SS Bretagne
Encyclopedia
SS Bretagne was an ocean liner
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
launched on 20 July 1951 out of Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire
Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...
; the second of two ships built for the Société Générale de Transport Maritimes (SGTM) which operated passenger lines out of Marseilles. Her sister ship Provence was launched a year earlier at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
. Bretagne was constructed with three boilers and Provence with only two, making Provence less capable of increasing speed to counteract possible delays.
Career with SGTM
After two brief shakedown cruises, SS Bretagne began her maiden voyage at Marseilles on 14 February 1952, traveling to GenoaGenoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
, Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Dakar
Dakar
Dakar is the capital city and largest city of Senegal. It is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula on the Atlantic coast and is the westernmost city on the African mainland...
, Bahia
Bahia
Bahia is one of the 26 states of Brazil, and is located in the northeastern part of the country on the Atlantic coast. It is the fourth most populous Brazilian state after São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro, and the fifth-largest in size...
, Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, concluding in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
. Bretagne joined Provence in liner and immigration service from Europe to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. Fine accommodations met First class passengers, but the majority of the ship's berths were for third and fourth class passengers, the latter sleeping in large communal dormitories segregated by sex. These berths were mainly filled with poor Italian emigrants seeking a new start in South America.
Career with Chandris Lines
Declining interest in tourism and immigration led SGTM to offer SS Bretagne and SS Provence out to charter. At the same time, Anthony Chandris was looking to add a second liner to serve the Chandris Lines route between GreeceGreece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Bretagne was selected by reason of her third boiler and extra speed; 18 November 1960 saw the signing of a year-long charter contract with option to buy. The French seamen's union would continue to serve aboard Bretagne during that year and for six months following purchase. Sister ship SS Provence was chartered then purchased by Costa Line, who renamed her Enrico Costa.
A major refit for SS Bretagne was undertaken in Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
in January 1961 in order to eliminate third and fourth class berths and make room for 1,050 tourist class passengers. A second swimming pool was installed and air conditioning was brought to all the passenger areas, not just first class. In May, when the conversion was complete, Bretagne sailed to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
under a new sub-charter contract with Caribbean Cruise Line to begin cruise ship
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
service between New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
on 9 June 1961. Though passengers weren't too pleased with poor Caribbean Cruise Line service standards, Anthony Chandris was satisfied with the new interior layout. He purchased the Bretagne on 20 September 1961 in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
for UK£ 3 million, two months before his charter contract was to end.
On 22 September 1961, Bretagne sailed as a "Europe Australia Line" ship (a subsidiary of Chandris) from Southampton to Australia by way of Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
, Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
, Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, arriving in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
on 26 October. Quickly turning around, the liner left the next day to visit Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
, Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Marseilles and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
before arriving again at Southampton. Bretagne made four more voyages to Australia and then was turned over to full Chandris ownership and control in June 1962. The ship was sent to Genoa for further changes including a new ballroom with seating for 500 so that live shows and entertainment could be staged during cruises. At this time the ship was rechristened SS Brittany and was re-staffed by 320 Greek seamen replacing the French.
Brittany began her new career on 20 June 1962 with a series of nine week-long roundtrip cruises between New York and the West Indies, accepting only 500 passengers in the best cabins. These voyages were catered and operated by Chandris in close conjunction with Caribbean Cruise Lines — publicity was favorable in contrast with the previous year. Capacity averaged 95% and plans were made to increase the number of cabins by 110 through the conversion of two refrigerated cargo areas, a process that was undertaken in transit by workmen brought aboard during the New York – Caribbean cruises. The changes would create a single passenger class of 1,500 berths, including the 150 former first class ones, for an extended summer cruise season in 1963.
On 12 September 1962, Brittany left Southampton to resume round-the-world winter service to Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
. A new feature she offered was an accelerated process for customs
Customs
Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting and safeguarding customs duties and for controlling the flow of goods including animals, transports, personal effects and hazardous items in and out of a country...
and immigration formalities in Wellington, New Zealand by having three New Zealand Customs officials embark at Sydney to start their paperwork early. This innovation was well-received.
Fire and loss
On her fourth trip back to Southampton, she stopped at PiraeusPiraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
in late March 1963 with serious engine trouble, disembarking and flying her passengers onward to their destinations. Brittany was moved to a drydock for overhaul by Hellenic Shipyards
Hellenic Shipyards Co.
Hellenic Shipyards is a large Shipyard in Skaramangas near Athens, Greece.Its origins are connected with a shipyard created in 1937 in order to build warships...
in Skaramagas
Skaramagas
Skaramagkas is a small town in the western part of Athens, Greece. It is part of the municipality of Chaidari. The town has a refinery and a neighboring shipyard and docks to carry oil production to other parts of the Mediterranean and the world. The bay area is one of the most productive...
. Repairs were nearing completion on 8 April 1963 when a welder's torch set off a fire that burned quickly out of control. Fears of explosion from her own fuel tanks meant Brittany had to be towed out to harbor and beached to let the fire burn out the next day. The ship was a total loss; her hulk was sent to La Spezia
La Spezia
La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
for scrap in March 1964.
The loss of Brittany led to the Chandris Lines purchase of in September, 1963; that ship was renamed Ellinis.