SS Bretagne (1951) - Fire and Loss

Fire and Loss

On her fourth trip back to Southampton, she stopped at Piraeus in late March 1963 with serious engine trouble, disembarking and flying her passengers onward to their destinations. Brittany was moved to a drydock for overhaul by Hellenic Shipyards in Skaramagas. Repairs were nearing completion on 8 April 1963 when a welder's torch set off a fire that burned quickly out of control. Fears of explosion from her own fuel tanks meant Brittany had to be towed out to harbor and beached to let the fire burn out the next day. The ship was a total loss; her hulk was sent to La Spezia for scrap in March 1964.

The loss of Brittany led to the Chandris Lines purchase of SS Lurline in September, 1963; that ship was renamed Ellinis.

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