SS Arcadia (1954)

SS " Arcadia" was a passenger liner built for P&O in 1954 to service the UK to Australia route. Towards the end of her life she operated as a cruise ship, based in Sydney until scrapped in 1979.

History

The "Arcadia" was built for P&O by John Brown & Company at Clydebank in Scotland; her keel was laid in 1952 and she was launched on 14 May 1953. Her maiden voyage commenced on 22 February 1954, sailing from the UK to Australia via the Suez Canal. As the number of passengers travelling by ship to Australia reduced due to the increase in aircraft travel, so P&O was forced to diversify with the deployment of its ships. In 1959, she was refitted (with amongst other things complete airconditioning) and commenced operations on the trans-Pacific route, and from 1965 was placed on part time cruising duties out of Sydney. In 1970 she became a full-time one-class cruiseship. From 1975 until scrapped in Taiwan in 1979, her cruising role out of Sydney was full time. She was replaced by P&O's then newly acquired "Sea Princess", formerly the "Kungsholm".

tatistics

*Built: 1954, John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland
*Length: 219.7 m
*Beam: 27.6 m
*Draft: 9.4 m
*Tonnage: 29,734 GRT
*Passengers: 1410 (675 first class, 735 tourist class)
*Crew: 716
*Engines: Three stage single reduction steam turbines, twin screws
*Engine output: 42,500 hp
*Service speed: 22 knots
*Cargo capacity: 7,864m³
*Sister ship: SS "Iberia"

References

* [http://portal.pohub.com/pls/pogprtl/poghistory.display_document.pdf?p_id=1078 Encyclopedia Peninsular] website viewed 10 July 2006
* [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/PO_Arcadia_1954.html Arcadia of 1954] at [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ Simplon Postcards]
* "Home and Back - Australia's Golden Era of Passenger Ships", Stuart Bremer, Dreamweaver Books, 1984
* "Pictorial Encyclopedia of Ocean Liners, 1860-1994", William H. Miller, Dover Publications, 1995