On 12 March, about an hour after having resumed her transit north through the Suez Canal, after
a two hour stop to let Southbound ships pass at the lake sited mid-way along, the prevailing
wind would again get Caronia into difficulty. For some unknown reason she suddenly veered from
the main channel and ran aground on the West bank. Before anything could be done about it, the
strong wind forced the ship's stern against the East bank, and there she was, Caronia aground
crossways in the Suez Canal!
At the time there was some political tension in the area which would eventually lead to the
Suez Crisis, and being a prestige ship, the Caronia was soon being protected by British Forces
armoury on both shores. After about an hour she was refloated under her own power.
Running aground wasn't to be the only dramatic event of this week. Just two days later there was another
call for some very quick responses from Caronia's bridge.
…Then Breaks Moorings at Haifa…
Fred Barnes takes up the story…
When the Caronia arrived, there were already five or six smaller ships in the harbour on anchor facing
the quay wall, about 100 yards out, with their sterns tied to buoys midstream. We tied up in similar fashion,
and were the last ship to arrive.
On the 2nd day all was quiet for two or three hours, passengers were going ashore on the ship's launches
and many of the crew were having a breather on the after deck. As I was then the swimming-pool attendant,
I had a birds-eye view of everything. From out of nowhere, the
“Khamsin” came down from
the North. At the same time the Deck Dept., who had been preparing for the situation, sprung into action.
The Deck Officer on the aft docking bridge called for me to come over quickly. As I went to him I could
hear the mooring ropes snapping with a loud crack and then the steel hawsers going like cannon shot. As
I reached the officer he remarked “I'm having trouble raising the bridge. Run up there and inform
Captain Thelwell that everything has gone aft. Ropes and hawsers; we are adrift!”
From then on a fantastic piece of seamanship was performed between the skipper, engine room and the forward anchor.
The result was that, as we moved forward, the stern of the Caronia narrowly missed striking the bow of the next ship in
line. It was a cargo ship of about 5-6000 tons which we avoided by only a few feet. As soon as we cleared it, we headed
out to sea until the khamsin blew itself out. We then re-laid anchor in the bay.
When we left the line of smaller ships it was quite evident that the “Green Goddess” had been protecting
them as, one by one, I could hear and see their mooring ropes snapping like cotton. However, for the Caronia,
everything ended reasonably well, but I remark again that the seamanship of Captain Thelwell was fantastic!
The originally planned itinerary had intended a visit to Alexandria in Egypt. However, due to the
political tensions, the call was removed. In its place, the “Green Goddess” headed
to Rhodes and then North to Istanbul, after her call to Haifa. Her original itinerary would again
be picked-up on her call to Athens. Additionally, a call was made to Messina before arrival at
Naples.
Whilst a visit to the Pyramids would have been a high selling point of this cruise, substituting
Istanbul was an inspired choice that would still provide a contrast of cultures and historical
content. However, Turkey, Greece, Sicily, Italy and the French Riviera were all visited within
the space of only 10 days. Compared to the previously leisurely pace of this 100 day voyage,
these culture changes must have seemed quite hectic.
TRS
“2 hour stop mid-way through. Ran aground about an hour after resuming transit Northward. Refloated about an hour
later. Passed Port Said later PM with a stop only for formalities then entered Mediterranean Sea”
Arrival at Rhodes and thence to Istanbul was a change to the advertised cruise. Originally,
Caronia was booked to call at Alexandria in Egypt from 16th to 21st March. The original itinerary
was again picked up with the call to Athens.
New Delhi
