Shaw, Savill & Albion
Southern CrossThe Southern Cross was built by Harland
and Wolff in 1955, and was at the time of a radical design, with
her engines and single funnel located extremely far aft, and carrying
passengers only, no cargo. She is 20,204 GRT, 604 feet long,
and carried 1,160 passengers. She was quite successful and
in 1960 was joined by a similar, larger ship, the Northern Star.
By the 'seventies, it was obvious that more people wanted to fly than take ships when travelling long distances, such as the England-Australia route that was Shaw Savill's mainstay. The Southern Cross, having few cabins with private bathrooms, was not really ideal for cruises, and she was laid up in 1971. Two years later she was sold to Greek interests and totally rebuilt for 950 passengers, all in cabins having private facilities. She was renamed Calypso and from 1975 until 1980 she sailed as such for the Ulysses Line. In 1980, she was sold again and became the Azure Seas for Western Cruise Lines, later merged into the Admiral Group and running opposite the Emerald Seas, then the Ocean Breeze for Premier Cruise Lines. She was sold for scrap in India when Premier folded. |
| Northern Star Launched by Armstrong-Vickers in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1961 and completed in 1962, she was similar to her more successful running-mate, the Southern Cross (see above). 24,7333 GRT and 650 feet long, she carried 1,412 passengers in one class on round-the-world cruise service. She closed out Shaw Savill's service in 1975 and was scrapped in Taiwan that same year after a very short and not especially successful life. |
 Kenya
& Uganda
Completed in 1951, the Kenya regularly sailed between London and Africa's east coast via the Suez Canal. A sister ship, the Uganda, was also completed in 1952. She is 540 feet long, 71 feet wide and carried 194 first class and 103 tourist passengers. The east African trade died off during the 'sixties, especially hampered by the closure of the Suez Canal. The sisters were withdrawn and the Kenya was broken up in 1969. RIGHT: British India Lines timetable from 1929 BELOW: The Uganda at Valetta, Malta Both images from the collection
of Björn Larsson. Visit his wonderful site,
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