View source for RMS Ophir

{{Short description|Orient Line ocean liner}}
{{other ships|SS Ophir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2018}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}} 
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= HMS Ophir at Halifax circa 1901 LAC 3332920.jpg
|Ship caption= ''Ophir'' in dry dock in [[Port of Halifax|Halifax, Nova Scotia]] in 1901
}} 
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship country= [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]]
|Ship flag= 
|Ship name= ''Ophir''
|Ship namesake= [[Ophir]]
|Ship owner= [[Orient Steam Navigation Company]]
|Ship operator= {{flagicon|United Kingdom|naval}} [[Royal Navy]] (1901, 1915–19)
|Ship registry= {{flagicon|United Kingdom|government}} [[Glasgow]]
|Ship route= [[Port of London|London]] – [[Suez Canal]] – [[Port of Colombo|Colombo]] – [[Port Jackson|Sydney]]
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder= [[Robert Napier and Sons|Robert Napier & Sons]], [[Govan]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number= 421
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 11 April 1891
|Ship completed= October 1891
|Ship acquired= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship refit= 
|Ship in service= 
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship identification= *UK [[official number]] 98673
*[[code letters]] MJGD
*{{ICS|Mike}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Delta}}
*1915: [[pennant number]] M 92
*1918: pennant number MI 82
*by 1918: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] GYB
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship commissioned= as Royal Yacht, February 1901
|Ship decommissioned= as Royal Yacht, 6 November 1901
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned= as AMC, 26 January 1915
|Ship decommissioned= as AMC, 29 July 1919
|Ship fate= Scrapped in 1922
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship type= [[ocean liner]]
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|6910}}, {{NRT|3323}}
|Ship displacement=
|Ship length= {{cvt|465.0|ft|abbr=on}} 
|Ship beam= {{cvt|53.4|ft|abbr=on}} 
|Ship draught= {{cvt|24|ft|6|in|abbr=on}} 
|Ship depth= {{cvt|34.1|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 4
|Ship power= 1,398 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]], 9,500 [[Horsepower#Indicated horsepower|ihp]]
|Ship propulsion= *2 × [[Propeller|screws]]
*2 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engines]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|18|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity= *Passengers: 230 first class, 142 second class, 520 steerage
*[[Reefer ship|refrigerated cargo]]: {{convert|52400|cuft}}
|Ship crew= 
|Ship armament= 1915: 6 × {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} guns
|Ship sensors= 
|Ship notes= 
}}
|}

'''RMS ''Ophir''''' was an [[Orient Steam Navigation Company]] (Orient Line) [[Steamship|steam]] [[ocean liner]] that was built in 1891 and scrapped in 1922. Her regular route was between [[Port of London|London]] and [[Port Jackson|Sydney]] via the [[Suez Canal]], [[Port of Colombo|Colombo]] and [[Port of Melbourne|Melbourne]].

In 1901 she was the [[royal yacht]] HMS ''Ophir'', taking the then [[George V|Duke]] and [[Mary of Teck|Duchess]] of Cornwall and York on a tour of the [[British Empire]]. From 1915 to 1919 she again served in the [[Royal Navy]], this time as an [[Armed merchantman#Armed merchant cruisers|armed merchant cruiser]]. After the [[World War I|First World War]] she was laid up, and in 1922 she was scrapped.

==Building and identification==
[[Robert Napier and Sons]] built ''Ophir'' in [[Govan]], [[Glasgow]], as yard number 421. She was launched on 11 April 1891 and completed that October. Her registered length was {{cvt|465.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|53.4|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|34.1|ft|abbr=on}}. Her [[tonnage]]s were {{GRT|6910}} and {{NRT|3323}}. She had berths for 892 passengers.<ref name=SBS>{{cite web |url= https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=18645&vessel=OPHIR |title=Ophir |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref> Her cargo holds included three [[Reefer ship|refrigerated]] chambers, with a combined capacity of {{convert|52400|cuft}}.{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1914|loc=List of Vessels Fitted With Refrigerating Apparatus}}

''Ophir'' had twin [[Propeller|screws]], each driven by a three-cylinder [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion steam engine]]. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 1,398 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]{{sfn|''Lloyd's Register'' 1914|loc=OPA–ORA}} or 9,500 [[Horsepower#Indicated horsepower|ihp]],<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=8709 |title=SS Ophir |work=Shipping Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526055340/http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=8709 |access-date=30 May 2023|archive-date=26 May 2011 }}</ref> and gave her a speed of {{convert|18|kn|km/h}}.<ref name=Swiggum>{{cite web |url= https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsO.shtml |last1=Swiggum |first1=Susan |last2=Kohli |first2=Marjorie |title=Ship Descriptions – O |work=TheShipsList |date=3 December 2008 |access-date=30 May 2023}}</ref>

