Great mediterranean passenger ship -- caribia

[Doc Vernon]

Cunard's Caronia was probably the most luxurious liner afloat in the Fifties. She also ​appears, of course, in our new book Maritime Royalty. The 34,000-ton, all-green liner is well remembered by scores of former Cunard staff with great reverence. As one crew member said, "To work the Caronia, on her long and luxurious cruises to ports all the over the world, was a plum assignment at Cunard."
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But her final years were troubled, sad, even tragic.

During Cunard's massive fleet reduction in the late 1960s, the Caronia was decommissioned in October 1967. She was later sold to Greek buyers, renamed Caribia and was intended to run New York-Caribbean cruises. She resumed service slightly, but had a fire in the Caribbean and later returned to New York only to slip into a bankrupt, idle, very neglected state (including being berthed stern-first between Piers 84 & 86 for a time and as seen here). Laid-up for her remaining years, she was sold finally to Taiwanese scrappers in 1974, but then wrecked while en route and under tow in a ferocious storm near Guam that August. She broke in three after crashing into a local breakwater; her remains were later removed or demolished.

[John Callon]

As a matter of interest in the 1950,s and early 60's Cunard had a policy of drydocking the Caronia and the Mauretania on alternate years for their annual overhaul in Liverpool or to be more specific the Gladstone Graving Dock in Seaforth.
Regards
John C

[Terry Calow]

I too was on caronia from jan 66-june 67 she was a good ship to work on,for the last 9 months or so i was hotel services greaser a great improvement
on boiler room.On the caronia web site timeline, for anyone interested, tells you where she was everyday from launch to scrap .When i wason it dry docked
in Belfast. Terry

[j.sabourn]

#12... Terry excuse my ignorance, what is a hotel services greaser. Or is that a trick question to catch people out. Met a bunch of Bathroom stewards off one of the Castle boats in the Navigators Den in Capetown years ago and had to figure that one out, but was easy compared to hotel services greaser. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

#11... Believe it was a fallacy that a ship had to be drydocked every year. However it was stipulated somewhere in the keeping up of class of vessel that so many engine room shipside valves had to be opened for inspection at frequent intervals. An engineer would know better on this. I am almost sure though other arrangements could be made to open up more at longer intervals between docking though. Don't think today in modern shipping using more modern anti growth paints there is neither the tendency to drydock vessels so regularly. JS

[Ivan Cloherty]

[QUOTE=j.sabourn;249000]#11... Believe it was a fallacy that a ship had to be drydocked every year. /QUOTE]

Having to look after a fleet of 22 ships and arrange their annual drydockings (1960's - 1970's) can assure you it was not a fallacy, you could get extensions up to 18 months, but not if the vessel had suffered bottom damage at any time. Quadrennial surveys every four years but could be extended to a 5th year but only once in a 12 year period. These days it is not necessary to have an annual docking as with self polishing paints, underwater propeller grinding and cleaning and underwater surveys ships bottoms can be inspected and repaired, quadrennial surveys are still (I believe) compulsory

[Terry Calow]

JS Hotel services greaser covered ,air conditioning,laundry, launches [life boats] i'm trying to think what else dont seem very much but i did say it was
a good job pity the passengers were all aged what i am know Terry

[j.sabourn]

#15... Ivan I sometimes get mixed up with then and now. One of the last big dockings I did was in Yokohama and this was the for the 12 months Guarantee Drydocking and was 2 and a half years after being handed over. I was on this ship for 13 months so knew her history backwards. She was however under the Nassau or Bahamas Flag. Smaller ships in the North Sea certainly didn't do any stipulated 12 months drydocking unless I slept through it all. This was the late 70"s and 80"s. The 12 months docking I did see but was all prior to 1970. After this period British shipping was on its way out and down the gurgler. By 1980 it was on the horizon that the Pool was on its last legs. I was one of the die hards and took my 1100 pounds plus coppers for 30 plus service and gave them the 2 finger salute. There has still no one came back about the query I made 2 years ago about the Federations staff and how much redundancy they got, so suppose no one wants to declare, which is their option I suppose. Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

#16... Thanks Terry another one to add to the tree of knowledge. I would imagine that was the big problem especially today where most of the passengers are those aged ones able to afford and have the time to do it. You would of had to be very careful of how you carried some of the old dears to their lifeboat allocation so as to not put their steel hips out of place. Anyhow you had a good job what did the old man put in your book or was it just greaser or GRS. there wouldn't have been space to write it fully out. Cheers all the best for New Year. JS

[john walker]

J.S. I vaguely remember you posting about how much did the federation employees get in redundancy payments compared with sea going personnel. I had just paid off a ship in West Africa and flown back to the U.K. in 81 and was getting messed about over work. Like you I could see the writing on the wall. I spotted an advert in a national newspaper for a 2 year contract in Saudi Arabia applied for it, after a quick interview and once I had received a visa about a week later I was working in Saudi. I was on about double my U.K. earnings and doing a 50 hour not 80 hour week. I often wonder if I had hung around for redundancy money how much I would have got after about 14 years on British ships ? Did any body get much for their service ?

[Captain Kong]

After more than 40 years at sea I got £1,000 from the Pool in Liverpool. when they made me redundant due to medical grounds.
Equal to about ten bob a week, or 50pence, for all those years.
Brian