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With
Reuben
Goossens
Maritime
Historian,
Cruise‘n’Ship Reviewer & Author
P&O
Lines
“Peninsular & Oriental Steam
Navigation Company”
SS
Iberia

This
is one of the early P&O postcards of the Iberia
Please Note: All photographs & images are from the
author’s private collection, unless otherwise
stated
After WWII P&O decided to upgrade their
fleet for the Australian service considering P&O had lost six of their
passenger ships. Four of these had been sunk during jus one of WW 2’s
operations, “Operation Torch,” being the Allied landing in North Africa. Included were the magnificent Viceroy of
India which was only 12 years old, and the company’s newest ship, the four-year-old
Strathallan,
Obviously, even the ships that survived WWII
needed considerable refitting at great cost. Thus P&O commenced a plan to
build a series of new ships that would be economically more viable and have a
sustainable future, for the much loved black hulled Mooltan and Maloja which
had entered service in 1923 and 1924 respectively were almost 27 years old.
They were noted for having been the first P&O ships to exceed 20,000 GRT,
but the time had come to consider replacing them with more effective and more
modern units. Other problems had arisen, such as who were going to build these
ships, due to steel shortages, rising inflation and industrial problems as well
as competition from abroad. However once the details were worked out, British
shipbuilders were decided on, as at the time they were considered to be
“the best in the world.”
In order to recommence the rebuilding plan, in
1946 P&O placed an order for the first ship to be built, the 28,000 GRT SS
Himalaya, which was followed up four months later by an order for smaller
version of the Himalaya, the 24,000 GRT SS Chusan.
Then the next two ships to be built, although
similar to the Himalaya, they would be updated
versions of her. Externally this would be most obvious be most obvious by their
modern stylized funnels.
The order was placed for the first ship, SS
Arcadia to be built at Clydebank in autumn 1951, whilst the Iberia’s
order was placed in the winter of 1951. The Arcadia
was the first to be completed and she departed on her maiden voyage for Sydney on February 22,
1954. She could always be distinguished from the Iberia as her funnel was toped with
a black smoke deflector.
SS Iberia was built by the famed shipyards of
Harland & Wolff Ltd, Yard 1476, in Belfast,
Ireland. Her
keel was laid down February 8, 1952.

The
hull of Iberia
has taken shape and is now her superstructure is starting to take shape
Seen
at the Harland & Wolff shipyards during the building process
From the Harland & Wolff Collection

Iberia
finally reaches the water having been launched on January 21, 1954
From
the Harland & Wolff Collection
She was launched on
January 21, 1954 by Lady McGrigor the wife of the “First Sea Lord”
- Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor. After launching she went to her fitting out wharf.
For
interest, her
interior design was entrusted to “A. McInnes, Gardner &
Partners” of Glasgow, who followed a well trusted standard set by her
earlier sisters, but also made some new innovations!

Iberia
almost completed - seen in June 1954 at Victoria Wharf
fitting out basin
When completed, she
underwent sea her trials during September 1954 where she achieved a respectable
24.9 knots. She was delivered to P&O on September 10, 1954. It was decided
to name her Iberia after the
1836 namesake SS Iberia (I), which was named after the Iberian peninsular where
Spain and Portugal are
located and which had a strong connection to the formation of P&O and the
company's early years.
*There was another
ship that carried the name “Iberia,”
but it was not related to P&O, yet for some reason P&O still considered
this to be the third Iberia.
It is obvious to all
followers of the Orient Line and P&O story that 1. These two ships were
contemporaries of Orient Line’s Oronsay and Orsova respectively. In
addition: 2. That the Himalaya, Arcadia
and Iberia of P&O had been paralleled by Orient Line's Orcades, Oronsay and
Orsova. These ships marked a coming together of new liners of the two
companies. Indeed the six ships worked closely together on their Australian
service with their sailing schedules organised so that sailings alternated
between P&O and Orient. Thus they formed a Southern Dominions "Big
Six" fleet.
The 29,614 GRT Iberia
departed on her maiden voyage on September 28, 1954 from London
(Tilbury) for Sydney, Australia,
sailing via the Suez Canal. She arrived in
Fremantle on October 22, then sailing via Adelaide
and Melbourne, arriving in Sydney on November 1. Iberia had a
cargo capacity similar to that of his sisters, of around 239,800 cu ft.
In June 1955 Iberia commenced her first summer season of
Mediterranean cruises out of the UK.

