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Postcards

The postcards in this collection display images of many ships associated with Elder Dempster Lines. Some cards have handwritten details on the reverse with information relating to the ships, whereas other postcards contain handwritten messages to loved ones and friends.

 

Stamps and postmarks can help to date the postcards and indicate their place of origin. These dates range throughout the twentieth century. Other postcards are unused with background details indicating their location, such as postcards with the Royal Liver Building, pinpointing the River Mersey in Liverpool.  

 

One set of postcards are of the SS Captain Hobson, which was originally launched in 1920, as SS Amarapoora, providing first class accommodation between Liverpool and Burma. A refit in 1935, provided more varied accommodation and extended schedule. The Royal Navy requisitioned the ship during WW2, and it became a hospital ship., before being taken over by the London Ministry of Transport, then chartered by the “International Refugee Organisation to assist displaced persons. SS Amarapoora was renamed SS Captain Hobson and refitted in 1951 to carry passengers to New Zealand under the New Zealand Government’s Immigration Scheme. These postcards show the outcome of this refitting. The ship sailed for 39 years in total, before being broken up in 1959.  

 

Another set of postcards is of MV Accra which was launched at Barrow in 1945, and commenced her maiden voyage on 24th September 1947 from Liverpool. She returned to Barrow for repairs in 1949 and her hull was repainted from black to grey. The postcards in this collection show MV Accra with her original black hull. MV Accra served Elder Dempster until 8th November 1967.  

Postcard Collection 

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