P.S.N.C. LINER ‘REINA DEL MAR’ OF 1956

Built by Harland & Wolff at Belfast in 1955. Yard No. 1533

Official Number: 187132    Signal Letters:  G T Y N

Owned by the Pacific Steam Navigation Co. Ltd; registered at Liverpool

Gross Tonnage: 20,225;  Nett: 11,234.    Length: 600·9ft, Breadth: 78·4ft

6 Steam Turbines, double reduction gearing to 2 shafts

            This 20,255-ton turbine steamer, with accommodation for 766 passengers in three classes, was built at Belfast by Harland & Wolff, and launched on 7^th June 1955 by Mrs H. Leslie Bowes, the wife of PSNC’s then managing director. Watching the launching ceremony were the ambassadors of Colombia , Peru and Ecuador , and the Minister of State for Chile . Also present was Mr C.Warwick, the chairman of Royal Mail Lines – PSNC’s sister company – who turned to Mr Bowes and commented: “You know Leslie, she’ll never pay” – nor did she! In his after luncheon speech, Mr Bowes said that he and his colleagues profoundly believed that, whatever might be the future developments in the air, there would always be a steady demand for accommodation in beautiful and comfortable ships of which, he said, the Reina del Mar was an outstanding example.

            The new Reina del Mar took shape as a replacement for the ageing diesel liner Reina del Pacifico on the service between Europe and the West Coast of South America. The two-funnelled Reina del Pacifico did not have an enviable reputation as a seaboat, but in spite of her nickname ‘the Rolling Reina’, many were sad to see her go.

            The new ship was designed to sail from Liverpool, via European ports and the West Indies, through the Panama Canal to Ecuador , Peru and Chile . The accommodation was air-conditioned and she had Denny-Brown stabilisers. Her public rooms were pleasant but unremarkable; her speed was a moderate 18 knots and her early career followed a routine pattern. She seemed all set for a quietly successful life on the Valparaiso run.

            The Reina del Mar arrived at Liverpool for the first time on 9^th April 1956 and eleven days later sailed on a pre-maiden voyage three-day cruise to the Western Isles of Scotland. By coincidence, on that same day, Friday 20^th April, the new Empress of Britain left Liverpool on her maiden voyage to Quebec and Montreal .

            The new Reina del Mar left Liverpool on Thursday 3^rd May 1956 on her 65-day maiden voyage to the West Coast of South America, calling at some 38 ports en route. On her arrival back in Liverpool on 7^th July her master, Captain George Rice, reported that: “she handles beautifully and steers like a yacht”. At that time the Reina’s chief engineer was Mr A.Currie and so it was inevitable that the new ship quickly became known as the ‘Curry and Rice’ liner! The new ship operated with the Reina del Pacifico as her consort until the latter was sold for scrap in1958.

            The 1950s boom filtered away towards the end of the decade as long-range airliners grabbed ever higher percentages of the passenger trade, and political troubles in Cuba , for many years a major stopover and an important source of revenue, added to the difficulties. With the missile crisis of John Kennedy’s presidency, the end of the West Coast passenger run was in sight. PSNC Archivist John Lingwood aptly summed it up: “the sonic boom of jet travel sounded the death-knell of passage by sea”.

            During these early years, the new ‘Queen of the Sea’ rarely found herself in the news. An interesting group of passengers travelled in her in 1962 – half a dozen young climbers heading for some of the great Patagonian peaks. The group included Chris Bonnington and Don Williams.

            In 1962 a call at Port of Spain , Trinidad was added to the Reina’s schedule to provide a fast passenger service (11 days) between the UK and the southern Caribbean island.

            Rumours circulated in the spring of 1963 that the Reina del Mar would leave the South American service for a time and go cruising. A single cruise from Liverpool had already been arranged for August of that year with the staggering result that every one of her berths was filled when the booking had been open for only a matter of hours. Half of the 570 passengers on the cruise had paid between £50 and £60 for the fortnight’s voyage to the sun, which worked out at 2½d (1p) per sea mile!

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