SS Canberra
{{short description|Ocean liner}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
| {{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption= SS Canberra
}} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = 03-Ponta Delgada 1984.jpg | Ship image size = 280px | Ship caption = Canberra in 1984 }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}} | Ship name = Canberra | Ship namesake = City of Canberra, Australia | Ship owner =
| Ship operator =
| Ship registry = {{flagicon|UK|civil}} London | Ship route = Southampton–Sydney via Suez, thence Sydney–Vancouver (1973, Cruising) | Ship ordered = 20 December 1956 | Ship awarded = | Ship builder = Harland and Wolff, Belfast | Ship original cost = {{ShipCost|GBR|17|m|year=1956|r=1}} | Ship yard number = 1621 | Ship way number = | Ship laid down = 23 September 1957 | Ship launched = 16 March 1960 | Ship sponsor = Dame Pattie Menzies, GBE | Ship christened = | Ship completed = May 1961 | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = | Ship recommissioned = | Ship decommissioned = | Ship maiden voyage = 2 June 1961 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = 10–31 October 1997 (final voyage) | Ship renamed = | Ship reclassified = | Ship refit = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship homeport = | Ship identification=*Call sign: GBVC
| Ship motto = | Ship nickname = The Great White Whale | Ship honours = Falklands War | Ship honors = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Scrapped at Gadani ship-breaking yard, Pakistan, 1997–98 | Ship notes = | Ship badge = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship type = Ocean liner | Ship tonnage = *1961: 45,270 gross register tons
| Ship length = {{convert|820|ft}} | Ship beam = {{convert|103|ft}} | Ship height = | Ship draught = {{convert|35.5|ft}} | Ship draft = | Ship depth = | Ship hold depth = | Ship decks = | Ship deck clearance = | Ship ramps = | Ship power = | Ship propulsion = *Main: Two British Thomson-Houston (AEI) synchronous three-phase, 6,000-volt air-cooled electric motors providing {{Cvt|85000|HP}}; power supplied by two {{Cvt|43180|HP}} steam turbine-driven alternators; twin screws
| Ship speed = *Trials: {{cvt|29.27|kn|1}}
| Ship range = | Ship endurance = | Ship test depth = | Ship boats = | Ship capacity = {{convert|150000|ft2}} of cargo | Ship troops = | Ship complement = 1961–73: 548 first class, 1,690 tourist class, 1973–97: 1,500 one class | Ship crew = 1961–73: 900, 1973–97: 795 | Ship time to activate = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
SS Canberra was an ocean liner, which later operated on cruises, in the P&O fleet from 1961 to 1997. She was built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland at a cost of £17 million. The ship was named on 17 March 1958, after the federal capital of Australia, Canberra. She was launched on 16 March 1960, sponsored by Dame Pattie Menzies, wife of the then Prime Minister of Australia, Robert Menzies. She entered service in May 1961, and made her maiden voyage starting in June. In the 1982 Falklands War she served as a troopship. In 1997 the singer and songwriter Gerard Kenny released the single "Farewell Canberra" which was specially composed for the last voyage.