Iberia seen at the Sydney
“International Passenger Terminal” Circular Quay
Interior & Exterior Photo Album
1. First Class

The
Main Lounge which was certainly built for comfort and having a
simple elegance
This
Iberia
postcard collection is from the author’s private collection

The ever-popular
dance arena was semi indoors, but out on deck with sliding glass doors
that
could be open or shut pending weather conditions – cane
furnishings was the popular mode here

The
floral and heavy patterned Writing and Reading Room

The ever-popular
Library and reading area

The
Observation Lounge, the forerunner of greatly extended “Crows Nest”
on the modern P&O ships

The expansive
spaces of the Sports Deck

Far
aft is the popular Verandah Café overlooking the stern

The
Dining Room was adorned with fine timbers and murals and wall
lighting and had an elegant feel!

The
superb Verandah Cabin with comfortable lounge chairs

A
Single Cabin
Tourist Class

The
Main Lounge was a beautiful room with a fine mural and a Grand
piano

Another
view of the Main Lounge

The
Smoking Room also had writing desks and was a popular venue for
games

Verandah
Café was a beautiful room with a fine mural

I
was impressed that the Tourist Class Dining Room has so many
tables for four

This
postcard of SS Iberia was part of the above Iberia postcard collection
– note the aft (tall) mainmast
Iberia’s General History – 1956 to 1973
Sadly, Iberia
eventually became known as a much “troubled ship” due
to accidents and constant breakdowns as the following overview will disclose.
It is not that the author dislikes this ship, far from it, she was simply
superb and I not only sailed on her, but I also visited her many times and
dined on her often as a P&O guest. She and the Himalaya were my two favourites
of the P&O ships of the time, Arcadia
was OK, but somehow she lacked something for me. Thus, although the following
will seem rather negative, I am simply presenting the facts and it saddens me
for she was a fine ship and her passengers greatly loved her!
Below is a list of both good and the bad
incidents of her ongoing troubled career.
On March 14, 1956 Iberia
departed Tilbury bound for Australia
via the Suez Canal. However, on March 27 at
approximately 0130 Iberia was
rammed broadside (amidships - portside) by the Esso tanker “Stanvec
Pretoria” whilst sailing in heavy seas about 275 km (170 miles) off Colombo. Iberia received
extensive damage to her portside Promenade, Boat and Sports Decks. Temporary
repairs were made at Colombo.
One of the things that had to be done was vertical irons bars had to be welded
to the side of the ships upper decks to support boat deck. As soon as the work
there was completed, Iberia
continued to Sydney, and entered into the Sydney’s Cockatoo
Shipyards on April 16 for extensive repairs. After seventeen days of extensive
work, both at the shipyard and whilst docked at Pyrmont wharf, she was returned
to her regular duties.
Collision Photo Album

SS Iberia is
seen at Colombo
during her temporary repairs
Just
aft of the funnel and below, you will see some vertical iron bars that were
railway irons
that
held the decks together, in order they would not collapse during the voyage to Australia
Photograph by & © Terry H. Connell Iberia’s 3rd.Officer

Here
we see some of the extensive damage up on Boat deck
Photograph by Iberia’s
then 3rd.Officer Terry H. Connell ©

It
even extended as high as Sports Deck
Photograph by Iberia’s
then 3rd.Officer Terry H. Connell ©

The Stanvec
Pretoria had damage on its lower hull see lower left, as well as the upper bow
Just
aft of her name where the plates have buckled extensively. However Iberia came off
the worse of the two

