Highland Chieftain

As you come up the River Plate to Montevideo you can see the mast of the Highland Chieftain sticking out of the water from miles away. The un-initiated on the ship thought that this was the remains of the Graff Spee. No such luck as she lies broken up underwater some 3 miles away.

The Highland Chieftain was built in 1929 by Harland and Wolf of Belfast, and made her maiden voyage on the London toRiver Plate service, on the 21st of February and later transferred to Royal Mail in 1932. She commenced wartime trooping duties in 1939, but was damaged on the 11th of October, 1940, during a bombing raid on Liverpool.

The mast of the Highland Chieftain

After the war she did not resume her commercial operations until 1948 on the River Plate service, and was sold out of the fleet in January of 1959 to the Calpe Shipping Company of Gibraltar and converted for use in the whaling industry,and renamed Calpean Star.

The Highland Chieftain

In March of 1960 she suffered rudder damage when off Montevideo, and after leaving under tow she suffered a boiler room explosion which resulted in her being abandoned.The wreck wasn't cut up for scrap until 1965.

I am very grateful To Andy Jones for the following information and photos. He took the silhouette photo whilst serving on H.M.S.Protector in December 1967

Andy Jones

I believe I photographed the Highland Chieftain (Calpean Star) in 1967.
At the time I was serving in the Royal Navy on board HMS Protector the navy’s antarctic patrol ship. We were entering Montivideo for the christmas period. I was on the upper deck with my camera and took a sunlite silhouette photograph which later won a photographic competition.
Oddly you say the ship was cut up for scrap in 1965, if the ship I photographed is the same ship then it was far from being cut up by late 1967.
The photograph I have shows the two funnels, bridge and one deck below the funnels. Apart from the foremast, two derricks on the foredeck and two on the afterdeck the rest is sunken.
I have viewed the photograph you have and cross matched it with my photograph and I am about 90% sure it is the same ship. Other photographs I have seen only show the foremast and the top of the front derricks. I may have the only photograph of the Highland Chieftain as it was in the 1960’s.

Article translated from Spanish.

This vessel has known better times, of course. Was launched in 1928, Known as “Highland Chieftain” Part of a fleet of several cruise ships (passenger ships and cargo) identical.
After passing the usual tests, entered service in 1929, A maiden voyage between London and Buenos Aires. It continued for years doing transatlantic voyages carrying cargo and passengers between Europe and South America.
Displacing 14,000 tons and measured 163 meters long. Accommodate 150 passengers in the luxurious first class, 70 passengers in second class and to 500 in third class (something tells me that the latter were crowded, no?)

At the outbreak of World War II, the British seized it for use as troop transports. In that role the ship suffered bombing that severely damage it and put it out of service until 1948.
In 1959 was acquired by the company “Calpe Shipping Co., and entirely refurbished and renamed Calpan Star.
In early summer of 1959The ship carrying a cargo of birds and other animals to a zoo in Germany. Among them was an albatross, Large-sized seabird.
Prior to arriving in port, one of the sailors gave the albatross improper food and he died. This situation is unfortunate, in the beliefs of the seamen, who identified the bird as a “symbol of friendship” and avoid disturbing them or hurting them.
So it was no surprise that on reaching the next port, Liverpool, several of the crew demanded their pay and chose to stay there, knowing that the vessel had been “cursed.”

With some replacement crew, Calpean Star completed its journey, being allocated to the Norwegian fleet after the Antarctic. And there the trouble began.
The ship suffered first several faults in the generators. Repaired them, then detected a leak of oil into the water supply. Then a break in the main engine compressor would leave it adrift for several days. When the repairs were completed, the rudder of the ship suffered a fracture, such that it had to be towed to Montevideo to solve the problem.
This was done and the necessary repairs were completed. But just as “Calpean Star”Left Montevideo, a huge explosion destroyed the engine room and started a fire. Crew members drowned during abandoning ship, which many identify with the sailor who killed the albatross. And the ship would founder hopelessly damned.
The curious fact: the ship’s remaining crew were repatriated by air. And in the first leg of the trip had a problem: the landing gear of the plane broke down when it landed in Rio de Janeiro.
The seamen declared that only by coming back to their land felt that the curse was over. Believe it or not.