History
= Construction =
P&O had placed an order for plans for two new ocean liners, one with Harland and Wolff for £17 Million in 1956.{{Cite web |date=2023-02-27 |title=SS Canberra: James Bond's troubled cruise ship that went to war |url=https://www.worldofcruising.co.uk/editors-corner/ss-canberra-james-bond-falklands-war |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=World of Cruising |language=en}} On September 23, 1957, on Queen's Island, Belfast, the first keel plates of yard no.1621 were laid on slipway 14.{{Cite web |title=P&O Canberra |url=https://www.pandosnco.co.uk/canberra_part_one.html |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.pandosnco.co.uk}} She had a gross tonnage of 45,733 GRT and dimensions of 819 feet by 103 feet.{{Cite web |last=Jochim |first=Mark Joseph |date=2018-03-16 |title=The Great White Whale, S.S. Canberra |url=https://stampaday.wordpress.com/2018/03/16/the-great-white-whale-s-s-canberra/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=A Stamp A Day |language=en}} She was
Dame Pattie Menzies, wife of the Australian Prime Minister had been given the honor of christening the liner.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-09 |title=Opening remarks - Joint media statements - Canberra {{!}} Prime Minister of Australia |url=https://www.pm.gov.au/media/opening-remarks-joint-media-statements-canberra |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.pm.gov.au |language=en}} Canberra left the slipway at Harland and Wolff's Belfast shipyard on 17 March 1960, with the cheers from the dockers and shipyard workers, as well as 11,000 onlookers watching her leave.{{Cite news |date=2003-04-27 |title=SS Canberra |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/ss-canberra/28176435.html |access-date=2025-01-20 |work=BelfastTelegraph.co.uk |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}} She began sea trials before taking up her maiden voyage in June 1961.{{Cite web |title=SS Canberra |url=https://www.mcinnesgardner.co.uk/copy-of-ship-3 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=McInnes Gardner |language=en}}
The SS Canberra was the last ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff shipyard.{{Cite web |title=Harland and Wolff - Shipbuilding and Engineering Works |url=https://www.theyard.info/ships/ships.asp?entryid=1621 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=www.theyard.info}} It was also the shipyard's largest ship built since the White Star Line's HMHS Britannic.{{Cite web |last=Reimertz |first=Henrik |date=February 2024 |title=Canberra – TGOL |url=https://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/canberra/ |access-date=2025-01-20 |language=en-GB}}
=Ocean liner=
P&O commissioned Canberra to operate the combined P&O–Orient Line service between the United Kingdom and Australasia and designed her to carry 548 first-class passengers and 1,650 tourist class. Too big for Tilbury she was based at Southampton. Her first voyage set out on 2 June 1961 through the Suez Canal and called at Colombo, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, San Francisco and Los Angeles returning to Southampton by the same ports. By mid-1963 she had spent many months in dry dock in Southampton and in the builder's yard for repairs to her electrical and mechanical systems.Plowman, Peter. Australian Migrant Ships 1946-1977. Rosenberg, Australia. 2006. {{ISBN|1877058408}}
The era of mass air travel had begun by the time the Canberra was laid down and air travel prices fell relentlessly in the early 1960s to challenge P&O's lowest fares. In the second half of 1962 Canberra made a short cruise from Southampton followed by two more to New York. More cruises followed but nevertheless most of the ship's first decade was spent on the Australia run.
=Cruises=
File:P & O Liner Canberra & Sydney ferry LADY EDELINE & Hydrofoil FAIRLIGHT at Circular Quay 4 March 1974.jpg, Australia in 1974]]
At the end of 1972 she was withdrawn and refitted to carry 1,500 single-class passengers on cruises. Unusually, this transition from an early life as a purpose-built ocean liner to a long and successful career in cruising, occurred without any major external alterations, and with only minimal internal and mechanical changes over the years. One of her public rooms included a 'Cricketers Tavern', which contained a collection of bats and ties from cricket clubs all over the world; she also had the William Fawcett reading/writing room, named for the first P&O ship.{{Cite web|url=http://www.poheritage.com/Upload/Mimsy/Media/factsheet/94992WILLIAM-FAWCETT-1828pdf.pdf|title=Ship Fact Sheet: William Fawcett (1828)|date=November 2008|website=P&O Heritage|access-date=24 December 2019}}
In 1961, while still a student at the Royal College in London, the now famous British artist David Hockney (born 1937) was commissioned to create a mural for the 'Pop Inn', a special lounge for teenagers onboard. Hockney graffitied and drew on the walls for five days and the fee earned assisted him to travel to New York for the first time.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}}
=Engineering=
Like {{RMS|Strathnaver}} and {{RMS|Strathaird}} that she replaced on the Tilbury–Brisbane route, Canberra had turbo-electric transmission. Instead of being mechanically coupled to her propeller shafts, Canberra{{'}}s steam turbines drove large electric alternators that provided current for electric motors that, in turn, drove the vessel's twin propellers. They were the most powerful steam turbo-electric units ever installed in a passenger ship; at {{Cvt|42500|hp}} per shaft, they surpassed {{SS|Normandie}}'s {{Cvt|40000|hp}} on each of her four shafts. This would give her a speed of about {{convert|27.25|kn|km/h}}. She also had a bow propeller for manoeuvring in port and docking manoeuvres. She was also the first British passenger liner to use alternating current as power.{{Cite web|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/SS_Canberra|title = SS Canberra - Graces Guide}}
There are several operational and economical advantages to such electrical de-coupling of a ship's propulsion system, and it became a standard element of cruise ship design in the 1990s, over 30 years after Canberra entered service. However, diesel engine- and gas turbine-driven alternators are the primary power source for most modern electrically propelled ships.