Orient Line [[Ship registration|registered]] ''Ophir'' at [[Glasgow]]. Her [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] [[official number]] was 98673 and her [[code letters]] were MJGD.{{sfn|''Mercantile Navy List'' 1892|p=209}} By 1918 her [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless telegraph]] [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] was GYB.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1918|p=709}}

==Ocean liner==
One appreciative passenger was "the Welsh Swagman" [[Joseph Jenkins (diarist)|Joseph Jenkins]] who embarked at Melbourne on 24 November 1894, bound for [[Port of Tilbury|Tilbury]] in a second-class cabin at the fare of £26 15s 6d.{{sfn|Jenkins|1975|p=214}} When he first saw the ship, he thought it so huge that he wrote "it is a wonder to me that it would move".{{sfn|Phillips|2002|p=370}} Jenkins, a noted diarist, detailed the 103-day voyage passing through the new [[Suez Canal]].{{sfn|Phillips|2002|pp=371–382}}<ref>The [[State Library of Victoria]] holds Jenkins' Australian diary. Dr Phillips' biography includes an informative summary with excerpts of the sea voyage.</ref>

==Royal yacht==
[[File:Sydney ferry WARATAH and Royal Yacht OPHIR with Duke and Duchess of York 1901.jpg|thumb|The royal yacht HMS ''Ophir'' [[Dressing overall|dressed overall]] in [[Port Jackson|Sydney]] in 1901]]
In 1901, as HMS ''Ophir'', she took the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King [[George V]] and [[Mary of Teck|Queen Mary]]) on their tour of the [[British Empire]]. The visit was scheduled to open the new [[Parliament of Australia#History|Federal Parliament]] in [[Melbourne]], [[Australia]],<ref>{{cite news |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/06/09/101075056.pdf |title=Royalty in Australia |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 June 1901}}</ref> and also visited [[Gibraltar]], [[Malta]], [[Ceylon]], the [[Straits Settlements]], [[New Zealand]], [[South Africa]], [[Canada]], and [[Newfoundland]].{{sfn|Nicolson|1959|p=68}} The Royal Navy provided deck crew for the tour, and the [[engine room]] staff were from the Orient Line.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

A [[petty officer]] [[Harry Price (Royal Navy seaman)|Harry Price]] was with the tour from February to November 1901. He wrote a record, which was later published.{{sfn|Price|1980}} A [[chief petty officer]] McGregor, working for [[Alfred John West]]'s "Our Navy" company, filmed the cruise. Cinema film and lantern slides of the cruise were shown to the British Royal Family and staff at [[Sandringham House]] on 9 November 1901.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} (Ref: Personal diary of the Prince of Wales (later King George V), 10 November 1901: "Afterwards West and McGregor showed the cinematograph photographs, taken by the latter, during our tour in the Colonies in the ball room, all the tenants & servants came, they were interesting but not very successful." ''Diary Extract reproduced by the permission of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.'')

On the completion of the royal tour, ''Ophir'' was paid off at Tilbury 6 November 1901.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York |date=5 November 1901 |page=6 |issue=36604}}</ref>

==Armed merchant cruiser==
After the UK entered the First World War, the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] requisitioned ''Ophir'' for conversion into an armed merchant cruiser. She was armed with six {{convert|6|in|mm|adj=on}} guns. She entered service on 26 January 1915 as HMS ''Ophir'', with the [[pennant number]] M 92. On 26 February the Admiralty bought her from Orient Line.<ref name=NavHist>{{cite web |url= https://www.naval-history.net/OWShips-WW1-08-HMS_Ophir.htm |editor-last=Olmstead |editor-first=Jeff |title=HMS Ophir – March 1915 to May 1917, April to December 1918, UK out, 9th Cruiser Squadron (central Atlantic incl Madeira-Canaries area), East Indies and China Stations, Pacific |work=Royal Navy Log Books of the World War 1 Era |publisher=Naval-History.net}}</ref>

''Ophir'' joined the [[9th Cruiser Squadron]]. On 21 March 1915 she left Tilbury, and by 25 March she was off the coast of [[First Portuguese Republic|Portugal]]. She patrolled between [[Gibraltar]], the [[Canary Islands]], [[Madeira]] and the [[Azores]]. In March 1916 she extended her patrol to the [[Cape Verde]] islands.  She was [[dry dock]]ed in Gibraltar in July 1915, and a second time in March and April 1916, after which she lay at Gibraltar until June. She then patrolled to Cape Verde, Madeira and [[Autonomous Port of Dakar|Dakar]] until September 1916, when she returned to [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]].<ref name=NavHist/>

