Batory saves the day for war-time evacuees

PETER DU TOIT
THE SHIPS that carried evacuees on mercy voyages during and after the Great Wars played a special role in the maritime history of the world, and Batory was one of those legends. On a late autumn evening on April 20, 1971, a forlorn-looking passenger liner made an unheralded departure from the Victoria Basin, Cape Town harbour. This was no ordinary scheduled visit – she was loading bunker fuel for her final voyage, a slow passage to Hong Kong to meet her end at the scrapyard. The sight of her passing the breakwater and disappearing into the gathering dusk was tinged with sadness. The name ‘Batory’ still proudly emblazoned on her aged hull told of a ship with an illustrious and historic past, with many distinctions to mark her 34 year career. Both in peace and wartime she served her nation Poland with honour and dignity. While Poland only had limited access to the sea, her traditional maritime trans-Atlantic services dated from the 1930s and were strengthened by the new port of Gdynia. To maintain the Polish trans-Atlantic service it was decided in June 1933 to build a pair of 14 000 gross ton passenger ships. There was one problem however - Poland lacked the necessary cash reserves to pay for the new ships. In an unequalled exchange agreement between the Polish and Italian governments, it was agreed to cover the cost in six consignments of Polish coal. The two liners were to be named Batory and Pilsudski with only the finest Polish artists and craftsmen involved in designing the interiors. Pilsudski was launched in December 1934 with Batory following in July 1935. Amid great excitement the Batory sailed from Trieste on delivery to Gdynia, proudly arriving at her new homeport in May 1936. Pressed into service as a troopship she was to have an unsurpassed war record. Finally, from 1957 to 1968, she became the only passenger liner serving the St. Lawrence seaway from the Baltic and Scandinavia. The final call at Cape Town in 1971 was therefore a poignant event, with the departing image of the Batory reviving the story of the Singing Ship.