The Canberra in the Falklands War

Vast and brilliant white, P&O's flagship the SS Canberra was a final salute to a bygone era of opulence even as she embarked on her maiden voyage. For a decade she carried passengers between Britain and Australia, a 90-day voyage of pampering and decadence.

But in March 1982, Britain went to war to defend the Falkland Islands and the SS Canberra found herself, surreally, requisitioned as a troop ship to carry the Marines and Paratroops into battle. Against all odds she survived, playing a vital role as a hospital ship. At the end of the war she arrived back in Southampton to a hero's welcome, where she became fondly known as the Great White Whale.

This is the extraordinary and, as yet, untold story of how the crew of a luxury ocean liner—waiters, cooks, nurses and cleaners—found themselves suddenly thrust onto the front line. The Canberra in the Falklands is a candid and captivating story, drawing from first-hand accounts and previously unpublished archives, of the heroic courage of ordinary British men and women in the face of great adversity, at the outpost of empire.