RIMS Warren Hastings was a Royal Indian Marine troopship built by the Barrow Shipbuilding Company.

However, whilst in service the ship struck a rock and was wrecked off the coast of Réunion on the night of 14 January 1897, while travelling to Mauritius from Cape Town.

Sir Edward Reed oversaw the design and construction, and she was named by Lady Agnes Burne.

[2] On 20 November 1896, the 1st Battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, stationed at Jullundur, was ordered to go to Mauritius.

At the time of impact, the ship was traveling at a speed of 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph), and had veered 8 miles (13 km) off course.

The lieutenants determined that the rocks were safe, and Captain Holland ordered the evacuation of the ship to begin at 04:00; the men began climbing down the rope ladders.

A member of the Rifle Corps, Private N. McNamara, strung a line between the ship and the shore, and heavier ropes were subsequently set up.

[4][5][6][9] Soon after the wreck, when the rain had subsided, Captain Holland sent members of the Rifle Corps and the York and Lancaster Regiment to retrieve some baggage from the ship, which was stuck on the rocks and had not sunk.

Captain Holland contacted C. W. Bennett, the British Consul at Saint-Denis, and they secured passage to Mauritius on the SS Lalpoora, located at Pointe des Galets.