Iberia is seen here in Sydney during her final repairs
Photograph by Iberia’s
then 3rd.Officer Terry H. Connell ©
In April 1957 she called at St Paul Island
in the Indian Ocean and this marked the first
call there by a P&O ship since the Malacca rescued the crew of the HMS
Megaera which had run around there in 1871.
On February 15, 1959 Iberia ran aground whilst sailing the Suez Canal northbound.
In January 1958 P&O and Orient services to
Australia
were extended across the Pacific in a joint service marketed as Orient &
Pacific Line. The Iberia
thus started operation in March 1960 on her first trans-pacific services and
sailings continued from Sydney to Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver and San Francisco.
In May 1960 her management and operation was
transferred to P&O-Orient Lines.
In 1961 from January to March she was refitted
by J.I. Thornycroft Ltd, Southampton. During the work she was modernised and
finally fitted with air-Conditioning and stabilizers.
On October 17, 1961 she suffered a complete
electrical failure having just departed Auckland New Zealand.
She required five days of repairs.
On August 12, 1962 she struck a sandbank near
Port Tewfik and damaged a blade of her portside propeller.
A Christening in the Ships Bell
Teresa Swan’s journey began in England where she was born in Kent on
November 8, 1962. She and her parents Mr. and Mrs. G.L. Swan departed London England
on the SS Iberia on January 8, 1963 bound for Australia.
Special arrangements had been made to have
baby Teresa Baptized on Sunday January 20 directly after Holy Mass in the Port
Writing Room forward on Promenade Deck. For this special occasion, it had been
decided that they would use the ships bell as the Baptismal Basin.
The Captain and the Ships Company gave Teresa
and the family two boxes of silver gifts containing eggcups and napkin rind as
well as a special Egyptian teaspoon as the ship was in the area.


Above
SS Iberia’s daily Events & News paper for January 20, 1963
All images related to this story were provided by Teresa
Shaw

Iberia’s Bell is seen being used as Teresa’s Baptismal Basin

With
the event over, a happy family gets together

A beautiful
BUB and the gifts given by P&O

Two
silver egg cups and napkin rings and note the delightful Egyptian teaspoon
The Paul Soper Story

Iberia is seen here
at the International Passenger Terminal in Sydney in 1964
Photograph by & © Iberia’s Radio Officer Paul
Soper
I received the following interesting story from
ex P&O Radio Officer Paul Soper and decided to add it to the page as well
as his photo above of the Iberia.
I have slightly edited his story, but not changed any of its content in any way
whatsoever.
The Iberia
was my first passenger liner where I served full time as a Radio Officer in
1964, although the first ship I worked on was the Canberra
earlier in the year when we went to the New
York's World Fair. I had a wonderful time on this
fine ship but the highlight of my time on the Iberia
was probably going to the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 1964 and we had an absolutely
wonderful time even if I did not get to see any of the games - enough said!
However, during my time on her I can recall at
least two other unfortunate incidents occurring either in 1964 or 1965. The
first was when we were in a long beam sea and the stabilizers became stuck in
position. The ship started to roll to port, and continued rolling and then
rolled more and more until the radio transmitters were hanging off the
bulkhead, then the typewriter smashed to the floor and the whole ship resounded
to the sound of breaking crockery. She did eventually come to a halt, but
not before a great deal of damage had been done and I suddenly realised how
many prayers I knew. But all ended well and there were no real injuries except
for a little one related to pride.
The second incident occurred when we were
anchored off Malta
and we were taking passengers ashore in the ship's tenders (lifeboats) for a
run ashore. During the afternoon the sea got a little rough and the crash
boat (which should have been fitted with the optional spray cover over the fore
deck, but was not) ploughed into a big sea and was immediately swamped, and
somehow some of the passengers and crew were flung into the water. Fortunately
they were all picked up by one of the other ship’s lifeboats and there
were no serious casualties, but it could have been quite a serious incident and
in the Radio Room we spent the rest of the day fielding queries from the press
and anxious relatives.
Paul Soper
(P&O Radio Officer 1964-1971).
Iberia’s General History – 1956 to 1973 –
continued.
In 1966 her passenger capacity was revised to
651 First Class and 733 Tourist. In addition her management and operation was
transferred to “P&O Lines.”
On June 10, 1966 on her way to Yokohama from Kobe,
she had to return for repairs to a turbine coupling. This delayed her voyage by
four days.
On January 19, 1967 Iberia
collided with wharf in Funchal, Madeira and
damaged her bow plates 2.5 metres above the waterline.
On February 2, 1968 she was delayed in Funchal
by two days with a power system breakdown.
On November 16, 1968 her number 2 boiler room
forced draught fan failed. Repairs were made in Dakar and delayed the voyage by 24 hours.
On June 12, 1969 she sailed on her final
voyage from London (Tilbury) bound for Australia before P&O's terminus moved to Southampton.
On December 8, 1969 she finally arrived in
Southampton from Australia
after a much-troubled voyage. Whilst in Pago
Pago her funnel caught fire. Then she suffered an
electrical failure in Honolulu.
But her problems did not end there, for her the starboard engine failed by the
time she arrived at Acapulco and whilst bunkering in Curacao it was discovered
that some of the fuel has escaped into one of the first class baggage rooms,
which had been flooded with fuel oil.
On December 9, 1969, the day after she
returned to Southampton, she underwent a major
two-week overhaul in dry dock. This included the removal of her (aft) Mainmast.

