page_title: SS America (1939)
section_title: Chandris career (1964–1978)
hierarchical_section_title: SS America (1939) / Chandris career (1964–1978)
caption_attribution_description: English: SS Australis 1967
context_page_description: SS America was an ocean liner and a cruise ship built in 1940 for the United States Lines and designed by the noted American naval architect William Francis Gibbs. She carried many names in the 54 years between her construction and her 1994 wreck:
  SS America; troop transport USS West Point; and SS Australis, Italis, Noga, Alferdoss, and American Star. She served most notably in passenger service as America and the Greek-flagged Australis.
  She was wrecked as the American Star at Playa de Garcey on Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands on 18 January 1994. The wreck has deteriorated and collapsed into the sea. Only a small section of the bow remains visible during low tide.
context_section_description: America was sold to the Greek-owned Chandris Group in 1964. At twenty-four, she was getting older and facing competition from both newer, faster ships and long-range, even non-stop, air travel. The postwar emigrant run from Europe to Australia had become a lucrative market for passenger ships unable to court the luxury trade.
  America, now renamed Australis (meaning "Australia", following the naming convention of Chandris liners), was refitted extensively. Some 350 additional cabins were installed and many existing cabins were given extra berths, increasing her passenger capacity from fewer than 1,200 to 2,258.
  Her maiden voyage was from Southampton on 21 August 1965 to Australia and New Zealand via Piraeus and Suez, returning to Southampton via the Pacific and Panama and Miami. Thereafter she sailed regularly from Southampton, occasionally Rotterdam, on this round-the-world route. On the closure of the Suez Canal in 1967, Piraeus was dropped as a port-of-call and she sailed southbound via Cape Town.
  On 22 October 1970, Australis caught fire broke out in the galley, causing the air-conditioning supply units and exhaust systems were cut off from the bridge and "B" deck port about 3:45 am. It was extinguished following that day, but the voyage delayed as soon be repaired.
  On 11 July 1974, Australis was involved in a minor collision with the Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne while in Sydney Harbour. Both ships were slightly damaged, but there were no casualties.
  She was the last liner providing a regular service to Australia and New Zealand from Southampton until her final voyage which left on 18 November 1977. After arriving at Auckland, she was laid up at Timaru on 23 December 1977.
  Ultimately, rising fuel costs, aging infrastructure, and the creation of long-range jetliners caused Chandris to pull Australis off the Australian run in 1978.
caption: Australis 1967
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "Syntek", "Image Model": "USB Camera", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "09.09.25.01.FR", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image Copyright": "", "Image ExifOffset": "2282", "Image XPKeywords": "[65, 0, 85, 0, 83, 0, 84, 0, 82, 0, 65, 0, 76, 0, 73, 0, 83, 0, 32, 0, 65, 0, 84, 0, 72, 0, 69, 0, 78, 0, 83, 0, 0, 0]", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5502", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "6168", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/60", "EXIF FNumber": "3", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "0", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "6", "EXIF ApertureValue": "3", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "4294967294/3", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Unidentified", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "647/100", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2560", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1920", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5344", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[0, 2, 0, 2, 1, 0, 2, 1]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Hard", "EXIF Sharpness": "Hard", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "EXIF Padding": "[]", "EXIF OffsetSchema": "3998"}