From Devonport, ''Ophir'' returned to patrolling between Cape Verde, Dakar and [[Sierra Leone Colony and Protectorate|Sierra Leone]]. She was at Gibraltar from 22 December 1916, and dry docked there from 19 January to 1 February 1917. On 15 February she left Gibraltar, and patrolled to Sierra Leone. On 28 February she left Sierra Leone, and on 13 March she reached [[Plymouth]]. There is a gap in her surviving [[logbook]]s from 31 March 1917 until 1 April 1918.<ref name=NavHist/>

[[File:StateLibQld 1 108960 Ophir (ship).jpg|thumb|Artist's impression of ''Ophir'' under way]]
In January 1918 ''Ophir''{{'}}s pennant number was changed to MI 82. From 5 to 11 April 1918 she was anchored off Sierra Leone. She then steamed  to [[Port of Cape Town|Cape Town]], where she was in port from 23 April to 1 May. From 9 to 12 May she was at [[Isle de France (Mauritius)|Mauritius]], and from 23 to 27 May she was in [[Singapore]]. From 1 to 26 June she was in [[British Hong Kong|Hong Kong]], and from 2 to 5 July she was in Singapore again. She patrolled the north coast of [[Borneo]] until 5 August, and then was in Hong Kong from 10 to 27 August.<ref name=NavHist/>

''Ophir'' then crossed the [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]] via [[Hawaii]] to [[Peru]]. She was in [[Honolulu Harbor]] from 14 to 19 September, [[Paita]] from 7 to 10 October, and [[Callao]] from 13 to 28 October. She then patrolled south to [[Mollendo]], and then ports along the coast of [[Chile]] to [[Valparaíso]], where she was in port from 14 to 24 November. She then patrolled south to [[Talcahuano]] and [[Coronel, Chile|Coronel]], and back to Valparaíso, where she was in port again from 29 November to 3 December. She then headed north, called at ports in northern Chile, and on 26 December passed through the [[Panama Canal]]. She remained at [[Cristóbal, Colón]] until at least 31 December 1918, when her surviving logbooks end.<ref name=NavHist/>

In 1919 ''Ophir'' was laid up in the [[River Clyde]],<ref name=Swiggum/> and then on 29 July she was paid off.<ref name=NavHist/> In August 1921 she was sold for scrap, and in 1922 she was [[Ship breaking|broken up]] at [[Troon]].<ref name=SBS/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Joseph |author-link=Joseph Jenkins (diarist) |editor-last=Evans |editor-first=W |year=1975 |title=Diary of a Welsh Swagman 1869–1894 |place=Melbourne |publisher=Macmillan}}
*{{cite book |year=1914 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |ref={{harvid|''Lloyd's Register'' 1914}} }}
*{{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1918 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The Wireless Press, Ltd}}
*{{cite book |year=1892 |title=Mercantile Navy List |place=London |via=Crew List Index Project |url= https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=Ophir&year=1892&submit=Enter |ref={{harvid|''Mercantile Navy List'' 1892}} }}
*{{cite book |last=Nicolson |first=Harold |author-link=Harold Nicolson |year=1959 |chapter=''Ophir'' itinerary |title=King George V: His Life and Reign |place=New York |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/kinggeorgethefif006892mbp#page/n105/mode/2up/search/canada}}
*{{cite book |last1=Osborne |first1=Richard |last2=Spong |first2=Harry |last3=Grover |first3=Tom |year=2007 |title=Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945 |place=Windsor, UK |publisher=World Warship Society |isbn=978-0-9543310-8-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Phillips |first=B |year=2002 |title=Pity the Swagman |place=Aberystwyth |publisher=Cymdeithas Lifrau Ceredigion Gyf}}
*{{cite book |last=Price |first=Harry |author-link=Harry Price (Royal Navy seaman) |year=1980 |title=The Royal Tour or the Cruise of H.M.S. Ophir 1901: Being a lower deck account of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York's voyage around the British Empire |place=Dartmouth |publisher=Webb & Bower |isbn=978-0906671108}}

==External links==
*[https://www.reddit.com/r/OceanLinerArchitect/comments/1dcj7u4/the_new_orient_liner_ophir_from_engineering/ The New Orient Liner "Ophir", from Engineering, November 1891]
{{Commons category-inline|Ophir (ship, 1891)}}


{{Royal Yachts of the United Kingdom}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ophir}}
[[Category:1891 ships]]
[[Category:1901 in Australia]]
[[Category:Ocean liners of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Clyde]]
[[Category:Ships of the Orient Line]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:World War I Auxiliary cruisers of the Royal Navy]]