(Societa Italiana Transporti
Marittimi)
Sitmar’s Australian Service
1948-1970
From the "Old Ship Picture
Galleries”
Castel Bianco (ex-Vassar Victory)
scs 7,223gt 1945 Baltimore, Md
1947 purchased
and r/n Castelbianco
rebuilt to carry 480
passengers
1948-1951 under IRO* charter
made
fourteen voyages to Australia
mostly
from Genoa
but also from Naples
and
Bremerhaven.
1952
further rebuilt to carry
1,200
passengers r/n Castel Bianco
1953 transferred to
South American
and North Atlantic trades
1957 sold to
Spanish buyers,
r/n Begona
1974 suffered engine failure
and drifted
for several days
until towed into
Bridgetown,
Barbados
1975 scrapped
* IRO - International Refugee Organisation
As
Monserat
(ex-Castel
Verde) Postcard in the
author's collection
Castel Verde (ex-Wooster Victory)
scs 8,254 1945 Los Angeles,
Cal.
1947
purchased
1948 refitted for carriage of
900
passengers at Baltimore,
registered
in Panama, made first voyage to
Australia from Genoa with 883
displaced persons under I.R.O.
charter
1948-1949 made six voyages
to
Australia under IRO
charter from
Genoa and Naples
1950
r/n Castel Verde
placed
on Genoa-Centtral America route
1953 rebuilt and tonnage
increased
to 9,006gt
1953-1954 made four voyages
to
Australia - three from Bremerhaven
and one from Naples
1957 sold to Spanish
buyers,
r/n Monserat
1973 scrapped
After
1957 refit. From the "Old Ship Picture
Galleries”
Fairsea – (ex-USS Charger(CVE-30)) -
naa
photo am
scm
15,120 displacement tons
Image No. C4078:N7520
Chester, Pa
(in Sydney harbour)
(Laid down as a passenger
slq postcard image
b&w uw
vessel but completed as an . Image
No. 130881
escort carrier
nla
photo uw (1949)
1941 (Oct) transferred
to the
nla.pic-an6077261
Royal Navy but two days
later
returned to the US Navy
1941-1946 used by US Navy for
training and as an aircraft
ferry
1947 listed for disposal
1949 purchased by Sitmar
r/n Fairsea and
rebuilt as an
emigrant ship
with accommodation
for 1,800 passenger and tonnage
-
11,687gt, registered Panama
(Nov) first voyage
to Australia
from Naples under IRO. charter
1949-1957 carrying assisted
passage
emigrants mainly from
Bremerhaven
and Southampton to
Australia
1957 rebuilt with
accommodation
and facilities upgraded
for a reduced
number of 1,460 passengers,
new tonnage 13,432gt
1961 a further refit to upgrade
passenger accommodation which
was reduced to 1200 berths
1969 en route from Sydney
to
Southampton via Panama with 960
passengers, a fire in the
engine
room disabled the ship before
it
reached Panama. It was towed
into Balboa,
and subsequently
scrapped
From the "Old Ship Picture
Galleries”
Castel Felice (ex-Kenya) - twscs
slv photo uw
12,149gt 1930 Glasgow
Image
No.mp020509
(Built for British India S.N.C.)
(1969, moving down
1942 commissioned as a
landing ship
Port Phillip Bay)
r/n Hydra and
subsequently Keren
1948 returned to owners
and r/n
Kenya
1949 purchased by a Panamanian
company associated with Sitmar
r/n Fairstone
1950 r/n Kenya
1951 r/n Keren
1952 transferred to Sitmar
Line and
r/n Castel Felice,
rebuilt at
Genoa,
registered in Italy
Made
one voyage to Austral
1953 placed in Italy-South
America
service
1954 in North Atlantic service
1958 transferred
to Australia -New
Zealand service from
Southampton
1957 inaugurated homeward
journey
via Panama
1968 registry
transferred to Panama
1970 scrapped
From the "Old Ship
Picture
Galleries"
Fairsky (ex-HMS Attacker, ex-USS
naa
postcard image
Barnes (AVG--7)) - scs 12,464t
b&w
uw (1962)
1942 San
Francisco
Image
No.
1943 transferred to Royal Navy
under
A12111:1/1962/32/6
Lend Lease r/n HMS Attacker
naa
photo am (1962)
1946 returned
to US
Navy
Image No.
1952 purchased by Sitmar
A12111:1/1962/32/2
r/n Castel Forte
rebuilt as cargo
vessel.
1957 rebuilt as passenger
vessel,
r/n Fairsky under
Panamanian flag
1958-1972 Southampton-
Australia service
1972 laid up
1973-1977 cruises based
in Australia and New Zealand
1977 a collision with
an
unmarked wreck out of Jakarta
ended her cruising career.
After salvage, sold to Far East
buyers
1978 r/n Philippine
Tourist
Fitted out as a hotel and
casino berthed in Manila
1979 destroyed by fire
1980 scrapped
From the 'Old Ship Picture
Galleries"
Fairstar
(ex-Oxfordshire) –
twscs 23,764gt 1957
Glasgow
(Built for the Bibby Line
as a troopship)
1963 purchased by Sitmar r/n
Fairstar, rebuilt as a one class
ship to carry 1,800
passengers,
registered in Liberia
1964-1970, in the Southampton
to Australia run with summer
cruises from Sydney
1988 acquired by P&O
1997 scrapped
Sources
1. Peter
Plowman’s “Sitmar Liner
Past And Present”
and “Australian Migrant Ships 1946-1977” (both
Rosenberg,
Dural NSW, 2004 and 2006, respectively)
2. John Maber’s “North Star to
Southern Cross”
(T.Stephenson
& Sons, Prescot, Lancashire, 1967)
3. Website: Reuben Goessen’s
“The
Sitmar Ships"
http:// www.ssmaritime.com/sitmar0.htm
4. Website: Andrew Toppan’s
“World Aircraft Carrier List.
RN
Escort Carriers”
http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/uk_esc.htm
5. Website: Old Ship Picture Galleries
http://www.photoship.co.uk