The 1961 Great World Cruise Itinerary contd…
This page shows the Actual Itinerary followed by Caronia after the original was replaced in October 1960 to take account of security issues in Southern Africa. This link will take you to the Original Itinerary for March 1961.
Study of the log abstracts shows that this cruise was not conducted at a leisurely pace so far as Caronia's transits from port to port are concerned. On several occasions her average speed is in excess of 20 knots.
When you consider that on her trials in 1948 she achieved a maximum speed of almost 24 knots, and averaged a mean speed of 22.5 knots, then achieving these speeds just over 12 years later is no mean feat. The steam turbine engines aboard Caronia needed a great deal of care and attention, especially as the high pressure turbine revolved continuously at nearly 4,000 r.p.m.
Making the Most of Bombay
Speak of ships and India today and probably the only topic that comes to mind will be ship-breaking and the appalling working conditions suffered by the local population. On Caronia's arrival for her week's stay in Bombay in 1961, the passengers are instructed, via the daily programme , to keep their port-holes closed. The reason being that despite the “Green Goddess” only having been at sea for 3 months since her last annual overhaul, the outside of the ship was to be painted.
In these more enlightened times, we may frown upon the fact that Cunard was employing local (cheap) labour to repaint their ship. Quite what the deck crew who were usually assigned this task thought of this will be the subject of more research. Perhaps they were relieved that others would be doing what was a very dangerous job, especially as there seemed to be skant regard for people's safety in those days.
To most of the crew, Bombay was a port where small miracles happened. A chap would quickly measure you up for a new suit or a pair of hand-made shoes, and the finished product would be presented to you the very next day, for what was very little money.
Al's World
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