The Southern Cross

[Brian Probetts (Site Admin)]

The Southern Cross

1 Comments by Brian Probetts (Site Admin) Published on 5th January 2016 12:44 PM

How passenger ships have grown and the passenger ship business expanded!

Sixty years ago, in the winter of 1955, workers at the Harland & Wolff shipyard at Belfast were adding the finishing touches to the 20,000-ton Southern Cross, the innovative flagship of Britain's Shaw Shaw Line.
The new liner had aroused and intrigued the press, the shjipping industry and ocean travelers across the globe.
In many ways, the 20-knot, twin-screw vessel would be a "ship for tomorrow".
She would be the first major liner to have her engines and therefore her funnel placed aft -- and creating a design style that became increasingly popular.
She was also one of the first all-one class, all-tourist class passenger ships (meaning a passenger in a top-deck suite would share, say, the public areas used by migrants in an inside six-berth down on D Deck).
Indeed, it was the beginning of a new social age at sea! The 604-ft long Southern Cross was also the first passenger liner of size and note that carried no cargo (other than passengers' baggage) whatsoever and so earned her keep exclusively from passenger fares.
She was also designed for a unique service: continuous 76-night around-the-world voyages out of Southampton.

The Southern Cross went on to a long and varied career -- later becoming the Calypso, then Azure Seas and finally Ocean Breeze -- before meeting the scrappers in faraway Bangladesh in 2003.
Photo: As the Ocean Breeze, the former Southern Cross is seen above at Nassau and moored alongside the far newer and larger, 102,000-ton Carnival Triumph, a new generation, 3,500-passenger ship that is in fact five times the size of the older liner. Times on the high seas had changed!

PS: If you have any stories to share about the Southern Cross and her long career, kindly forward them on. We enjoy hearing from others.

[Peter F Chard]

During the build costs were much more than expected and as usual the builders and the owners needed to reduce costs or abandon the project. The Chief Engineer to be kindly offered to forgo any air conditioning in the engineers quarters to help the cause !! His boys did not need A/C, that was for pansies. However his own suite was exempted on the grounds that he needed A/C because he would be entertaining passengers !! Regards Peter in NZ.

[happy daze john in oz]

On some migrant ships such as the one my brother in law and his wife came out on women and chidlren were put in serarate cabins to men. Not popular with the passengers but limited berths meant it was the only way to make sure the ship sailed full.

[George Heggie]

The reason for no A/C in Enginers accomodation was said to be they would catch colds due to the heat in engine room. During the build the Chief Engineer said ok but deck officers cant have it ether and stopped the ducting short. Only Chief and Captain had it installed later Staff Chief was added.

GWB

[j.sabourn]

George that is something not likely to have seen out here on the coast the short time I worked out here. All ships manned by Australian crews and run through the maritime unions had to have A/C. As regards the UK as to offshore work, I sometimes think that only the crews who manned the shipping must have had any ideas of the suitability of some of the vessels brought into service in the North Sea. Ships built for the Gulf of Mexico and sticking them into the North Sea in winter time could be very scary. Some were built with their funnels and exhausts. Starting from main deck level and not one of the upper decks, so one always thought of getting a Sea down. Wheelhouse window glass not having the same armour plating strengths as those purpose built. I could go on. Then people today talk about safety. However talking about A/C I see no. Reason why seamen should. Have to suffer in this day and age of going without. If it’s good for one its good for all . Cheers JWS

[Frederick Lacey]

Took this photo of the "Southern Cross" 1955 in Melbourne, I believe it was her maiden voyage.img230.jpgimg230.jpg

I know Australia is upside down.. but this is rediculous....spelt wrong ? having a bad day. !!!!!!

[robpage]

I thought although they look very identical in northern Star was around 4000 tons Bigger

[Peter F Chard]

The big problem with Northern Star was the choice of boilers -- she had two B&W Selectable superheat boilers, operating pressure 600 PSI and superheated to 900' C. However the tubes were very tightly packed together in order to save space but this was the problem. The fuel used had a very high vanadium pentoxide level and this caused heavy slagging of the gas passages. This was so violent that the boilers almost shook themselves to pieces and was felt all over the ship. All this slag had to be removed manually by chipping away with picks any whatever sharp chisel type tool available. My last trip as Inter second engineer was a nightmare, the final leg homeward bound was Lisbon to Southampton, we would steam for a few hours and then shut down one boiler in order to get inside and manually chip this slag. We ended that trip on one boiler, we had so many ruptured tubes in the other boiler that it was just too risky to run at full pressure. The ship was scrapped just months later. Cheers, Peter in NZ -- very hot today, 27'C

[robpage]

I've never sailed on the selectable superheat Babcock boiler but from what you've described it I don't think I missed a lot

[Captain Kong]

On some migrant ships such as the one my brother in law and his wife came out on women and chidlren were put in serarate cabins to men. Not popular with the passengers but limited berths meant it was the only way to make sure the ship sailed full. HD John

When I was on the Troopship GEORGIC, in 1955, we carried 3,000 immigrants from Liverpool to Australia, £10 Poms.
all the families were separated, all females in a cabin for ten people and all the males in a cabin for ten people
Most had No Ports, all inside cabins. there was No AIR CON.
the ship was an Oven in the Red Sea, and five young children died between Suez and Aden due to the heat. we had to bury them into the Red Sea,
a Sad end to a new life.
The next voyage we went around the Cape as it was a cooler route.

[Peter F Chard]

Captain, Sailing times to Fremantle from the UK is only a five or six hours difference going round the Cape or via the Suez Canal so why pay a quarter of a million to use the Canal ?? Regards Peter in NZ.