Iberia is
seen here without her aft Mainmast
Photographer unknown – Please see Photographic notes
at the bottom of page
On December 26, 1969, after all the work done at
the major overhaul, guess what? She suffered yet another major a stabilizer
failure.
In October 1971 her management and operation
was transferred to the “P&O Passenger Division.”

Iberia seen on a cruise around 1971
Photographer unknown – Please see Photographic notes
at the bottom of page
On November 6, 1971 she sailed from
Southampton on her final voyage from the UK
bound for Cherbourg, Panama,
the USA, Canada and Sydney.
But then in February 1972 it was announced that the Iberia would be retired from
service. Iberia would be the first of P&O's post war liners to be retired
from service as the line voyage loading were less and less, and Iberia was not
as popular as Arcadia as a cruise ship. In addition, she took precedence over
her sisters due to her poor mechanical performance over the years having been a
much-troubled ship, whilst her sister had a good run.
Iberia was withdrawn from service in 1972 arriving at Southampton
for the last time on Wednesday 19th April 1972 with an 18ft paying off pennant
flying from her mast. Captain Trenfield rang “finished with
engines.” At the end of April, Iberia
was laid up at berth 101, awaiting a buyer, which was soon found for P&O by
Mitsui & Co. Taiwanese breakers, Tong Cheng
Steel Manufacturing Co. Ltd, purchased the Iberia to be broken up.

A
superb photograph of the Iberia
in mid 1972 - Note that her lifeboats are being removed
Photographer unknown – Please see Photographic notes
at the bottom of page

Again
we see the Iberia
mid 1972, but now without any lifeboats
For
she was about to sail to Taiwan
with just two lifeboats
Photographer unknown – Please see Photographic notes
at the bottom of page
On June 28, 1972 Iberia
sailed from Southampton for the final time,
but this time without passengers and with just two lifeboats up on Boat deck.
She was under the command of Captain Michael Prowse. There were also 66
other crewmembers, 14 on deck, 20 in the engine room and 32 catering and
fire-patrol staff. Iberia
made calls for fuel and stores at Dakar, Durban, Mauritius
and Hong Kong arriving at Kaohsiung Taiwan on
September 5, 1972. Demolition of the still beautiful looking 18-year-old
SS Iberia commenced in October 1973.
Statistics:
Built
by: Harland &
Wolff Ltd - Belfast
Yard
Number: Yard 1476
Launched: January 21, 1954
Launched
by: Lady McGrigor
the wife of the “First Sea Lord” - Admiral Rhoderick McGrigor
Maiden
Voyage: September 28, 1954
Length: 718.8 ft – 219m
Breadth: 90.10 ft – 27.5m
Draft: 36.6 ft
Tonnage: 29,614
Power: Single Reduction Geared Steam
Turbines
Propellers: 2 – 42,500 SHP
Speed: 22 knots service speed -
24.9 max
Passengers: 679 First Class, 735 Tourist -
1966 = 651
First Class and 733 Tourist
Crew: 711
The way we like to remember her!

SS
Iberia, a ship with a superb stern and built for the tropics, thus all those
wonderful wide promenade decks!
Today
ships are closed in like apartment blocks and deck spaces are taken up by
private balconies that are seldom used
How I miss those great days when
ships like the SS Iberia made you feel like you lived on a real castle at sea.
I hope and pray that you enjoyed
this feature and that you relived some wonderful memories! Reuben Goossens.
Also Visit my Features on the following Orient Lines/P&O Ships
Orient Lines: RMS
Orcades – SS Oronsay - SS Oriana - RMS Orion
P&O:
RMS Kaisar-i-Hind - RMS Strathaird
– SS Himalaya - SS Iberia - SS Canberra
This
is recommended reading!
“Orient
Line – A Fleet History”
It is available for £23.50 plus p&p from “Ships in Focus”
Email: sales@shipsinfocus.co.uk
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Photographs on ssmaritime and associate pages are by the author or from the
author’s private collection. In addition there are some images
that have been provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or
collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are some
photographs provided to me without details regarding the photographer/owner
concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images would be so kind to make
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This
notice covers all pages, although, and I have done my best to ensure that all
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