View source for SS Antilles

{{Short description|French cruise ship that ran aground and sank off Mustique }}
{{about|the French cruise ship|earlier passenger-cargo ship|SS Antilles (1906)}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin|infobox caption=yes}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image=Carte postale du paquebot Antilles.jpg
| Ship caption=Postcard of SS ''Antilles''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header=
|Ship country=[[France]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|France|civil}}
| Ship name=SS Antilles
| Ship owner=Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
| Ship operator=
| Ship registry=
| Ship route=Caribbean Sea
| Ship ordered=1952
| Ship builder=
| Ship original cost=
| Ship yard number=
| Ship way number=
| Ship laid down=
| Ship launched=29 April 1951<ref>{{csr|register=MSI|id=5019836|shipname=Antilles |access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref>
| Ship completed=1953
| Ship christened=1953
| Ship acquired=
| Ship maiden voyage=1953
| Ship in service=
| Ship out of service=1971
| Ship identification=
| Ship fate=Grounded and burned 8 January 1971
| Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header=
| Header caption=
| Ship class=
| Ship type=[[Passenger ship]]
| Ship tonnage={{GRT|19,828}}
| Ship displacement=
| Ship length={{convert|182.53|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam={{convert|24.4|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship height=
| Ship draft={{convert|8|m|abbr=on}}
| Ship depth=
| Ship decks=
| Ship deck clearance=
| Ship ramps=
| Ship ice class=
| Ship sail plan=
| Ship power=Diesel
| Ship speed={{convert|23.8|kn}}
| Ship capacity=
| Ship crew=
| Ship notes=
}}
|}
Built for the [[Compagnie Générale Transatlantique|French Line]], '''''Antilles''''' was a near-sister to {{SS|Flandre|1952|6}} of 1952.  Her construction was completed and her maiden voyage made in 1953.  She differed from her sister mainly because she was painted white.  She was placed on [[West Indies]] cruise service in the 1960s.<ref>Ocean Liners; by Olivier LeGoff and Claude Molteni De Villermont.</ref>

Her career was much shorter than her sister's.  On 8 January 1971, she struck a reef near the island of [[Mustique]] in the [[Grenadines]] while attempting to navigate [[Lansecoy Bay]], a shallow and reef-filled bay on the northern side of Mustique. Why ''Antilles''′ [[Sea captain|captain]] decided to sail into the narrow, shallow strait is still not known.  But on hitting the rocks the impact ruptured a fuel tank and she caught fire.  All of her passengers and crew evacuated the ship safely to the island of Mustique and they were rescued by the [[Cunard Line]]′s ''[[Queen Elizabeth 2]]''.<ref>
{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.simplyscuba.com/ShipwreckShow.aspx?ShipwreckID=19
 |title        = The Antilles, Malta
 |last         = Middleton
 |first        = Ned
 |website      = Simply Scuba
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120904130452/http://www.simplyscuba.com/ShipwreckShow.aspx?ShipwreckID=19
 |archive-date = 2012-09-04
 |access-date   = 2012-07-14
 |url-status      = dead
}}</ref>

The burnt-out hulk could not be freed from the reef, so the ship lay there for several months, eventually breaking in half.<ref>{{cite web |last= |title=1970s Mustique, Grenadines, SS Antilles Shipwreck Aerials, 16mm |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NkEoQPBZ2E |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date= |website=YouTube}}</ref>  Many years later she would be partially scrapped on the spot and moved just a few hundred yards to her final resting place in the channel off [[Lansecoy Bay]].

The wreck site is submerged off Mustique and is barely visible on Google Earth at {{coord|12|54|04|N|061|10|44|W|name="SS ''Antilles''"}}; the mast protrudes from the water during low tide.  Although the ship wrecked on a reef, reaching the site is dangerous because of the [[rip tide]]s that form in the area.

==Popular culture==
{{unreferenced section|date=April 2022}}
Either {{lang|fr|Flandre}} or ''Antilles'' appeared in stock footage in the 1964 ''[[Perry Mason (1957 TV series)|Perry Mason]]'' television episode "Nautical Knot", set near [[Acapulco]], [[Mexico]].  The scenes on board were filmed on a studio set. [[P&O Line]]'s equally popular {{SS|Arcadia}} also appears in the episode.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{French Line ships}}
{{1971 shipwrecks}}
{{Recreational dive sites|wresit}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Antilles}}
[[Category:1951 ships]]
[[Category:Cruise ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1971]]
[[Category:Ship fires]]
[[Category:Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Caribbean Sea]]
[[Category:Ships sunk with no fatalities]]
[[Category:January 1971 in North America]]