One of Shaw Savill Line's principal ships for many years was Dominion Monarch, which lived up to her regal status by having only first- class accommodation for 523 passengers.
Built by Swan Hunters in the late 1930s, the 26,500-ton liner was designed for a new service from Southampton to South Africa, New Zealand and Australia.
Dominion Monarch had the distinction of being the last really big British motor liner. A quadruple-screw vessel 650ft long, with an 85ft beam, she set a new fashion by having a single mast set well forward, while her two funnels were aft of midships.
The ship had only just begun her career when the Second World War broke out and she was taken over for troopship duties. When peace returned Dominion Monarch was welcomed back to Southampton when she brought in valuable food from New Zealand.
By the 1960s Shaw Savill, worried about rising fuel costs, decided to have her broken up.
The last commercial voyage started from Southampton on December 30, 1961, returning the following April when all the ships in port saluted her on their whistles.
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