Canberra had a bulbous bow, two sets of stabilizers, and two funnels side-by-side. The lifeboats, which were made from glass fibre, were placed three decks lower than usual for ships of her type, and were recessed into the hull to allow improved view from the passenger decks.
The iconic spiral staircase and entrance halls in Australian walnut were designed by Hugh Casson and created by H.H. Martyn & Co.{{cite book |author=John Whitaker|year=1985|title=The Best|pages=237, 248}}
=Falklands War=
Image:SS Canberra & HMS Andromeda Falklands 1982.jpg, Falkland Islands, just after the surrender of Argentine forces on 14 June 1982]]
On 2 April 1982, the Argentinian military junta declared possession of the Islas Malvinas and invaded the British Falkland Islands. At the time, Canberra was cruising in the Mediterranean. The next day, her captain Dennis Scott-Masson received a message asking his time of arrival at Gibraltar, which was not on his itinerary. When he called at Gibraltar, he learnt that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had requisitioned Canberra for use as a troopship. Canberra sailed to Southampton, Hampshire where she was quickly refitted, sailing on 9 April for the South Atlantic.{{cite news |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8174818/Captain-DJ-Scott-Masson.html |title=Captain 'DJ' Scott-Masson |newspaper=The Telegraph|access-date=5 June 2011 |location=London |date=1 December 2010}}
Nicknamed the Great White Whale, Canberra proved vital in transporting 3 Commando Brigade to the islands more than {{convert|9000|nmi|km}} from the United Kingdom. Canberra was sent to the heart of the conflict.
Canberra anchored in San Carlos Water on 21 May as part of the landings by British forces to retake the islands.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jun/15/captain-christopher-burne|title=Captain Christopher Burne obituary|website=TheGuardian.com|date=15 June 2012}} Although her size and white colour made her an unmissable target for the Argentine Air Force, Canberra, if sunk, would not have been completely submerged in the shallow waters at San Carlos. However, the liner was not badly hit in the landings as the Argentine pilots tended to attack the warships instead of the supply and troop ships. After the war, Argentine pilots said they were told not to hit Canberra, as they mistook her for a hospital ship.{{Cite book |last= Ward |first= Sharkey |title= Sea Harrier over the Falklands |publisher= Cassell Military Paperbacks |year= 1992 |isbn= 0-304-35542-9 |pages= 271 |chapter= 24}} Hospital ships must be painted white, as Canberra always had been, but must also fly a Red Cross flag.Article 43, Geneva Convention II, 1949
Image:Return from active service, Falklands, P and O.Canberra.jpg
Canberra then sailed to South Georgia, where 3,000 troops were transferred from Queen Elizabeth 2. They were landed at San Carlos on 2 June. When the war ended, Canberra was used as a cartel to repatriate captured Argentine soldiers, landing them at Puerto Madryn, before returning to Southampton to a rapturous welcome on 11 July. Captain Scott-Masson, who had started his apprenticeship on the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line troopship {{SS|Empire Deben||2}} in the late 1940s, was awarded a CBE and made an aide-de-camp to Queen Elizabeth II.
