Glasgow And Ships Of The Clyde

British India's DEVONIA begins storing at Glasgow prior to her commencing educational cruises

At 1350 on 4th April 1962 British India's passenger ship DEVONIA

tied-up at berth 73 Plantation Quay, Glasgow, having just been converted

from a troopship to an educational cruise ship by Barclay Curle, Whiteinch, Glasgow, and moved upriver from Elderslie Dry Dock. She then

commenced storing (loading ship's stores, foodstuffs, etc) prior

to commencing her new service as a "School-ship" On 9th April

at 1330 she shifted from berth 73 to berth 77 Plantation Quay.

At 1000 on 10th April DEVONIA bunkered 200 tons fuel oil from

the oiler CLANITY, and again that day at 1500 bunkered another

495 tons of fuel oil again from CLANITY On 12th April at 0415

DEVONIA cast-off from 77 Plantation Quay, and moved a short

distance downriver to Prince's Dock where she canted at the

entrance and was underway for Liverpool at 0600. A few days

later she commenced her educational cruises, starting at Liverpool.

Some historical information is of interest. DEVONIA was built in

1939 as the troopship DEVONSHIRE for Bibby Line, Liverpool, and

in 1962 Bibby's sold her to British India Line, London, for £175,000

for conversion to an educational cruise ship carrying 194 cabin

passengers and 834 dormitory passengers. British India renamed

her DEVONIA. Conversion was made by Barclay Curle, Whiteinch

, Glasgow, and DEVONIA entered service with BI in Easter 1962.

For 5 years she carried school parties and special interest groups

to generally Scandanavian and Mediterranean ports, and, on 15th

December 1967, having completed 110 educational cruises, she was

sold to Cantieri Navali ‘Santa Maria’, Genoa, Italy, to be broken up.

Demolition began at La Spezia, Italy, in January 1968. DEVONIA

was replaced by the educational cruise ship UGANDA of British India Line,