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Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 37, 6 May 1927, Page 2

THE! ALCANTARA.— The completion of the motorship Alcantara has, with the Asturias, given the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company a pair of remarkable vessels which have many outstanding claims to distinction. In the first place they are the largest ships under the British flag propelled by internal-combustion engines, the dimensions of the later ship being: Length. 655 ft Bin; beam, 7Sft; and depth, 15ft; the gross tonnage exceeding 22,000 tons. Apart from this the vessels stand out as magnificent examples of ship artistry, the spaciousness of their public rooms and the beauty of their decorations striking a very high note indeed. Considering that the Alcantara was only launched in September last, the builders have completed her in excellent time, the expedition which has been shown being no doubt due in part to the fact that the work was much simplified by the experience gained with the Asturias, which lends support to the advisability of building in pairs, a policy having obviously many other advantages to recommend it, states “The Syren and Shipping.” The Alcantara is a very imposing structure, her massive hull, with its cruiser stern, truncated funnels, tow -ering upper works, and vast open deck spaces for the purposes of sport and promenading, suggest the power and strength of a ship of war rather than the ordinary merchantman. In the construction of the hull all the latest improvements in shipbuilding practice have been incorporated, and the very highest standards are conformed to. Eleven watertight bulkheads divide her into 12 compartments, while the double bottom, which is available for water, either fresh or ballast, extends the full length of the ship. The generous provision of fresh-water tankage is essential when it is remembered that with a full complement of passengers and crew the company of the Alcantara will ziumber no fewer than 1,900.