=Final years=
File:Southampton Western Docks - geograph.org.uk - 900881 (cropped).jpg
After a lengthy refit, Canberra returned to civilian service as a cruise ship. Her role in the Falklands War made her very popular with the British public, and ticket sales after her return were elevated for many years as a result. In March 1986, the Golden Cockerel trophy was transferred from the old {{SS|Oriana|1959|2}} to the Canberra due to Oriana's retirement. Age and high running costs eventually caught up with the Canberra though, as she had much higher fuel consumption than most modern cruise ships. As refitting her to meet the new 1997 SOLAS regulations would have been very expensive, P&O opted to retire the old vessel.{{Cite web|url=http://ssmaritime.com/Canberra-2.htm|title = SS Canberra - Times Are 'a' Changing}}
On 25 June 1996 P&O Cruises announced that the Canberra would be retired at the end of 1997. Although Premier Cruise Line had made a bid for the old ship, P&O had already decided that they did not want Canberra to operate under a different flag and refused to sell her to Premier, as a result, Premier bought the similar looking {{SS|Rotterdam||2}}. As a replacement for the Canberra, the 1988-built Star Princess was transferred to P&O Cruises and was renamed Arcadia. On 25 September 1997 the Golden Cockerel trophy was transferred from Canberra to the new {{MV|Oriana|1994|2}} while both ships were docked at Cannes, France.
Canberra was withdrawn from P&O service on 30 September 1997 and sold to ship breakers for scrapping on 10 October 1997, leaving for Gadani ship-breaking yard, Pakistan on 31 October 1997. Her deep draft meant that she could not be beached as far as most ships, and due to her solid construction the scrapping process took nearly a year instead of the estimated three months, being totally scrapped by the end of 1998.
{{clear}}
Gallery
File:Canberra1980.jpg|Canberra in Gibraltar August 1980 cruise 016
File:Canberra Stamp.jpg|Canberra{{'}}s official stamp
File:Port Main Turbine.jpg|Canberra port main steam turbine
File:06-Port Propulsion Alternator.jpg|Canberra port main propulsion alternator
File:07-Port Propulsion Motor.jpg|Canberra port main propulsion motor
File:18-Stbd Prop.jpg|Canberra starboard tail shaft and propeller
Media
- An edition of The Rank Organisation film series Look at Life - "Shape of a Ship". Featured the SS Canberra whilst she was still being constructed. The programme also described the changes in ship design that were being implemented at the time.
- British singer/songwriter John Paul Young emigrated to Sydney, NSW, Australia on this ship on Australia Day, 26 January 1962 at age 11.
- SS Canberra is the liner where, in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd try to kill Bond.{{Cite web|url=https://www.poheritage.com/the-collection/galleries/Posters/Cruising/CANBERRA---The-James-Bond-Ship|title=CANBERRA - The James Bond Ship - Cruising - Posters - P&O Collection|website=www.poheritage.com}}{{cite news|title=When Diamonds are Forever, starring Sir Sean Connery, was filmed in Southampton|url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/18837192.diamonds-forever-starring-sirsean-connery-filmed-southampton|newspaper=Southern Daily Echo|last=Crump|first=Ian|date=31 October 2020|access-date=15 February 2021}}
- The singer/songwriter Gerard Kenny released "Farewell Canberra" in 1997, which was written especially for the last voyage and a tribute to SS Canberra. The song mentions the ship giving a home and comfort to the Falklands soldiers who were "so brave and alone" and that for the many people who travelled on Canberra, she remains "always in our memory" and "our wonderful home on the sea".{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
- Part of the TV mini-series Melissa by Alan Bleasdale starring Tim Dutton, Jennifer Ehle, and Julie Walters was filmed on board during the ship's last voyage from Madeira.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}
Statistics
- Launched by Dame Pattie Menzies 16 March 1960
- Sailed from Belfast to Southampton 28 April 1961
- Entered P&O service 19 May 1961
- Fuel consumption; about 250–300 tonnes/day at sea
