A NEW OVERSEAS TERRITORY
JULY 22ND 1878
A STRATEGIC & MILITARY BASE: In 1878, Cyprus became a British overseas territory. The Ottoman Empire ceded full control, but not ownership, of the island to the British Empire. This followed the signing of the Treaty of Berlin, which gave the Ottomans certain British assurances. The British would go on to use Cyprus as a strategic naval and military base.
A SHANGHAI-CLASS CRUISER: Originally built for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, the HMS Himalaya was a 3,438 gross register ton iron steam crew passenger ship. It became a steam cruiser for the British Royal Navy after they purchased the vessel in 1854.
AN ESSENTIAL A TROOP SHIP: The steam cruiser went on to serve as a troop ship for the British Navy. Serving for four decades, it supported operations during the ‘Second Opium War’ and carried troops all over the British Empire of the time. These locations included India, South Africa, the Gold Coast, and North America.
A NEW ERA: On the morning of July 22nd 1878, the HMS Himalaya took on a much more significant role in the Eastern Mediterranean. It arrived in the port of Larnaca with Sir Garnet Wolseley and the new British Colonial administration of Cyprus onboard. Although the journey was described as a calm and pleasant voyage, the new British governor of Cyprus was not impressed with what he found at Larnaca. He later went on to describe it as a filthy pest house of dirt and fever.
A DISASTROUS END: The HMS Himalaya continued its troop duties until its retirement in 1894. It was sunk during World War II after an enemy air attack, after it was repurposed as a coal hulk. The British Empire would go on to rule the island until Cyprus gained independence in the summer of 1960.
