SS Canberra

SS Canberra in the Azores
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Canberra
Namesake:	City of Canberra, Australia
Owner:	1961-1988, Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. 1988-1991, P & O Lines (Shipowners) Ltd. 1991-1997, Abbey National March Leasing (1) Ltd. (Leased back by P & O)
Operator:	1961-66, P & O-Orient Lines, 1966-71, P & O Lines, 1971-1986, P & O Passenger Division. 1986-1992, Canberra Cruises Ltd. 1992-1994, P & O Cruise Fleets Services Ltd. 1994-1997, P & O Cruises (UK) Ltd.
Port of registry:	London
Route:	Southampton-Sydney via Suez, thence Sydney-Vancouver (1973, Cruising)
Ordered:	20 December 1956
Builder:	Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Cost:	£17 million
Yard number:	1621
Laid down:	23 September 1957
Launched:	16 March 1960
Sponsored by:	Dame Pattie Menzies, GBE
Completed:	May 1961
Maiden voyage:	2 June 1961
Out of service:	10–31 October 1997 (final voyage)
Identification:	Call sign: GBVC IMO number: 5059953 official number 302649
Nickname(s):	The Great White Whale
Honours and awards:	Falklands War
Fate:	Scrapped at Gadani ship-breaking yard, Pakistan, 1997-1998
Status:	Scrapped
General characteristics
Tonnage:	1961: 45,270 gross tons 1962: 45,733 1968: 44,807 1994: 49,073
Length:	820 feet (250 m)
Beam:	103 feet (31 m)
Draught:	35.5 feet (10.8 m)
Propulsion:	Main: Two British Thomson-Houston (AEI) synchronous three-phase, 6,000 volt air-cooled electric motors providing 85,000 hp (63,000 kW); power supplied by two 32,200 kW steam turbine driven alternators; twin screws Auxiliary: Four steam turbines, each driving a 1,500 kW, 440 V, 3 Phase, 60 Hz alternator and a tandem driven 300 kW exciter for the propulsion alternators
Speed:	Trials: 29.27 knots (54.2 km/h) 1961–73: 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h) 1973–97: 23.50 knots (43.5 km/h)
Capacity:	150,000 cubic feet (4,200 m3) of cargo
Complement:	1961–73: 548 First class, 1,690 Tourist class, 1973–97: 1,737 one class
Crew:	1961-73, 900. 1973-97, 795

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 £17,000,000. 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, GBE, 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 troop ship.

P&O commissioned Canberra to operate the combined P&O-Orient Line service between the United Kingdom and Australia. The arrival of the jet airliner had already caused a drop in demand for this service; a reduction in emigration to Australia and wars forcing the closure of the Suez Canal saw the route become unprofitable. However a refit in 1974 saw Canberra adapted to cruising. 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 after the engine designer of early P&O ships.

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