TSS ( Turbine Steam Ship) ''Fairstar'' (''Fairstar, the Fun Ship'') was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

-based

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

operating out of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

for 22 years. Originally completed in 1957 as the British

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable to land troops directly on shore, typic ...

''Oxfordshire'', it was converted to become the ''Fairstar'' in 1964 for immigrant voyages and from December 1974 was permanently engaged in cruising.

Background

In the early 1950s, the British War Office still regularly required the transportation of troops to and from garrisons in many parts of the

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. The

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

had contracts with several shipping lines to transport the officers, troops and their families. One particular shipping company, The Bibby Line, had a long history of transporting troops; in fact from as early as 1854 during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. In 1953, Bibby Line was made an attractive offer by the

British Government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

to build a new vessel for troop transport. A simultaneous arrangement was made with the

British-India Steam Navigation Company British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. History The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading part ...

for an almost identical vessel, which would become ''

Nevasa Nevasa is a city in Nevasa tehsil of Ahmednagar district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mohiniraj Temple The city of Nevasa is the location of a 75 - foot tall temple of Mohini, built in 1773, which houses an image of Mohiniraj (Vishn ...

''. These new ships would become the largest and last British vessels built solely for trooping. It was intended that the pair would take up twenty-year charters from the British Government, to secure their employment. Consequently, Bibby Line sold the original 1912 ''Oxfordshire'' and plans for the new ship proceeded with the ship to be built at the

Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Na ...

of Glasgow. The keel of the new vessel (designated as 'Ship No. 755') was laid down with 8,396 tons (8 531 t) of steel assigned for the construction. On 15 December 1955 the ''Oxfordshire'' was launched by Lady Dorothea Head, wife of the Minister for War, Lord Head. Fitting out of the ship took over a year, with her sea trials commencing on 29 January 1957. The ''Oxfordshire'' was officially handed over to the Bibby Line on 14 February 1957 when she steamed towards

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

to commence her trooping role. On 28 February 1957 ''Oxfordshire'' left Liverpool on her maiden voyage bound for

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

via

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. The vessel had the capacity to carry 1000 troops, 500 passengers (usually the families of the troops) and 409 crew members. ''Oxfordshire'' made an average of four trips per year between Britain and the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

, calling en route at

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

Port Said Port Said ( , , ) is a port city that lies in the northeast Egypt extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, straddling the west bank of the northern mouth of the Suez Canal. The city is the capital city, capital of the Port S ...

and

Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...

in Egypt. However, by the early 1960s the use of aircraft to fulfil transport requirements and the declining number of overseas British garrisons meant that trooping by sea was soon to be redundant. In 1962 the British Government finally decided to rely entirely on air trooping, so the long-term charters of ''Oxfordshire'' and near sister-ship ''Nevasa'' were terminated and the vessels withdrawn from service. The last active troopship ''Oxfordshire'' followed ''Nevasa'' (despatched in October 1962), to lay up in the safe haven of Cornwall's

River Fal The River Fal () flows through Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordere ...

in December of that year. It was at this time that the migrant trade to Australia was booming. British and European migrants were given assisted passage to Australia – only having to pay ten pounds, with the balance paid by the Federal Government. The Vlasov Group passenger division, SITMAR Line, was already well established as a migrant carrier to Australia and they quickly showed an interest in the idle ''Oxfordshire''. A six-year charter agreement with an option to purchase the ship was signed in February 1963 between the Bibby Line and Fairstar Shipping Corporation (another subsidiary of Vlasov Group).

'ConOx'

The complex plan to convert the ''Oxfordshire'' into a ship that was suitable for both liner voyages and cruises was one of the most ambitious projects to be overseen by the Vlasov engineers. On 19 May 1963 the ''Oxfordshire'' entered the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyard at

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

to commence the transformation. The project was known as the "Conox Project" (Conversion of Oxfordshire). Unfortunately, the project took longer than expected and cost more than anticipated (£4.5 million). In May 1964 it was then decided to buy the ship outright and move her to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

to complete the fitting out. The handsome, new-look ship was quite changed from her former image: the superstructure was lengthened both fore and aft, three pairs of cargo booms were replaced by cranes, also the signal mast and funnel housing were redesigned. Internally, the vessel was completely transformed, with contemporary 'One Class Tourist' accommodation for a maximum of 1,868 passengers in 488 cabins, all but 68 of which were equipped with private shower and toilet facilities.

