History

In the final years of the 1930s just before the outbreak of the Second World War. One final new passenger ship would join the P&O fleet before the clouds of war rolled in. This was the Canton. She was a larger single funnelled version of the Carthage and Corfu. When she first entered service she still carried the traditional black and stone P&O colours and was the last new P&O ship to carry this livery. However within a year of her introduction she was given the new white hull and buff funnel colours.

Like all P&O passenger ships of the period she was well appointed and her recreational spaces included a large games deck and an open air pool. She carried 546 passengers in two classes.

Design & Construction (1936 - 1938):

She had been ordered in November 1936 and she was built by Alexander Stephen & Sons, Glasgow. She was launched on the 13th April 1938 by Miss Thalia Shaw, daughter of Lord Craigmyle (the recently retired Chairman of P&O). She was named after a city in southern China near Hong Kong. Today Canton is known as Guangdong. On the 11th September 1938 she undertook her sea trials and then was delivered to P&O on the 13th September 1938. She was the first P&O ship to carry a cinema operator.

Prewar Years (1938 - 1939):

She sailed on her maiden voyage on the 7th October 1938 from London (Tilbury) to Bombay, Singapore, Hong Kong and Yokohama via Suez. On departing Tilbury she briefly grounded on a sandbank at Grays. In March 1939 she collided with the French liner Marechal Joffres in fog off Hong Kong. There were no casualties but the Canton spent the next three weeks in dry dock in Hong Kong having repairs to her starboard side near the engine room. On the 10th May 1939 she rescued 35 passengers and some of the crew of the Danish liner, Asia, which had caught fire some 15 km off Galle, Ceylon. The rescued passengers were landed safely in Colombo.

The Second World War (1939 - 1946):

On the 19th October 1939 the Canton was requisitioned by the British Government for war duties. She was converted for use as an Armed Merchant Cruiser and this work was carried out by her builders in Glasgow. She was fitted with 8 6-inch and 2 3-inch guns. On the 9th January 1940 she ran aground in bad weather on rocks off Lewis in the Outer Hebrides whilst on her way to Greenock before transferring to South America. Two holds were flooded and she was badly damaged forward. The crew abandoned ship when attempts to go full astern failed. A few days later on the 11th January 1940 she freed herself from the rocks with her own steam and with the destroyer HMS Impulsive and the armed merchant cruiser HMS California standing by she began her two day journey to the Clyde where she was beached at Holy Loch for temporary repairs. On the 18th January 1940 she proceeded to Barclay Curle in Glasgow where full repairs were carried out to make her seaworthy again. On the 15th April 1940 after being repaired she returned to her duties on patrol and escort duties in the Western Atlantic.

On the 17th July 1940 she was involved in a running battle with U-Boats off the west coast of Ireland. In January 1941 she underwent a refit at Greenock. Then in April 1941 she was refitted again in New York. On the 7th October 1941 she apprehended the German cargo vessel Kamak 300 miles north of St Paul's Rocks but failed to stop her being sunk by scuttling charges. In July 1942 she was refitted on the Clyde. In January 1943 she transferred to the East Indies station.

On the 14th April 1944 the Canton was returned to P&O at Suez. On the 23rd April 1944 she departed Suez for Aden, Port Elizabeth, Simonstown and Cape Town. At Cape Town she arrived on the 23rd May 1944 where she underwent conversion into a troopship. She served as a troopship for the rest of the Second World War.

During the Second World War the Canton had experienced the most arduous service of any P&O ship. She had steamed 221,000 miles during the war including 257,967 miles as an Armed Merchant Cruiser and 20,830 miles as a troopship. In her capacity as a troopship she had transported 6,825 troops. On the 17th August 1946 she was released from war duties and returned to Alexander Stephen & Sons in Glasgow for reconditioning and refurbishment ready for a return to passenger service.

Postwar Years (1946 - 1960):

On the 28th September 1946 she was returned to P&O. Her passenger capacity was now 297 first class and 244 tourist class. She returned with white hull and buff funnel. In October 1947 she had the honour of re-establishing passenger services from London to the Far East calling at Ceylon, Singapore, Malaya, Hong Kong and China. Although initially the service was not extended to Japan due to the war legacy. In December 1953 in a unique event she carried no fewer than three Rear Admirals: A.F. Pugsley, N.V. Dickinson and G.A. Clifford all who were returning home from the Far East after relinquishing their commands. On the 15th October 1957 her sailing from London was delayed by a fire in a cargo of toilet rolls.

The Final Years (1960 - 1962):

In May 1960 her management was transferred to P&O - Orient Lines following the merger of P&O and Orient Lines. In 1961 her voyages were extended to Japan following acquisition of Cathay and Chitral.

On the 28th August 1962 she was retired from service at the end of her last voyage back from the Far East to the UK. She was sold to Leung Yau Shipbreaking Co. Ltd of Hong Kong for demolition. She was the last prewar non-air conditioned ship on P&O's Far East service. On the 31st August 1962 she sailed from London for the final time bound for the ship breakers in Hong Kong. She arrived in Hong Kong on the 3rd October 1962 and soon demolition commenced. A sad end to a fine ship.