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Article: The Southern Cross

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    The Southern Cross

    89 Comments by Brian Probetts (Site Admin) Published on 6th January 2016 12:33 AM
    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.
    Brian Probetts (site admin)
    R760142

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  3. #71
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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    This is a photo I took of the Southern Cross in Melbourne in 1955 I
    believe it was her maiden voyage.img230.jpg

    Fred. R525985
    Last edited by Frederick Lacey; 2nd June 2019 at 07:39 PM.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Maiden voyage down under was it ??? Cheers, Peter in NZ.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Quote Originally Posted by Peter F Chard View Post
    Maiden voyage down under was it ??? Cheers, Peter in NZ.
    But of course, she did come to Oz!!
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Hi Fred.
    When i was on her in 57 they said she sailed like that to avoid using to much water in the showers. they turned her around crossing the Tasman I was quite dry when we reached NZ.
    cheers Des
    Last edited by Des Taff Jenkins; 4th June 2019 at 01:07 AM.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Quote Originally Posted by Des Taff Jenkins View Post
    Hi Fred.
    When i was on her in 57 they said she sailed like that to avoid using to much water in the showers. they turned her around crossing the Tasman I was quite dry when we reached NZ.
    cheers Des
    Des mate with all the 'poms' on her there would not be much of a problem with water for the showers.
    Dry as a 'pommys' bath towel comes to mind.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    When I was on the Oz coast in the late 50s , she was known as the SUFFERING CROSS.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Quote Originally Posted by Neil Morton View Post
    The Southern Cross may have looked splendid with her streamlined upper decks and forward thinking design however her crews quarters and working conditions still had not improved from previous decades. One short trip was enough for me; in my view the GOTHIC was a far superior vessel, in which did three.
    Crew accommodation on the Southern Cross was not great but in comparison to P&O it was very good.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    cruise ships versus passenger ships - a comparison of old and new - time line 1972 - 2020 - mardi gras x empress of britain and her newer counterpart - both under carnival livery how things have indeed changed
    Attached Images Attached Images

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Bryan
    The Mardi Gras was the ex Empress of Canada. I did the last season of Atlantic crossing on her before she was laid up in Tilbury prior to been sold to become Carnival's first cruise liner. She had fabulous interior fittings in first and tourist class lounges which were all ripped out and tossed overboard on her way to the states where she was "Americanised" for cruising. Even the grand piano from the 1st class reading room/lounge went over the side. There was a warehouse in Liverpool containing complete sets of CPR special designed carpet for her and the England, cutlery and tableware etc. Along with furniture etc. All sold for a song at auction, rumours had it was brought by an ex catering super who made a fortune by selling on the items individually. Think some of the carpets ended up in a posh hotel in Blackpool.
    Rgds
    J.A.

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    Default Re: The Southern Cross

    Indeed there have been massive changes in ships and shipping over the years.
    Gone the days when ships were a means of transportation long before the jumbos.

    Now they are just a form of relaxation and entertainment giving the traveler the chance to go to places they would otherwise not be able to.
    Not for every one but for those who enjoy there is no better way to go, providing of course you chose carefully the line and what it caters for.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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