The trip from the UK to Australia when SS Asturias served as a 'migrant ship' took approximately 5-6 weeks.
According to the
"Instructions for the Voyage", passengers were allowed to take with them no more than £6 in UK currency, and up to £10 Sterling "in
Australian or other currency notes .... making a combined total equal to £16 Sterling for use on board.... which may not be spent
at ports abroad."
The route from Southampton varied, with some voyages via Malta and the Suez Canal, Aden and Colombo and others
via Karachi and Bombay to Fremantle, Western Australia, often picking up passengers. See the ship's voyage logs for ports visited.
*Source: Ten Pound Poms - Australia's Invisible Migrants by A James Hammerton and Alistair Thomson.
More than one and a half million Britons left for Australia in the quarter century following the Second World War.
The
Asturias made 23 trips to Australia between 1946 and 1952, carrying more than 25,000 migrants. Most of them came under
an assisted passage scheme through which adults travelled to Australia for just £10 whilst children travelled free*. Many children were
brought to Australia as 'orphans' to find new homes.
Asturias, Southampton: photo courtesy of Simon Walker, UK
Can you help?
Tip: throughout this site, wherever you see this symbol, double-click to enlarge the image or go to a new section
These photographs were taken on board the Asturias in November 1948, by Pat Piggott. His wife Irene (Rene) and son Michael are pictured with other passengers. If you can identify them, please let us know.
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Army Chaplain's Poems
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Ship's Voyage Logs
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Statistics about the Ship
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"11.2.50 Grand morning, clear sky, warm sun...passed Gibraltar, saw porpoises..."
Reader Phil Green of the UK has submitted this photo of the Asturias, taken by his father who served in the 14th/20th Kings Hussars from July 1952 to December 1954. If anyone can identify the date and place, please let us know.
If you travelled on the Asturias in November 1947, March 1950, April 1951, or June 1952 there are other passengers who would love to get in touch.
Looking for friends
There are many more stories from passengers available in the "passenger stories" section of this site.
This site has been created to provide a central place to gather information about the SS Asturias II and may be of particular interest
to those passengers who came to Australia aboard her in the 1940s and 1950s when the ship saw service as a ‘migrant ship’.
All
genuine material for publication on the site that may be of interest to others is welcome including photographs, memorabilia and stories.
Please submit your articles for publication by email and indicate whether you wish to be acknowledged as the source of the material. Also include your contact details in case verification is required. Your feedback is always appreciated.
Please submit your articles for publication by email and indicate whether you wish to be acknowledged as the source of the material. Also include your contact details in case verification is required. Your feedback is always appreciated.
All genuine
emails receive a response - if you have not had a reply please try again from a different email address, in case your email address
has been 'blacklisted' as spam by the automatic filter.
Eddie and Violet Lawrence were married in Leeds UK and came to Australia in May 1948. Eddie's niece Valerie would love to know what happened to them.
More lists transcribed: names of passengers
for Nov-1948 and
Mar-1949 have now
been uploaded. See alphabetical lists
for
details.