Canberra (ship)
 The Canberra in March 1971 in Hong Kong
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The Canberra was a passenger ship of the British P&O Orient Line that was put into service in 1961 , was built for regular services to Australia and, after being modernized in 1974, was used as a cruise ship until September 1997 . After it was retired, it was demolished in Gadani, Pakistan, in October 1997 . The Canberra was the last passenger ship of the P&O Orient Line and the largest passenger ship ever built that was not designed for North Atlantic traffic.
In addition to her regular service , the Canberra gained fame especially during the Falklands War in 1982, when she was used as a troop transport for the Royal Navy .
Planning and construction
On December 20, 1956, the P&O Orient Line ordered a new passenger ship from Harland & Wolff in Belfast, Ireland , which was planned for service to Australia . The keel laying for the new building with construction number 1621 took place on September 23, 1957. The decision to assign the name was made on March 17, 1958. On March 16, 1960, the Canberra was launched. Godmother was Pattie Menzies (1899–1995), the wife of then Prime Minister Robert Menzies . After being launched, the ship was towed to Thompson Wharf, where it received its superstructure and equipment. In April 1961, work on the Canberra was completed. During the test drives in the port of Belfast on April 29, 1961, the ship was stern-heavy, which was due to the machinery in the stern. The Canberra therefore received several tons of ballast in the bow before delivery.
The cost of building the ship was £ 17 million. The Canberra was with a tonnage of 45,270 gross tons , the largest ever built passenger ship that frequented outside the North Atlantic route.
The Canberra was designed by the British naval architect John West. The new ship should have large deck areas and a modern look. West found incentives for this in the Southern Cross of the Shaw, Savill & Albion Steamship Company , which was commissioned in 1955 , and in the Rotterdam of the Holland-America Line, which was commissioned in 1959 .
period of service
The Canberra was put into service on June 2, 1961 and stood out for its futuristic exterior. She was henceforth used in the Great Britain-Australia service of the P & O-Orient Line and replaced the two smaller and older pre-war structures Strathnaver and Strathaird , which were taken out of service and sold for scrap shortly after the Canberra went into service.
After about ten years of service in regular service, the Canberra was no longer competitive. This was largely due to the strong increase in air traffic, which increasingly withdrew customers from liner shipping. Another reason for the falling profitability was the decreasing number of emigrants to Australia. In addition, there was the closure of the Suez Canal and the resulting further route around the Cape of Good Hope . Between February and September 1972, the P&O recorded a loss of half a million pounds on the ship. At first, the shipping company thought converting the Canberra into a cruise ship would not be profitable and therefore offered the ship, which was only eleven years old, for scrapping for a scrap value of 600,000 pounds. After these plans were rejected, the Canberra was then modernized and used as a cruise ship all year round from 1974 . The smooth transition into the ranks of the cruise ships without major modifications was unusual.
Falklands War
Just back from a cruise in the Mediterranean , the Canberra was seized by the British government on April 9, 1982. With the outbreak of the Falklands War , it was needed as a troop transport for the transport of combat troops in the South Atlantic. In the days before, there had been rumors of the ship being confiscated during the last cruise. In addition to the Canberra , the ro-ro freighter Elk , also operated by P&O, was confiscated. The next day, Uganda and the Norland ferry, two ships followed, which also sailed for P&O during their service (the Uganda belonged to P&O in 1982, the Norland came into the ownership of the shipping company in 1996).
The Canberra was given the name Great White Whale by the soldiers traveling on it . On May 21, after a journey of 14,000 km, the ship reached its destination in the South Atlantic with the paratroopers and marines on board. Despite its coastal area of operations, the Canberra remained unharmed. Although its size and white color made it a good target for the Argentine Air Force , it was not attacked. As a precaution, a shallow anchorage in the Falklandsund had been chosen to prevent the ship from completely sinking in the event of a possible attack. The Argentine pilots concentrated their combat operations on the British frigates and destroyers. Argentine pilots later claimed they had orders not to attack the Canberra . After the end of the war, some of the Argentine soldiers were transported back to the mainland with the Canberra from the Falkland Islands.
