CCN liner IMPÉRIO (1948-1974)

The Portuguese liner IMPÉRIO arriving at Leixões dressed overall on a festive mood surrounded by fishing vessels in the 1960s or early 1970s...
Constructed in 1948 at Clydebank by Messrs John Brown side by side with Cunard CARONIA and her sister PÁTRIA.
Both sisters replaced three older CCN mail liners in the Lisbon - East Africa service: COLONIAL, MOUZINHO and JOÃO BELO and operated on the Lisbon, Leixões, Lisbon, Funchal, São Tomé, Luanda, Lobito, Moçamedes, Cape Town, Lourenço Marques, Beira, Moçambique, Nacala and Porto Amélia regular service, the round voyage taking about 50 days. In October 1961 a third mail liner was introduced, the magnificent INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE. The jet age and the independence of Portuguesa Africa led to the demise of those ships: PÁTRIA in May 1973, IMPÉRIO early in 1974 and INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE in December 1975.
Although built for the East Africa trade, the IMPÉRIO was also used on the Lisbon - Brazil service and did an Atlantic islands cruise in 1955. After 1961 she also operated as a trooper.
Photograph kindly sent by Mr Nuno Bartolomeu.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia