Partition of India in the United Provinces (where Muslims were attacked by Hindus), and on to Rawalpindi in March 1947 in which Hindus were attacked or driven out by Muslims. The British Prime Minister Attlee appointed Lord Louis Mountbatten as India's last viceroy, who was given the task to oversee British India's independence by June 1948, with the instruction to "avoid" partition and "preserve" a United India, but with adaptational authority to ensure a British withdrawal with minimal setbacks. Mountbatten hoped to revive the Cabinet Mission scheme for a federal arrangement for India. But despite his initial keenness for preserving the center the
RMS Viceroy of India to P&O on 7 March 1929 and made her maiden voyage on the Indian mail route. "Viceroy of India" was also suited for leisure cruises, which she made every year until the outbreak of World War II in September 1939. On 9 August 1929, she collided with the tug at Venice, Italy; "Olanda" was beached after the collision. On 23 November 1929 "Viceroy of India" rescued 25 crew members from the Italian cargo steamer which sank in the eastern Mediterranean off the coast of Egypt. In February 1930 "Viceroy of India" was bethed in Bombay when the British India Line