Later years
After some renovation and repair work, the ship returned to the cruise business. The Canberra was extremely popular in the years to come due to its role in the Falklands War, which had a positive effect on the ship's ticket sales. In the mid-1990s, the more than 30-year-old Canberra became unprofitable due to high maintenance costs, which is why it was decided to retire the ship. In September 1997 the Canberra ended its last cruise; in October 1997 she was decommissioned and transferred to Pakistan. The dismantling of the ship began there on October 31, 1997 in Gadani, Pakistan . Due to the great draft, there were problems with the usual beaching of the ship, and due to the stable construction, the scrapping operation lasted almost a year.
Furnishing
All first class cabins on board the Canberra were air-conditioned. In addition to the conventional cabins, the ship had a total of four suites with private verandas on the upper decks. The first-class public rooms on board the Canberra included the dining room with 320 seats and a lounge called the Meridian Room , which marked the center of the ship. There was a library and the Century Bar nearby . From the Meridian Room of a white spiral staircase led three floors up to the Panorama Lounge called Crow's Nest ( Crows Nest ). On deck, a pool deck was available to passengers at the foot of the chimney. Nearby was the Bonito Club , a dance floor with a glass roof.
The tourist-class rooms included the lounge known as the William Fawcett Room with an adjoining library and writing room . On deck, the tourist class passengers had their own area called the game deck and two smaller pools on the lido deck at the stern of the ship. The Canberra's on- board cinema with 340 seats was available to both classes. The theater, which can also be used as a show lounge, had a capacity of 600 seats. After the ship was converted for cruises in 1973, the class separation was lifted.
During her later use as a cruise ship, the Canberra's premises were partly used for other purposes and converted. The number of passengers decreased from over 2,200 to 1,737. In later years the ship also had a disco called the Island Room and a large playroom with childcare. The renovation did not change the names of the rooms. Only the former first-class dining room was given the new name Pacific Restaurant .
technology
The Canberra had a turbo-electric propulsion system, which was considered very advanced at the time. The ship's steam turbines powered several large alternators . The electric motors were operated with the generated electrical energy . The twin propellers were driven by two shafts, which gave the ship a top speed of almost 30 knots. The Canberra's service speed was reduced to 23.5 knots in 1973.
The main steam turbine
One of the alternators
One of the two screw shafts
literature
- Andrew Vine: A Very Strange Way to Go to War: The Canberra in the Falklands . Aurum Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1845137458
- Luis Miguel Correia, William H. Miller: SS Canberra of 1961 . Liner Books, 1997, ISBN 972-96940-5-2
- Neil McCart: P & O's Canberra - The Ship That Shaped The Future . Kingfisher Railway Publications, 1989, ISBN 0-946184-54-2
- Theodore W. Scull: P&O Cruises Canberra . In: Cruise Travel . Volume 8, No. 2 . Lakeside Publishing Company, Evanston Oct 1986, pp. 34 to 39 .
Web links
- Website to the ship and its history (English)
- Multi-page report on Canberra on ssmaritime.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Reuben Goossens: Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co SS Canberra 1961 to 1997. In: ssmaritime.com. Accessed December 30, 2017 (English).
- ^ Theodore W. Scull: P&O Cruises CANBERRA . in: Cruise Travel . Volume 8, Number 2, Lakeside Publishing Company, Evanston Sep 1986, 34.
- ^ Reuben Goossens: P&O SS Canberra Page Two. In: ssmaritime.com. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
- ↑ Andrew Vine: A Very Strange Way to Go to War . Aurum Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1845137458 . Chapter 1
- ↑ THE GREAT BRITISH LINER - THE SS CANBERRA - THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. In: Cruising the Past. cruiselinehistory.com, December 23, 2009, accessed January 3, 2018 .
- ↑ a b CANBERRA Part One ~ Tomorrow's Ship Today! In: P&O Steam Navigation Company. Retrieved January 3, 2018 .
- ^ Theodore W. Scull: P&O Cruises CANBERRA . in: Cruise Travel . Volume 8, Number 2, Lakeside Publishing Company, Evanston Sep 1986, 36.