Empire Windrush, under the name MV Monte Rosa, was the last of five almost identical Monte-class passenger ships (in German) that were built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg between 1924 and 1931 for Hamburg Süd (Hamburg South American Steam Shipping Company).[citation needed]
During the 1920s, Hamburg Süd believed there would be a lucrative business in carrying German immigrants to South America (see German Argentine). The first two ships (MV Monte Sarmiento and MV Monte Olivia) were built for that purpose with single-class passenger accommodation of 1,150 in cabins and 1,350 in dormitories. In the event, the immigrant trade was less than expected and the two ships were repurposed
HMT Empire Windrush
​HMT Empire Windrush, originally MV Monte Rosa, was a passenger liner and cruise ship launched in Germany in 1930. She was owned and operated by the German shipping line Hamburg Süd in the 1930s under the name Monte Rosa. During World War II she was operated by the German navy as a troopship. At the end of the war, she was taken by the British Government as a prize of war and renamed the Empire Windrush. In British service, she continued to be used as a troopship until March 1954, when the vessel caught fire and sank in the Mediterranean Sea with the loss of four crew. H.M.T. stands for ‘His Majesty’s Transport’ and M.V. for ‘Motor Vessel’.
Empire Windrush brought one of the first large groups of postwar West Indian immigrants to the United Kingdom, carrying 1,027 passengers and two stowaways on a voyage from Jamaica to London in 1948. 802 of these passengers gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean: of these, 693 intended to settle in the United Kingdom. British Caribbean people who came to the United Kingdom in the period after World War II, including those who came on later ships, are sometimes referred to as the Windrush generation.
as cruise ships, operating in Northern European waters, the Mediterranean and around South America.[3]
This proved to be a great success. Until then, cruise holidays had been the preserve of the rich. But by providing modestly priced cruises, Hamburg Süd was able to profitably cater to a large new clientele.[3] Another ship was commissioned to cater for the demand – the MV Monte Cervantes. However, she struck an uncharted rock and sank after only two years in service. Despite this, Hamburg Süd remained confident in the design and quickly ordered two more ships, the MV Monte Pascoal and the MV Monte Rosa;[3] Monte Rosa was launched on 13 December 1930.[4]The five Monte-class vessels were diesel-powered motor ships, with four 1,436 nhp four-stroke diesel engines driving two propellers. At the time, the use of diesel
engines was highly unusual in ships of this size, which would have been typically steam-powered. The first two to be launched Monte Sarmiento and Monte Olivia were in fact the first large diesel-powered passenger ships to see service with a German operator.[5] The use of diesel engines reflected the experience Blohm & Voss had gained by building diesel-powered U-boats during World War I.[3] The ships' top speed was 14 knots (26 km/h) (around half the speed of the large trans-Atlantic Ocean liners of the era) but this was considered adequate for both the immigrant and cruise business.[3] Monte Rosa was 500 ft 6 in (152.55 m) long, with a beam of 65 ft 8 in (20.02 m). She had a depth of 37 ft 9 in (11.51 m). The ship was assessed at 13,882 GRT, 7,788 NRT.
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Experiences of immigration to the UK. Between 1948 and 1970 nearly half a million people left their homes in the West Indies to live in Britain. The West Indies consists of more than 20 islands in the Caribbean, including Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad.
​until 1962. Among the passengers was Sam Beaver King, who went on to help found the Notting Hill Carnival and who became the first black Mayor of Southwark.[35] There were also the calypso musicians Lord Kitchener, Lord Beginner, Lord Woodbine and Mona Baptiste. One of the stowaways was Evelyn Wauchope, a 39-year-old dressmaker.[28][36] She was discovered seven days out of Kingston. A whip-round was organised on board ship, raising £50 – enough for the fare and £4 pocket money for her. Nancy Cunard, heiress to the Cunard shipping fortune, who was on her way back from Trinidad, "took a fancy to her" and "intended looking after her".[37]
Those who had not already arranged accommodation were temporarily housed in the Clapham South deep shelter in south-west London, less than a mile away from the Coldharbour Lane Employment Exchange in Brixton, where some of the arrivals sought work. The stowaways served brief prison sentences, but were eligible to remain in the United Kingdom on their release.[38]
Many of Empire Windrush's passengers only intended to stay for a few years. Although a number did return the majority remained to settle permanently. Those born in the West Indies who settled in the UK in this migration movement over the following years are now typically referred to as the "Windrush Generation"
In 1948, Empire Windrush, which was en route from Australia to Britain via the Atlantic, docked in Kingston, Jamaica, to pick up servicemen who were on leave. The British Nationality Act 1948, giving the status of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC status) to all British subjects connected with the United Kingdom or a British colony, was going through parliament, and some Caribbean migrants decided to embark "ahead of the game". Prior to 1962, the UK had no immigration control for CUKCs, who could settle indefinitely in the UK without restrictions. The ship was far from full, and so an opportunistic advertisement was placed in a Jamaican newspaper offering cheap transport on the ship for anybody who wanted to come and work in the UK. Many former servicemen took this opportunity to return to Britain with the hopes of finding better employment including in some cases rejoining the RAF; others decided to make the journey just to see what the 'mother country' was like.[25][26] One passenger later recalled that demand for tickets far exceeded the supply and there was a long queue to obtain one.
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The ship docked at the Port of Tilbury, near London, on 21 June 1948,[28][29] and the 1,027 passengers began disembarking the next day. A commonly given figure for the number of West Indian immigrants on board is 492,[2][29] based understandably on news reports in the media at the time, which variously announced that "more than 400", "430" or "500" Jamaican men had arrived in Britain.[30][31][32] However, the ship's records, kept in the United Kingdom National Archives, indicate conclusively that 802 passengers gave their last place of residence as a country in the Caribbean.[1]
The ship also carried 66 people whose last country of residence was Mexico – they were a group of Polish people who had travelled from Siberia via India and the Pacific, and who had been granted permission to settle in the United Kingdom under the terms of the Polish Resettlement Act 1947.[1][2][33][34] They had been among a group of Polish people who had been living in Mexico since 1943,[33] and the Empire Windrush had called at Tampico, Mexico, in order to pick them up.[1]
Of the other passengers, 119 were from Britain and 40 from other parts of the world.[1]
The disembarkation of Empire Windrush's passengers was a notable news event, and was covered by newspaper reporters and by Pathé News newsreel cameras.[30] The name Windrush as a result come to be used as shorthand for West Indian migration, and by extension for the beginning of modern British multiracial society.[citation needed]The arrival of the ship immediately prompted complaints from some members of parliament, but the first legislation controlling immigration was not passed
