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points by stevesimmons 2 days ago | 0 comments

I sailed in a similar liner, originally the SS America, though renamed the SS Australis by the time my family took it in 1974 for the 5 week journey from UK via Cape Town to Australia.

The SS Australis passed through multiple owners until it ran aground while being towed near the Canary Islands and broke into two.

A sad end to a majestic ship.

One memory of the trip was the week in the Indian Ocean midway between Africa and Australia where the waves were so large the ship's dining rooms made the tablecloths wet to stop the plates sliding off as we tried to eat breakfast...

[–] Zafira 2 days ago

I believe the America was essentially a testbed for the United States. They were both amazing ships designed by William Francis Gibbs and the United States was specifically designed with conversion to a troopship in mind, if necessary. Its propulsion system was classified as a state secret for a time and there are pictures of models shown to the public early on where everything below the waterline was covered up.