SS Stratheden was a UK-built steam turbine ocean liner. She spent most of her career with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, including the Second World War when she served for six years as a troop ship.
In 1964 John S Latsis bought Stratheden, renamed her Henrietta Latsi and put her into service as a cruise ship. In 1966 he renamed her Marianna Latsi. She was laid up from 1967 and scrapped in 1969.
Stratheden was the fourth to be built of a set of five sister ships that came to be called the "Strath" class. All previous P&O steamships had black-painted hulls and funnels but the "Strath" class were painted with white hulls and buff funnels, which earned them the nickname "The Beautiful White Sisters" or just "The White Sisters".
Building The Vickers-Armstrongs at Barrow-in-Furness built all five "Strath" class liners. The Duchess of Buccleuch and Queensberry launched Stratheden on 10 June 1937 and the ship was completed in December 1937.
The "Strath" class varied very slightly in size. Stratheden had exactly the same dimensions as the fourth ship in the class, Strathallan: long, beam and draught. Strathedens tonnages were , and .
Like and Strathallan, Stratheden had mechanical reduction drive from her turbines to her screws and was built with only one funnel. This is unlike the earlier and , which had turbo-electric transmission and were each built with three funnels. The "Strath" class ships thus form two sub-classes, with Stratheden being in the later sub-class.
After building Strathmore, Vickers-Armstrongs made further changes to the Strath-series design. Stratheden was given a funnel taller to keep her decks cleaner, and her promenade deck had fewer supports than Strathmores to give a more open, less crowded appearance. There were also slight changes to the arrangement of the public saloons, and her tourist class saloons were bigger than Strathmores. Strathallan was built to the same design as Stratheden.
Stratheden had four water-tube boilers and two auxiliary boilers with a combined heating surface of . They supplied steam at 450 lbf/in2 to six steam turbines which drove her twin screws by single reduction gearing. Between them the turbines developed 4,912 NHP and gave her a service speed of .
On sea trials on 10 December 1937 Stratheden achieved a top speed of . On 16 December Vickers delivered her to P&O.
Civilian service
Strathedens pre-war service alternated seasonally between scheduled liner services and holiday cruises. Her scheduled liner route was between Tilbury in England and Brisbane in Queensland via the Straits of Gibraltar, Suez Canal, Bombay, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney. She left Tilbury on her maiden voyage to Brisbane on Christmas Eve, 24 December 1937.
On 1 September 1939, the day that Germany invaded Poland, Stratheden sailed from Tilbury for Australia via India and Ceylon as scheduled. It was the last time she saw her home port of Tilbury for more than six years. She went as far as Sydney, where she arrived on 11 October. She began her return voyage on 17 October and passed through the Suez Canal on 14 November, but because of the war she docked in Plymouth on 24 November and did not continue to Tilbury.
On 12 December 1939 Stratheden left Britain for Australia, this time sailing from Southampton instead of Tilbury. She went via Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, celebrated Christmas in the Indian Ocean, called at Bombay, and arrived at Colombo on New Year's Day 1940. On this voyage she went via Singapore, and reached Sydney on 19 January. On her return voyage her ports of call included Malta on 27 February and Marseille two days later, and she reached Southampton in 6 March.
Troop ship On 19 March 1940 the Ministry of Shipping requisitioned Stratheden to be a troop ship. On 30 March she left Southampton for Australia, sailed via the Mediterranean and Suez Canal as usual, and reached Brisbane on 13 May. She began her return voyage from Brisbane the same day, and called at Colombo on 8–9 June.
But on 10 June, the day after Stratheden left Colombo, Italy declared war on the Allies, which made the Mediterranean unsafe for Allied merchant shipping. And France capitulated on 22 June, ceding her entire Channel and Atlantic coasts to Germany, which brought shipping to and from Southampton within easier range of enemy attack.
Stratheden diverted to Cape Town, where she joined Orient Line's and Pacific Steam's to form Convoy BC C which sailed on 24 June 1940 for Freetown in Sierra Leone. There they joined three other UK merchant ships to form Convoy BC A, which the Royal Navy escorted to Liverpool, arriving on 16 July.
On 5 August 1940 Stratheden left Liverpool carrying 699 passengers and 317 troops. She sailed with Convoy WS 2 via Freetown and Cape Town as far as Bombay. WS 2 included the "Strath" liner and ten other troop ships, the largest of which was Canadian Pacific's liners .
Stratheden reached Bombay on 15 September 1940 and left a week later carrying 268 passengers and 418 troops with Convoy BM 1. Some of her passengers disembarked at Colombo, whence Stratheden continued with Convoy BM1 to Singapore. From there she sailed unescorted via Fremantle, Adelaide and Melbourne and reached Sydney on 17 October. Stratheden did not see Australia again until after the war was over, in October 1945.
Troops to Egypt Stratheden spent most of the next two years moving troops between Britain, India, Ceylon and Egypt: sometimes in convoys but other times unescorted. In 1941 her movements varied to include calls in Trinidad in the Lesser Antilles and Halifax in Nova Scotia.
In spring 1941 Stratheden carried 3,264 troops in Convoy WS 7, which included 10 troop ships carrying a total of at least 24,615 troops. WS 7 left the Clyde on 24 March, reached Freetown on 4 April and then split into sections to continue to Cape Town and Suez. WS 7 included all five of P&O's "Strath" liners, and may be the only time all five sisters sailed together.
