Empress of Britain, Durban Harbour, Durban, South Africa, July 1917

“Leaving Durban Harbour. ? SS Empress of Britain.” Exterior view showing a ship docked in the harbour and activity around about. The RMS Empress of Britain (1906-30) was a transatlantic ocean liner built at Govan. During the war she was refitted as an armed merchantman and in 1915 became a troop transport. The photograph was taken by Lt. Irvine an RAMC officer stationed in Durban prior to shipping out for German East Africa. ❧ The image is from an album chronicling the war time experiences of Archibald Clive Irvine (1893-1974) in East Africa. During this time he would meet Dr John W Arthur which in turn would lead to his missionary work at Chogoria in Kenya.