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While Cunard was concentrating on crossing the Atlantic, What was to become The Peninsular Steam Navigation Company began sailing in 1822 from Britain to Spain and Portugal. The P&O flag represents the colours of these two countries. During the early years at P&O (until 1874) unlimited quantities of liquor and other beverages were included in the cost of passage! In 1914, P&O merged with British India Co., and by 1932, the company had 41 ships. In 1939, the government requisitioned the P&O fleet (including 21 passenger liners) for war service. Only 13 ships survived the war, and by the 'sixties these were ageing badly. In 1960 P&O merged with the Orient Steam Navigation Company, and the new flagships each company had under construction became the mainstay of the fleet. In the 1970's P&O purchased Princess Cruises of TV Love Boat fame, which later merged with the Italian line SITMAR. P&O continue to operate the Princess brand separately: Princess is marketed mainly to Americans while P&O's "Classic" fleet is targeted almost exclusively at the British. P&O de-merged its cruise business from the parent company, which has grown to be a leading operator of ferries and ports worldwide. P&O Princess Cruises and Carnival Corporation merged in 2003 and today operate the largest passenger shipping operation in the world, having under their umbrella 77 ships under 12 different brands (Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Windstar Cruises, AIDA Costa Cruises, Cunard Line, P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, Swan Hellenic, and P&O Cruises Australia) |
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Built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast, The Canberra had twin funnels side-by-side located extremely far aft, and her lifeboats were carried low in the hull, with several full-width decks above them. This look would become the norm on today's ships but at the time was very unconventional. She was 44,800 GRT and could carry 2,100 passengers in two classes or 1,737 in a single class for cruising. She ran between Southampton and Australia most of the time, with occasional world cruises. However, by 1973 the airplane was making its mark worldwide, and P&O began disposing of some of its older ships. The Canberra was sent to New York to try Caribbean cruises in partnership with Cunard, but this was not successful either, so she resumed cruises from Southampton. She, like QE2, saw duty in the Falkland Islands campaign, and was finally withdrawn in 1997 and scrapped.
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She was built in by Vickers-Armstrong in Barrow-in-Furness and joined the Canberra on the Australia run in 1960. She remained with P&O until 1986. She has served since as a floating hotel, first in Japan and now in China.
In 2003, she capsized in a storm at her berth in Dalian, China, but has since been righted.
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The Victoria was built as the Kungsholm for the Swedish-American line. She used to have two smokestacks... the forward one was cut off, but its base can be seen in the photo at right, with the three small white towers protruding from it. The Victoria was chartered for a special re-enactment voyage to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Union-Castle line. Today, she sails as the Mona Lisa for a German tour company. (Right) the Victoria (photo by Tony Cook) P&O Today Oriana (1995) & Aurora (1999) There's a new Oriana... built in 1995 by Meyer Werft in Päpenburg, she's cruising for P&O worldwide. A near-identical sister ship, the Aurora, entered service in 1999.
Aurora and Oriana in Southampton. P&O photo.
Aurora departing Southampton, my photo from the deck of Queen Mary 2
Adonia/Oceana P&O for a time has operated two similar ships built for Princess Cruises, the Ocean Princess is now their Oceana and the Sea Princess is their Adonia (the name is a clever play on the shipboard policy ADults ONly!), but will return to Princess this spring. In her place, P&O will receive the 1984-built Royal Princess, which will take the name Artemis and also offer adults-only cruises. Arcadia (2005) P&O will soon have "Britain's largest cruise ship" in the 85,000 GRT Arcadia. Originally intended as the Queen Victoria for Cunard, this ship is built on the same general arrangement as the "vista-class" ships of Holland-America.
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Cunard
and White Star might be more famous but the Peninsular and Oriental
Steam Navigation Company is the oldest and largest of the British
shipping companies, founded in 1837 and currently operating 17 passenger
ships. 
In
1960, the two British lines trading to the far east agreed to merge.
At the time, each had its largest liner to date under construction,
Orient Lines' Oriana and P&O's Canberra. These
were the largest ships to be built in the UK in 20 years. Both
were unconventional in appearance. 
Possibly
one of the oddest-looking ships ever built, the Oriana (41,915
GRT, 804 feet long) of 1960 was nevertheless a success. Her
two funnels are of completely different design, and the for'ard one
is nearly two storeys higher than the after. As well, her bridge
is nearly midships, crowning a series of terraced decks and a long
bow.
Recently,
P&O retired the classic liner Victoria after over 24 million
miles of cruising.