WS 7 also included P&O's , the French liner , Royal Mail Lines' , Canadian Pacific's , , and , Cunard-White Star Line's , Orient Line's , , and , Union-Castle Line's and and the Dutch Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
WS 7's escorts were led by the battleship , supported by the battleship and two light cruisers. There were 19 destroyers: 16 Royal Navy plus the Royal Canadian Navy destroyer HMCS St Clair, Free French destroyer and Free Polish destroyer .
Trinidad and Canada On 15 May 1941 Stratheden left Suez for a long, indirect, unescorted voyage home to Britain. She called at Port Sudan, Mombasa, Durban and Cape Town, then crossed the Atlantic twice: westward to Trinidad, where she called on 5–6 June, and then eastward to the Clyde, where she arrived on 18 June.
Stratheden next made two crossings to Canada. On 8 August 1941 she left the Clyde carrying 3,391 troops in Convoy CT 1 to Halifax, and on 26 August she left Halifax with Convoy TC 12B carrying 3,269 troops to the Clyde. On 17 September she left the Clyde carrying 3,169 troops with Convoy WS 1 to Halifax.
On 27 September 1941 Stratheden left Halifax for Egypt. She sailed unescorted via Trinidad and Cape Town to Durban. There she joined Convoy CM 18X, which left on 29 October and took her as far as Aden. By the time she left Durban, Stratheden was carrying 3,190 troops. From Aden she continued unescorted to Suez, where she arrived on 16 November.
On 16 November 1941 Stratheden left Suez unescorted for Canada. She called at Port Sudan, Durban and Cape Town, celebrated Christmas 1941 in mid-Atlantic, reached Trinidad on New Year's Eve and Halifax on 5 January 1942. On 9 January 1942 Stratheden left Halifax carrying 2,866 troops in Convoy NA 1 to the Clyde.
Troops to India and Egypt On 16 February 1942 Stratheden left the Clyde carrying 4,134 troops in Convoy WS 16. She called at Freetown and Durban, where WS 16 divided and she continued with WS 16B to Bombay, where she arrived on 8 April. On 18 April Stratheden left Bombay unescorted for her return voyage. She called at Cape Town and Freetown and reached the Clyde on 23 May.
On 21 June 1942 Stratheden left the Clyde carrying 4,496 troops and joined Convoy WS 20, which included 15 troop ships and carried least 44,305 troops. WS 20's largest troop ship was Stirling Castle, one of three Union-Castle liners in the convoy. Strathmore was also in WS 20, carrying 4,710 troops. WS 20's escorts were led by the battleship , supported by 15 Royal Navy destroyers and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Georgetown.
Convoy WS 20 divided. Stratheden continued to the Indian Ocean in Convoy WS 20A, which dispersed off Aden. Stratheden reached Suez on 11 August 1942. Stratheden returned home unescorted. She left Suez on 14 August 1942, called at Durban, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Freetown and reached Liverpool on 26 September.
Operation Torch In Liverpool Stratheden was fitted with additional anti-aircraft guns. In October 1942 she took part in a troop landing exercise off the Isle of Mull. Her next mission was Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French North Africa.
On 1 November 1942 carrying 3,646 troops she left the Clyde for Algiers in Convoy KMF 2, whose 13 troop ships included Strathmore, Empress of Canada, Duchess of Richmond and three US Moore-McCormack liners , and Uruguay. KMF 2 also included cargo ships laden with stores and petrol. The convoy was escorted by four Royal Navy destroyers, three sloops, two US Coast Guard cutters on loan to the Royal Navy, and the armed yacht HMS Philante. Stratheden returned from Algiers in Convoy MKF 2.
A few weeks later Stratheden took another 4,714 troops to Algiers in Convoy KMF 4, which left the Clyde on 27 November. The convoy's troop ships included Monarch of Bermuda, , Duchess of Bedford, Otranto, three Union-Castle liners, three Dutch troop ships and the Polish Batory and . The light cruiser led KMF 4's escorts, which included 12 Royal Navy destroyers, the Royal Australian Navy destroyer and two frigates. Stratheden returned from Algiers in Convoy MKF 4, which reached the Clyde on 18 December.
Two voyages to India On 23 January 1943 Stratheden left the Clyde for India with the P&O troop ships and Maloja. Between them they carried 13,244 troops, of whom 4,643 were aboard Stratheden. They sailed as far as Freetown in Convoy WS 26, which consisted mostly of troop ships, including , Empress of Canada, Duchess of Richmond, Mooltan, Arundel Castle, two Dutch troop ships and one Belgian. WS 26's escorts included the armed merchant cruisers Canton and Cilicia, five Royal Navy destroyers, two Australian destroyers, two Greek Navy destroyers and a frigate. Convoy WS 26 divided and Stratheden continued to India in Convoy WS 26B, which reached Bombay on 17 March 1943.
Stratheden began her return voyage a week later. She sailed unescorted from Bombay to Cape Town, where she joined the troop ship to form Convoy CF 12 to Freetown. By the time the two ships left Cape Town on 19 April, Stratheden was carrying 1,642 troops and 1,496 prisoners of war. From Freetown the pair continued as Convoy CF 12A, reaching Liverpool on 10 May 1943.
On 19 June 1943 Stratheden left the Clyde carrying 4,397 troops to India. Off Liverpool the next day she joined Convoy WS 31, whose largest troop ship was Stirling Castle. WS 31's escorts were led by the light cruiser and flotilla leader and included 14 destroyers. From Freetown Stratheden continued unescorted via Cape Town to Bombay, where she arrived on 13 August.