care, attention to detail and pride had been lavished had managed only nine seasons in her new glory. The picture above shows her being towed astern down Weymouth Harbour en route to the breakers yard in Belgium in January 1957 taking with her a luxurious outfit including the fine panelling in her saloon which Cosens & Co had appropriated from Lilley Langtree's private yacht. Capt Rawle, whose father had been master of the Majestic before the First World War, managed three more years with Cosens sailing as captain of the Embassy before he retired after the 1959 season.