SS Pasteur
From Our Contribution
 | |
 as SS Bremen arriving in Cherbourg early 1970s | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Pasteur known to many as SS Louis Pasteur |
| Owner | UK Government (1940–46) |
| Builder | Chantiers de l'Atlantique |
| Yard number | R8 |
| Launched | 15 Feb 1938 |
| Completed | August 1939 |
| In service | 1940 |
| Out of service | 1980 |
| Fate | sank while being towed to Taiwanese breakers |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Ocean Liner |
| Tonnage | 29,253 |
| Length | 212.4 m (696 ft 10 in) |
| Beam | 26.8 m (87 ft 11 in) |
| Propulsion | four screws |
| Speed | 22 knots (41 km/h) |
| Capacity | 545 crew + 751 passengers (1,150 as SS Bremen) |
Remarks
Named after French scientist Louis Pasteur she was built to service the Europe to South Atlantic routes. Not completed before the start of the war due to a fire which delayed her fitting out, commencement of the war caused her to be laid up in Saint-Nazaire in France. In 1940, she was commissioned to carry 200 tons of gold reserves from Brest, France to Halifax, Nova Scotia, before she made her official maiden voyage.
After France fell to Germany she was taken over by the British who used her as a troop ship, and at times as a military hospital ship. Because of her speed she normally made crosssings of the North Atlantic on her own, unescorted. She made several voyages carrying POWs to North America, and from Egypt to South Africa. In total she carried 220,000 troops and 30,000 wounded, travelling 370,669 miles or 596,534 kilometers.
After the war she was used to return US and Canadian troops to thier home countries before being returned to her owners in October 1945. They continued to transport French troops to their colonies - Vietnam and Algeria, and returning Dutch troops from Indonesia to the Netherlands. Laid up in 1956, she returned to service briefly during the Suez Crisis before being sold to North German Lloyd in 1957.
Extensively refitted she was renamed Bremen and entered the Bremerhaven - Southampton - Cherbourg - New York route until 1960 when she began cruising in the Carribean and South America. In 1971 she was sold to a Greek firm, becoming the Regina plying the Mediterraen and used for world cruises. Again laid up in 1974 she was sold in 1977 to a Saudi company who used her as Saudiphil as an accommodation ship for pilgrims to Mecca.