| CANBERRA (1961 ~ 1997) |
| Canberra was undoubtedly one of the most well-known and loved cruise liners ever built. A strikingly beautiful ship whose timeless combination of elegance and warmth made her popular for decades with more than a million British cruise passengers. Canberra was named after the capital of Australia, an Aboriginal word meaning:- 'Place by the water' and, by extention, 'meeting place' and appropriately named in 1960 by Dame Pattie Menzies, wife of the then Prime Minister of Australia. At the time she was completed in 1961, Canberra was the largest post-war British passenger ship and had to be based at Southampton because she was too large for the fleet's base in Tilbury. When Canberra entered service, she was described as, 'The ship that shapes the future'. This phrase proved apt because in the 1960's she carried thousands of Britons to new lives in Australia under the assisted passenger scheme, whereby emigrants paid 10 towards the cost of their ticket. Canberra played a key role in the Falklands war; during her 94 days with the task force, she clocked up more than 25,000 nautical miles and landed most of the ground forces who went into action on the Falklands Island. Despite gracefully bowing out of service in 1997, 'The Great White Whale' will never be forgotten. |
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| Ship Facts |
| Gross Tonnage Breadth Maximum Speed Builder Flag Crew |
| 45,720 31.23 M 27 Knots Harland & Wolf British 900 |
| Length Draught Capacity Engines Cost |
| 249.39 M 9.77 M 2188 passengers 2 Thompson steam turbine/alternator units 17 M |
| Personally, I've been fortunate enough to have cruised aboard Canberra five times. I will always look back on those cruises with fond memories & often watch my cruise holiday videos & reminisce on those good times & remember the friends that I made. I have listed below those cruises. To view more details on any particular cruise, just click on it. & if you were on any of them, please get in touch. I can recommend a great web site dedicated to the 'Great White Whale' which is:- 'ssCanberra.com'. |
Glories of Greece ~ 22 Jul - 6 Aug 1989 Midsummer medley ~ 22 Jul - 5 Aug 1990 The Midsummer Med ~ 16 Jul - 30 Jul 1993 Midsummer odyssey ~ 5 Aug - 20 Aug 1994 Glories of Greece ~ 19 Aug - 3 Sep 1995 |
| A little video clip of 'the last time I seen Canberra => |
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