| Description |
184 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 28 cm |
| Contents |
Includes index |
| Summary |
"The story of passenger shipping between Britain and Australia is the story of the P&O Line and the Orient Line. Over the years other companies have come and gone on the route, but P&O were the first and now they are the sole survivors. The Orient Line came into the trade as rivals of the P&O, they then became partners, and eventually were absorbed by the giant of British shipping. To try and tell the story of one company without including the other would be impossible, as they acted and reacted in concert over so many years. Their story is told through the ships they operated, beginning in 1825 when the tiny 'Chusan' arrived in Sydney Harbour to commence a service to Singapore. From this small beginning was to develop a mighty fleet of ships that would carry hundreds of thousands of people to and from Australia, and more recently New Zealand, over the next hundred and thirty years and more. It was not until 1877 that P&O faced their first serious competition, when the Orient Line made a few exploratory voyages to Australia, decided the service was viable, and went on to build some of the finest vessels to grace these shores. As the story of these two mighty firms unfolds, the names of ships well remembered occur repeatedly, while others forgotten or unheard of float past in an increasing progression of size and comfort. The advent of jet aircraft in the 1960s spelt the beginning of the end for the days of leisurely voyages across the oceans of the world, and faced with this new competition P&O turned their ships from mobile hotels into moving palaces of fun and excitement, with cruises to exotic ports throughout the world. This is mostly the story of ships now gone, but worthy of memory for the great service they gave in times of peace and war." -- dust jacket flyleaf |
| Notes |
Ill. on lining papers |
|
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes index |
| Subject |
Orient Line -- History
|
|
Orient Steam Navigation Company, ltd.
|
|
P & O Australia Ltd
|
|
P & O-Orient Lines -- History.
|
|
P & O-Orient Lines.
|
|
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company -- History.
|
|
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company.
|
|
Ocean liners -- Australia -- History.
|
|
Ocean liners.
|
|
Passenger ships -- Australia -- History.
|
|
Passenger ships.
|
| LC no. |
84070763 |
| ISBN |
0868617369 |
|
