Troop Ship Gallery

HM Troopship Euphrates arriving in Spithead from Bombay, 5th Dec, 1879

5925054 HM Troopship A'EuphratesA arriving in Spithead from Bombay, 5th Dec, 1879, bringing home the 3rd (East Kent, The Buffs) Regiment of Foot (oil on canvas) by Robins, Thomas Sewell (1814-80); National Army Museum, London; (add.info.: A'HM Troopship A"EuphratesA" arriving in Spithead from Bombay, 5th Dec, 1879, bringing home the 3rd (East Kent, The Buffs) Regiment of Foot.A
Oil on canvas by Thomas Sewell Robins (1810-1880), 1880.
The A'EuphratesA and her four sister-ships were constructed in 1866 to transport troops to and from India through the Suez Canal which was then under construction. They remained in service for about 30 years. The five vessels were each distinguished by a different coloured riband around the hull, and each carried the Star of India painted on her bow, which are both clearly visible in this picture.
Before the opening of the canal in 1869, passage to or from India could take months, either by sea round the Cape of Good Hope or by the overland route across Egypt. Through the canal, the journey from Bombay to Portsmouth was reduced to a matter of weeks. The A'EuphratesA could transport a full battalion of infantry with its families, or about 1,200 people. When first built, the troopships set a new standard in accommodation for the Army and its families, but they soon fell behind merchant vessels in standards of space and comfort.
The painting shows the A'EuphratesA in a choppy sea with other boats. The Fort overlooking the Spithead Channel, possibly Fort Gilkicker, is on the extreme right.); A© National Army Museum ; English, out of copyright

© © National Army Museum / Bridgeman Images

German troops at Oesel Island

German troops, wearing lifebelts, in a small boat having disembarked from the larger troopship alongside, prepare to make an amphibious landing on Oesel Island (Saaremaa, off the coast of modern day Estonia). Operation Albion, the German plan to occupy the Estonian islands of Oesel (Saaremaa), Dago (Hiiumaa) and Moon (Muhu), then part of the Russian Empire, began on 11 October 1917. By 16 October the island had been secured, and German forces remained in occupation until the end of the War

© Mary Evans Picture Library 2015 - https://copyrighthub.org/s0/hub1/creation/maryevans/MaryEvansPictureID/10272141

RMS Mauretania in war camouflage

RMS Mauretania in dazzle camouflage during World War I. The ship was painted with this camouflage while serving as a troop ship. When the Mauretania was launched on 20th September 1906, she was the largest and fastest ship in the world. She held the Blue Riband, the transatlantic speed record, for 22 years

© LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY