S.S.  I B E R I A 1954
       
RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE                                                                                                                                                                                                                              THE SHIPS OF P&O

    

Welcome to our website paying tribute to the famous S/S Iberia. P&O's intention in the postwar years to upgrade the Australian service with three liners of the "Himalaya" type had been rather delayed. But it was finally fulfilled in 1954 with the introduction of the Arcadia and her sister Iberia.

These ships were contemporaries of Orient Line's Oronsay and Orsova respectively. Thus 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. In January 1958 P&O and Orient services to Australia were extended across the Pacific in a joint service marketed as Orient & Pacific Line. Thus sailings continued from Sydney across the Pacific Ocean to Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver and San Francisco.

Gradually in their later years the Iberia and her sister Arcadia moved increasingly to cruising. Sadly the Iberia was plagued by mechanical difficulties for much of her career and was less popular than the Arcadia. As a result she was retired from service in 1972.

This website aims to record the history of this famous British ocean liner and act as a virtual home to honour and commemorate this fine ship. We hope you enjoy this website and when you leave we hope you will visit again soon


   

S.S. IBERIA









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Her Regular Service Route: England to India and Australia

 London (Tilbury Docks) - Southampton – Gibraltar – Marseille (UK bound only) – Naples – Port Said – Suez Canal – Aden – Bombay - Colombo – Fremantle – Melbourne – Sydney.

THE PENINSULAR & ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY

(P&O LINE)



This Website is based on content from the SS Maritime website (www.ssmaritime.com) with the kind permission of Reuben Goossens

(c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2007                                                                                                                                                                                 A TRANSPORT BRITAIN WEBSITEDocument made with Nvu