Expert: Mark Smith - 9/26/2011

Question
Hello Mark,

I understand if this is not within your area of expertise but given some of your previous answers about the Suez canal etc, you seemed best placed to answer my question relating to passenger travel to India in the 1930s.

Assuming travel through the Suez canal, do you know where departure (and stopping points, for example in southern Europe/the Mediterranean) and arrival ports were? How long would the voyage be likely to take, and what sort of ship would be used?

Any details you care to add are more than welcome; I suppose my priority is to know how long the journey would take from England to India and from the Mediterranean to India, and where the ship might arrive.

Thanks very much for your help.

Nicola

Answer
Hello Nicola.
This website is very good www.timetableimages.com. If you end up on the airline page just click on maritime timetable images, then list of shipping companies, then P which will take you to P&O British India who were the largest company sailing to/from India in the 1930s. The site has a list of ships and ports of call from that era, but no times. However I've found that the fastest sailing at that time was 17 days by the P&O/BI ship Viceroy of India in 1932.

Mark