page_title: HMT Empire Windrush
section_title: Background and description
hierarchical_section_title: HMT Empire Windrush / Background and description
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Der deutsche Dampfer "Monte Cervantes" untergegangen! Das deutsche Motorschiff "Monte Cervantes" der Hamburg Süd-Amerikanischen Dampfschifffahrtsgesellschaft, das vor 2 Jahren bei Spitzbergen von dem russischen Eisbrecher "Krassin" aus schwerer Seenot gerettet werden mußte, ist an der Südspitze von Amerika, in der Magellanstrasse auf Grund gelaufen und untergegangen. Die Passagiere und Besatzung konnten sämtlich geborgen werden.
context_page_description: 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’.
  In 1948, 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.
context_section_description: 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).
  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 as cruise ships, operating in Northern European waters, the Mediterranean and around South America.
  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. 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.
  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. The use of diesel engines reflected the experience Blohm & Voss had gained by building diesel-powered U-boats during World War I. 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.
  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.
caption: Empire Windrush's sister ship, Monte Cervantes, while in service with Hamburg Süd
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