An old black and white photograph surfaced recently, of a journey that marked the birth of Australian cruising.
The photo, from the archives of the State Library of Queensland, shows the RMS Strathaird, one of P&O’s earliest cruise ships, drawing away from what is now Hamilton Wharf in Brisbane, way back in December 1932.
The ship was on its maiden cruise, en route to Norfolk Island from Sydney. Previously a mail steamer, it had been refitted to accommodate almost 1,200 passengers and, according to The Courier-Mail, “the six-night voyage to Norfolk was promoted as Australia’s first-ever international tourist-cruise journey, and promptly sold out in 24 hours”.
After being a mail ship and a cruise liner, the Strathaird was then requisitioned during World War II as a troop ship. It ferried Australian soldiers to the Middle East, and also helped with the evacuation of the Western Front in 1940.
The Strathaird‘s final incarnation was as a cruise ship again, travelling between Australia and Europe until it was scrapped in Hong Kong in 1961. During that time it added another infamous journey to its logbook: taking the Australian cricket team to England in 1948 to take part in the Ashes. The team in question? None other than The Invincibles, captained by Sir Donald Bradman (on his final tour) and generally regarded as one of the greatest cricket teams of all time.
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“The discovery of the 1930s Strathaird photo shows just how far P&O Cruises and Queensland have come in the growth of cruise tourism over more than 85 years of achievement,” said Sture Myrmell, president of Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises.
Brisbane remains a key cruising hub for P&O, and Hamilton Wharf is still used by its ships – including the 70,000-tonne superliner, Pacific Dawn, which recently recreated the 1930s departure moment.
Brisbane has been Pacific Dawn‘s home port since December 2009. Since 2012 more than one million Queenslanders have cruised with P&O Cruises – and almost three quarters of them have sailed from Brisbane.
“A relationship that began with Strathaird’s first cruise call back in 1932 continues to go from strength to strength,” said Myrmell. “We see Queensland as a heartland state, which this year will account for more than 220,000 P&O guests, a record 56 separate itineraries and the purchase of huge quantities of produce from Queensland suppliers.”
Queensland is emerging as a major cruise capital, with more cruise destinations than any other state in Australia, and a new international cruise terminal due to open halfway through 2020.
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