P&O Cruises '175th Anniversary Grand Event' in Southampton - 03/07/2012

On Tuesday July 3rd 2012, the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company celebrated its 175th Anniversary in style - even if it did not have the perfect weather for the occasion. The City of Southampton has seen several large ships in its docks at various times, but very rarely do all the ships from a certain fleet make their appearances. Up until now, only the three Cunard 'Queens' had been seen together in both New York and Southampton, but on this day, all seven members of the P&O fleet were docked together on this once in a lifetime occasion. The seven ships were docked at the following locations... - "Oceana" (joined the fleet in 2003) was at Berths 38/9 (The 'Queen Elizabeth II' Terminal) - "Adonia" (joined the fleet in 2011) was at Berth 40 - "Azura" (joined the fleet in 2010) was at Berth 46 (The 'Ocean' Terminal) - "Oriana" (joined the fleet in 1995) was at Berth 101 (The 'City' Terminal) - "Aurora" (joined the fleet in 2000) was at Berth 102 - "Arcadia" (joined the fleet in 2005) was at Berth 104 - "Ventura" (joined the fleet in 2008) was at Berth 106 (The 'Mayflower' Terminal) The main event began ay 17:15 when "Adonia" cast off her moorings and sailed up past "Azura", "Oriana", "Aurora", "Arcadia" and "Ventura" before turning round and sailing back down with the ships casting off and following her in reverse order. "Ventura" was the first to set out after "Adonia" followed by "Arcadia", then "Aurora" and "Oriana" with "Azura" and finally "Oceana" bringing up the rear. Several small boats were seen giving tours to see the seven ships throughout the day. Amongst them were the SS "Shieldhall" and the 'Paddle Steamer Preservation Society's MV "Balmoral". This is a re-uploaded and slightly extended version. Hope you enjoy.