The Narkunda was ordered in 1913 of Harland & Wolff in Belfast, but WW1 delayed completion and she did not enter service until 30 March 1920, five days after sister-ship Naldera. The two were the first three-funnelled P&O liners and the first with cruiser sterns. Narkunda ran on the mail service to Australia, and later to East Asia, with a capacity of 673 passengers of which 426 were first class. The postcard states "10,000 tons", but other references state the grt as 16,227 tons.
Narkunda was converted from coal to oil firing in 1927 (unlike the Naldera) and continued in passenger service until 1940, making trips to Shanghai and Cape Town even after WW2 had been declared. Used as a troopship thereafter, Narkunda was bombed and sunk in November 1942 during the North African troop landings, the third of three P&O ships to be lost there.
For more, see the book Migrant Ships to Australia and New Zealand 1900-1939.
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