P&O' S.S. ARCADIA (1954-1979)

The second of four passenger ships in the fleet of the P&O Steam Navigation Company named ARCADIA, one of the oldest shipping concerns in the world, commemorating it's 175th anniversary in 2012.

On the first photo, a B&W image showing the ARCADIA running sea trials in January 1954 off the river Clyde, Scotland, while on the second photo the ARCADIA is seen arriving Lisbon in 1975 on a cruise. One of my first colour photographs, and the first of three P&O ARCADIAs I have been lucky to photograph so far, and I dare to say, the best looking of the three...

The passenger liner ARCADIA was built by John Brown at Clydebank in 1953-1954 for the company's Australia service with her sister ship IBERIA, very similar but with distinctive different features, and built by Harland & Wolff in Belfast.

ARCADIA was the final P&O liner of the immediate post-war period to be sold, in 1979 after 25 years of liner and cruise service. Delivered on 31 January 1954, she arrived in Kaohsiung on 28 February 1979 to be broken up in Taiwan.

She featured 29,664 GRT when built and had a full length of 219,9 meters and could accommodate 1403 pax (699 in first, 704 in tourist-class). In 1970 she was converted for single-class with capacity for 1350 tourist-class passengers.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. 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