1991–97: Abbey National March Leasing (1) Ltd. (leased back by P&O)
Operator
1961–66: P&O–Orient Lines
1966–71: P&O Lines
1971–86: P&O Passenger Division
1986–92: Canberra Cruises Ltd.
1992–94: P&O Cruise Fleets Services Ltd.
1994–97: 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 (1956)
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, 1997–98
General characteristics
Type
Ocean liner
Tonnage
1961: 45,270 gross register tons
1962: 45,733 gross register tons
1968: 44,807 gross register tons
1994: 49,073 gross tons
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 43,180 hp (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 kn (54.2 km/h; 33.7 mph)
1961–73: 27.5 kn (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph)
1973–97: 23.50 kn (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph)
Capacity
150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) of cargo
Complement
1961–73: 548 first class, 1,690 tourist class, 1973–97: 1,500 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 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.
SSCanberra 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...
with the name HMAS Canberra. East Indies 1940–41 Pacific 1941–42 Guadalcanal 1942 Savo Island 1942 Persian Gulf 2002 SSCanberra, a passenger liner launched...
return to Southampton from a world cruise on 7 April, the ocean liner SSCanberra was requisitioned and set sail two days later with the 3 Commando Brigade...
Elizabeth. The 1971 film version starring Connery used the P&O liner SSCanberra for the sequence. The wreck was featured in the 1974 James Bond film...
considerable amount of time on board SSCanberra investigating the needs of British passengers, so as to include as many of Canberra's features as possible into...
Boat III: 1998–2000 S.S The Big Red Boat II: 2000–2000 S.SCanberra "Rembrandt or The Big Red Boat IV": 1997 S.S Sun Venture? (As S.S Doric): 1997 M.T.S...
from service in the Falklands. SSCanberra in San Carlos Water. MV Norland repatriating troops at the end of hostilities. SS Atlantic Conveyor approaching...
Club of New York to view the June 1973 total solar eclipse aboard the SSCanberra. The scientific cruise carried two thousand scientists, engineers, and...
accepted and 4,167 of them were repatriated to Argentina on the ocean liner Canberra alone. The junta had incorrectly stated that the liner had been crippled...
Falklands Islands during the 1982 war were repatriated on the vessels SSCanberra MV St. Edmund and MV Norland, which sailed from Port Stanley on 18 June...
enough for mail and passenger service, so P&O replaced both ships with SSCanberra. P&O sold Strathnaver and Strathaird for scrap to Shun Fung Ironworks...
ships were requisitioned, as Ships Taken Up From Trade (STUFT). Liners SSCanberra 44,807 GRT – equipped with helicopter pad and carried personnel of the...
November 5, 1918 RMS Canada 1848 Scrapped in 1883 SSCanberra 1960 Scrapped at Gadani Beach, Pakistan in 1997 SS Cap Arcona 1927 Caught fire and capsized in...
1967, SS Shalom was sold to the German Atlantic Line, becoming their second SS Hanseatic. Subsequently she served as SS Doric for Home Lines, SS Royal...
The fifth SS Rotterdam, also known as "The Grande Dame", is a former ocean liner and cruise ship, and has been a hotel ship in Rotterdam, Netherlands,...
small Union bunting flag from his bergen, which he had acquired from SSCanberra's bunting locker. Marine Gillingham first tied the flag to Corporal Robinson's...
simply-named Harbour Ferry. The boat was once a lifeboat from the liner SSCanberra and is now licensed and equipped for 58 passengers. Felixstowe Harwich...
the Falklands with 3,000 men on the Queen Elizabeth 2 and later the SSCanberra, arriving on 3 June 1982. She followed British forces across the island...
Global Information
United Kingdom
London
