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OCEANBREEZE ex SOUTHERN CROSS, CALYPSO, CALYPSO 1, AZURE SEAS
OCEANBREEZE, formerly Imperial Majesty Cruise Line
OCEANBREEZE, departing Fort Lauderdale, March 18, 1999. Photo and copyright Peter Knego 1999
Click here for official
IMPERIAL MAJESTY CRUISE LINE web page
Built as Southern Cross
Shaw, Savill & Albion Line
registration in Southampton
Yard no: 1498
20,204 GRT 184 x 29.9 m/ 604 x 78.4 feet
Geared turbines from H & W; Twin screw; 20,000 SHP 20 knots, max 21
Passengers; 1,160 tourist class.
SOUTHERN CROSS Line postcard from Martin Cox collection
SOUTHERN CROSS was a daring and innovative ship, being the first major engines-aft liner in around the world service. While others had come before her, she was the ship to establish "engines aft" as a trend in passenger ship design. Soon, she was followed by Holland America's ROTTERDAM (1959), P&O's CANBERRA (1961), and by the early 1960s the traditional midships machinery and funnel arrangement had become a thing of the past.
SOUTHERN CROSS postcard from Martin Cox collection from Beken of Cowes
She was launched in the pouring rain by Queen Elizabeth II, who traveled specially for the occasion from her summer retreat at Balmoral, on August 17, 1954. She was delivered on Feb 23 1955, and her maiden voyage in round the world service (following a series of shakedown cruises) from Southampton commenced on March 29.
SOUTHERN CROSS postcard from Peter Knego collection
She made four annual 76 day voyages from Southampton to Las Palmas, Cape Town, Durban, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, Auckland, Wellington, Fiji, Tahiti, the Panama Canal, Curacao, Trinidad and back to Southampton.
SOUTHERN CROSS postcard from Peter Knego collection
She was fitted with stabilizers, was fully air-conditioned, had considerable uninterrupted open-air deck spaces, indoor and outdoor pools, a two deck high cinema, various public rooms (two of which extended the full width of the ship) and twin restaurants. She proved to be a very profitable ship for nearly fifteen years. After the introduction of the larger but similar NORTHERN STAR in 1962, SOUTHERN CROSS sailed westward from Southampton via Panama, while her fleetmate assumed the eastbound route.
NORTHERN STAR postcard from Peter Knego collection
In 1968 she was reregistered at 18,313 GRT. On June 30, 1971, as round the world liner service was impacted by jet travel, she began cruising from Liverpool to the Mediterranean. With only limited success, Shaw Savill opted to replace her with the OCEAN MONARCH (Canadian Pacific's 1957-built EMPRESS OF ENGLAND) which, along with the mechanically plagued NORTHERN STAR lasted only a few years before the company closed its doors and both ships were sent to an early grave at Taiwanese breakers in 1975.
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