Fairstar

On 19 May 1964 the ''Fairstar'' left Southampton with a full complement of passengers, mostly migrants, on her maiden voyage to Sydney, Australia, joining older company vessels ''

Fairsky The Turbine Steamship ''Fairsky'' was a one-class Italian-styled passenger ship operated by the Sitmar Line, best known for service on the migrant passenger route from Britain to Australia from May 1958 until February 1972. After a 20-month lay ...

'', ''Fairsea'' and '' Castel Felice'' already operating in the same role. During the low season of the migrant run, SITMAR used the ships for cruises out of Sydney to the South Pacific. ''Fairstar''s first such cruise departed on 6 January 1965 under charter to

Massey Ferguson Massey Ferguson is an agricultural machinery manufacturer, established in 1953 through the merger of farm equipment makers Massey-Harris of Canada and the Ferguson Company of Ireland. It was based in Coventry then moved to Beauvais in 2003 when ...

for their annual convention. After almost another full year of liner voyages from the UK to Australia, ''Fairstar'' sailed on another cruise from Sydney, departing on 22 December 1965 and visiting

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French Sui generis collectivity, special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest Francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main i ...

and

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

. SITMAR lost its migrant carrying contract to Chandris Lines in 1970, ''Fairsea'' having been withdrawn in 1969 following a disabling engine-room fire mid-Pacific. ''Castel Felice'' also went to the breakers in October 1970, after a career of almost 40 years. ''Fairsky'' was laid up in Southampton in February 1972, not returning to the Australian service until November 1973. ''Fairstar'' was used more and more for cruising over the following years and in November 1974, the vessel departed Southampton for her last liner voyage. ''Fairstar'' then began cruising as a permanent cruise ship from Australia in December 1974. Most of the cruises were to the South Pacific, however she often made annual trips to Asia where the vessel would be dry-docked in Singapore for routine maintenance and upgrades in between cruises. ''Fairstar'' thus joined ''Fairsky'' in full-time cruising, ''Fairsky'' having finally been withdrawn in July 1974 from the now unsubsidised UK-Australia route. Both ships remained in service together for a further three years, until the sudden unfortunate demise of ''Fairsky'' in June 1977, after the vessel struck a submerged wreck near

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

, Indonesia and was found to be beyond economic repair. Several upgrades were made to ''Fairstar'' during her career, the most notable occurring in April 1989, not long after SITMAR was sold to P&O Australia for $210 million. During the refit, her boat deck was extended, lounges and passenger cabins were upgraded and a new potable water plant installed. The passenger capacity was also reduced to 1,280. The funnel sported a new colour scheme: a blue swan on a white funnel (it was originally changed to a white swan on a blue logo in July 1988).

The end of Fairstar

During the 1990s, ''Fairstar'' suffered an increasing number of breakdowns and problems. New SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) requirements that were to be introduced in 1997 meant that Fairstar would require extensive upgrading which would cost millions of dollars. In late 1996, the managing director of P&O, Mr Phil Young, announced that ''Fairstar''s long career would conclude the following year. When the news was broken to the public, the final cruise was sold out in a few hours. On 21 January 1997, ''Fairstar'' sailed on her last ever cruise, visiting Amédée Island, Nouméa, Lifou, Vila and Havannah-Boulari Passage before finally returning to Sydney. On her return to Sydney, she had the traditional long white pennant flying from her mainmast. The name "''RIPA''" was then roughly painted on her bow (which many believe stood for "Rest In Peace Always") and she flew the

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

flag. Soon after, she slipped out of Sydney Harbour and arrived at

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

, India on 10 April 1997 where she was broken up for scrap.

References

Bibliography