Britanis Sinking She survived an attack by German dive bombers while in service as a troop ship during World War II, but she could not survive the harsh sea.
The 26,000-ton Britanis, sank 50 miles off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa, on October 21, 2000.
The aged liner left Salvador, Brazil, being pulled by a tugboat. She was headed for a scrap yard in India when a leak developed in her aft section.
Repairing the leak and finishing the tow would have been incredibly expensive. As a result, she was left to sink to the bottom of the ocean.
The Britanis entered service in 1932 as the Matson Lines’ Monterey. During World War 2 she was converted into a troop ship, as were many cruise ships of the time.
She was designed by the noted Naval architect William Francis Gibbs who gained notoriety for building the SS United States. Which was once the fastest cruise ship to cross the Atlantic in either direction.
The Monterey met a sad fate after the war as funds ran out to finish a planned refit she was undergoing, and she sat idly in Alameda, California for 5 years before being bought by the US government and towed to the mothball fleet in Suisun Bay.
Aerial photo of the Suisun Bay. Benicia to the left, Martinez to the right, and Fairfield/Suisun City to the north.
In 1956 The Matson Line bought her back from the US government and returned her to service under the name Matsonia.
Eventually, Matson would change her name to Lurline and again to Britanis in 1970, when she was sold to the Chandris Lines.
Her swan song was under the Carnival Cruise’s Fantasy Cruise division. Where she sailed until her annual maintenance was deemed too costly for the cruise company and her fate lay with the scrap yards.
There had been some talk of turning her into a floating hotel in San Francisco harbor. But those plans were abandoned when it was found her annual maintenance would be too costly.
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