It is so unusual that there has not been a thread yet for one of the great Greek passenger ships of the post-war passenger ship…. Yes, I know that pictures of this boat have appeared in the K-Line thread and elsewhere, but don’t you think we should combine everything together?
Philippos in Piraeus in all its glory!
FilipposNew.jpg
What a good looking ship, what a handsome ship Philippos was… {I know, I know, ships are female, but Philippos was a prince!}. From 1955 to 1972 she graced the Greek waters… What a great tribute to Philippos Kavounides the founder of this great company, whose name this ship took!
Philippos was launched as Empress Queen by Ailsa Shipbuilding at Troon, Scotland on February 29th, 1940. She had 1,781 tons, a length of 85.9 m and a width of 11.5 m. A big ship in those days! And what a glorious ship… She had an exceptional 20 knot service speed which made her the fastest passenger ship in Greece all the way to 1965! {{Dear friends, with all due respect I do not understand why you are so excited about Adonis and not about Philippos!}}
She had been ordered by Campbell as a fast ship in the South England to France routes. But the war did not allow this. Instead she served during the war as a troopship, particularly between Stranraer and Larne.
Here is her Miramar entry (Miramar reversed the first two names and I have corrected this here.
From 1947 to 1950 she was put on the English South Coast service among smaller resorts in the area including Brighton and others, but she was too large and found to be poorly manouvrable. Thus, she was moved to Torquay on the South Devon coast in 1951 for longer cruises, especially to the Channel Islands. These routes were not sufficiently profitable.IDNo: 5277270 Year: 1940
Name: EMPRESS QUEEN Launch Date: 29.2.40
Type: Passenger ship Date of completion: 7.40
Flag: GBR Keel:
Tons: 1781 Link: 1015
DWT: Yard No: 430
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 85.9 Country of build: GBR
Beam: 11.5 Builder: Ailsa
Location of yard: Troon
Number of screws/Mchy/
Speed(kn): 2ST-20
Owner as Completed: P.& A.Campbell Ltd, Bristol
Subsequent History: 40 EMPRESS QUEEN - 43 QUEEN EAGLE - 46 EMPRESS QUEEN 55 PHILIPPOS
Disposal Data: fire & explosion Piraeus 23.2.72 & bu
Empress Queen in 1940
Empress Queen 1940.jpg
Empress Queen in Swansea in 1947
Empress Quenn Philippos in Swansea 1947.jpg