We did not stay in Durban long, and left alone with our escort - the biggest warship I'd seen on escort duty. It must have been a battleship, or at least a very heavy cruiser; we made a dash for Bombay together - perhaps it was after dark, for I don't recall the famous "Lady in White" of Durban singing farewell to us as we sailed away.
Danny - Looking at PeteT's list of escorts, FROBISHER could certainly have been regarded as a heavy cruiser in view of her armament whilst MAURITIUS, although not classed as heavy with "only" 6 inch guns was only some 10 feet shorter and displaced some 1000 tons less.
I had to smile at the reference to the "Lady in White", Mrs Perla Gibson, since I vividly recall her singing us on our way on what I believe must have been one of the last RN ship visits to Durban before her death. We had just spent a very rigorous fortnight there and it was blowing a hooley from the east, yet there she was, standing on the north breakwater, hanging on to her white hat and with her voluminous long white dress billowing in the gale, belting out "Rule Britannia" - with two servants hanging desperately on to save her from being blown into the harbour entrance. More for those interested at:
The Lady In White
Incidentally, I'm somewhat surprised at FED's comments, firstly from my long term reading of his previous excellent posts, and secondly, whilst FROBISHER and MAURITIUS may have been fortunate enough to enjoy a charmed life in the Indian Ocean, many other warships and merchant ships did not, as a quick shoogle with Google will confirm. In any case, both ships more than made up for it later, with MAURITIUS covering the landings at no less than Sicily, Salerno, and Anzio, as well as being there on D-Day at Sword Beach, whilst FROBISHER was also at Sword, and was in fact herself damaged by a torpedo in the Baie de la Seine in August 1944.
"Nice steady wartime job" indeed!
Jack