SL/S/GHRB/M/14

Builders William Denny & Brothers, Gross tonnage 917 grt

Length 68.49m (224.8ft) , Breadth 9.54m (31.3ft) , Depth 6.15m (20.2ft)

Power 724 ihp , Propulsion Single screw , Speed 11 knots

Passenger capacity 21 first class , Cargo capacity 1,227 cubic metres (43,331 cubic feet)

18.05.1857: Keel laid as Semiramis for European and Australian Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Intended for their Marseilles/Alexandria service.
21.10.1857: Launched.
01.12.1857: Purchased by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company for £30,000 following the liquidation of the previous owners.
22.02.1858: Registered as Malabar. The name was taken from a district of south-west India, now part of Kerala State, which gave its name tothe Malabar       Coast between Goa in the north and Cape Comorin in the south.

04.03.1858: Ran trials and left her builders.
06.03.1858: Arrived at Southampton.
11.03.1858: Maiden sailing Southampton/Alexandria.
26.05.1858: Left Southampton via St Vincent and Mauritius to Bombay (arrived 05th August). Bombay/Hong Kong service.
09.03.1859: Shaft broke between Galle and Hong Kong. At Hong Kong 19th March to 22nd June.
22.06.1859: First steamer to ship tea in Hong Kong for London via the Overland Route.
22.05.1860: Anchor chain parted during a severe squall and she was stranded on Hospital Reef in Galle Harbour, Ceylon, where she quickly broke up. Her passengers and crew were saved, plus some of the cargo, including opium worth in excess of £100,00, and some of the £287,740 of specie aboard; more was later recovered by divers, including P&O’s carpenter and gunner who were both commended for their efforts. On board at the time were Lord Elgin and Baron Gros who were travelling to China in connection with the Anglo- French military expedition to enforce the Tientsin Treaties of 1858.
27.11.1860: Sale of wreck for what she would fetch approved by P&O Board.