When the beloved Canberra was taken out of service in 1997, there was much discussion as to how this icon could be saved and, before she went for scrap, the Heritage team removed many of the artworks and fittings. The collection has almost 2,000 items, including paintings, murals, furniture, fittings, china, tableware and publicity material. Many can be viewed in a special section of the P&O Heritage website.
lthough a number of the fine ship models are on display in the London office, many of the full-size ship-builders’ models are on loan to muse- ums. For example, the Melbourne Museum has a full-hull model of the 1948 Orcades, while a large half-model of the 1894 Cale- donia can be seen in the Wheeler Bar on Swan Hellenic’s Minerva. One of the most extraordinary sights at the London office, however, is on the wall of the outer stairwell. The five large locomotive plates, with names of P&O- owned companies, belonged to a group of Merchant Navy Class engines built for Southern Railway from 1941-49 and named after Southampton shipping lines. A poignant reminder of P&O’s role
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in both World Wars can be found at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, where commemorative memorials commissioned by P&O and its subsidiary companies are dedicated to staff and crew who gave their lives during these conflicts. Also in the Collection is a famous painting by Norman Wilkinson of the Rawalpindi under attack by German battle cruisers in 1939. The ship later sank with the loss of 266 lives.
Since the start of the new millennium, the emphasis of P&O changed from being a pure shipping line to a global port and logistics operator. P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises were demerged in 2000 and, in 2002, the combined plc, then the world’s third largest cruise company, was sold to US-owned Carnival Corporation. Although P&O Cruises continues to fly the P&O house flag, it is now a brand within Carnival and no longer part of the original Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. After the sale in 2004 of the remaining shares in the container line P&O Nedlloyd, the company’s fleet centred upon P&O Maritime and P&O Ferries, still flag bearers today.
In 2005, the company moved its HQ
from Pall Mall to Palace Street and the impressive use of its heritage won the company a prestigious corporate art award. In 2006, the non-cruise part of P&O was acquired by Dubai-based DP World for £3.3b and the London office became DP’s regional headquarters. At the time there was some concern
about what would happen to the Heritage collections. However, the new owners have shown their steadfast commitment to the preservation of the name and history of the famous company they own and have funded a number of projects, including the digitising and conservation of the substantial photographic collection. Because the London HQ is a working office, a dedicated website – www.
poheritage.com – is now available to show off some of its unique collection – and to share the history of this extraordinary company with the world.
Winter 2012-13 I WORLD OF CRUISING 97
Top line of images: Orient line poster, ‘Orient Line Boomerang Trips’designed by John Ba inbridge, 1958; ‘Orient Line to Australia, Pacific, North America and Far East’, designed by Fritz Buhler, 1950’s; P&O poster, ‘Pleasure Cruises by P&O – Book here no fee’ designed by Greig, 1930’s; P&O Cruises brochure featuring P&O ships, VICEROY OF INDIA and RANCHI, 1931; ‘P&O Tourist Class Cruises’, advertising brochure, 1935. © P&O Heritage
P&O Across the Oceans, Across the Years by Ruth Artmonsky and Susie Cox is a beautiful large format book published by the Antique Collectors Club with magnificent images from the Heritage Collection. See www.
antiquecollectorsclub.com/uk.
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