- Water consumption, engines; 200 tonnes/day
- Water consumption, domestic; 600 tonnes/day
- Water production capacity; 450 tonnes/day
- The top section of her radar mast was designed to cantilever astern to clear the Sydney Harbour Bridge
Canberra Bar
A bar, known as the "Canberra Bar", was located at the corner of Scrabo Street and Station Street, in Queen's Quay, Belfast.{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Weir and cross-harbour bridges, Belfast... © Albert Bridge |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2344095 |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=www.geograph.ie}} It served the nearby shipyard workers and dockers from the coal quay.{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Weir and cross-harbour bridges, Belfast... © Albert Bridge cc-by-sa/2.0 |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2653710 |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=www.geograph.ie}} A large glass mural picturing the SS Canberra was located behind the bar.{{Cite web |title=Rodney McCullough - Former H&W Employee |url=https://maritime-mile.com/blog/article/harland-and-wolff-former-employee-rodney-mccullough/ |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=Maritime Mile |language=en-GB}} Due to redevelopments in the area, the Canberra Bar was demolished in the 1990s.{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Weir and cross-harbour links. Belfast ... © Albert Bridge cc-by-sa/2.0 |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1613024 |access-date=2024-11-15 |website=www.geograph.ie}}
References
=Footnotes=
{{Reflist}}
=Works cited=
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=WH |last2=Sawyer |first2=LA |year=1967 |title=Cruising Ships |publisher=Doubleday }}
{{refend}}
Further reading
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book |last1=Vine |first1=Andrew |year=2012 |title=A Very Strange Way to Go to War: The Canberra in the Falklands |publisher=Aurum Press |isbn= 978-1845137458}}
- {{cite book |last1=Correia |first1=Luis Miguel |last2=Miller |first2=William H |year=1997 |title=SS Canberra of 1961 |publisher=Liner Books |isbn=972-96940-5-2}}
- {{cite book |last=Dawson |first=Philip |year=1990 |title=British Superliners of the Sixties |publisher=Conway Maritime Press |isbn=0-85177-542-X}}
- {{cite book |last=Dawson |first=Philip |title=Canberra – In the Wake of Legend |year=1997 |publisher=Conway Maritime Press for P&O |isbn=0-85177-707-4}}
- {{cite book |last=McCart |first=Neil |year=1983 |title=Canberra – The Great White Whale |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=0-85059-636-X}}
- {{cite book |last=McCart |first=Neil |year=1989 |title=P&O's Canberra – The Ship That Shaped The Future |publisher=Kingfisher Railway Publications |isbn=0-946184-54-2}}
- {{cite book |last=McCart |first=Neil |year=1993 |title=P&O's Canberra & Sea Princess |publisher=Fan Publications |isbn=0-9519538-2-6}}
- {{cite book |last=McCart |first=Neil |year=1998 |title=SS Canberra 1957–1997 |publisher=Fan Publications |isbn=1-901225-00-3}}
- {{cite book |last=Muxworthy |first=Lt Cdr JL |year=1982 |title=Canberra – The Great White Whale Goes To War |publisher=P&O }}
- {{cite book |last=Odell |first=Carol |year=1968 |title=A Liner Goes To Sea |publisher=Angus & Robertson |isbn=2-07-949824-X}}
{{refend}}
External links
{{Commons category|Canberra (ship, 1961)|SS Canberra}}
- [http://www.sscanberra.com/ ssCanberra.com - a site dedicated to the Canberra] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050127053319/http://sscanberra.com/ |date=27 January 2005 }}
- [http://thegreatoceanliners.com/?s=Canberra Great Ocean Liners: Canberra]
- [http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/80011941 IWM Interview with Captain Dennis Scott-Masson]
{{P&O Cruises Ships}}
{{Falklands War British ships}}
{{1973 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canberra}}
Category:Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built in Belfast
Category:Troop ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Turbo-electric steamships
Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff