She was the Great White Whale and, as everyone recalled yesterday, she stuck out like a sore thumb in San Carlos Bay as she landed troops during the Falklands conflict.
Her then-captain Dennis Scott-Masson recalled: ''You just knew you were a very large white object, the biggest thing in San Carlos, the biggest thing in the Falklands really. You could not believe they would not manage to hit us.''
But the liner Canberra escaped unscathed to return to a hugely emotional welcome home.
Last night a commemorative dinner for veterans of the 1982 campaign was held on board at Southampton.
Guests included the Duke of York - who, as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot, flew on to one of the liner's two hastily-installed flight decks during the conflict - and Baroness Thatcher.
The former prime minister said: ''We could not have won unless the Merchant Navy had taken down all the soldiers and equipment.''
Standing alongside the P&O liner, which comes out of service in September, she pointed to the white sides and said there had not been time to paint them battleship grey.
The Falklands operation, which included the requisitioning of five other P&O ships and the Cunard liner QE2, had been complicated, said Baroness Thatcher, who claimed it had also transformed the standing of the country.
She said a Russian general told her no one thought the British would fight, and if they did they would lose.
Baroness Thatcher signed a painting depicting the Canberra in San Carlos Water.
The Canberra was requisitioned early in April 1982 and sailed for the South Atlantic on April 9. During her 94 days with the Task Force she landed most of the ground forces and also acted as a hospital ship and prisoner trooper ship.
Guests at last night's dinner included Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin, who was then Chief of Defence Staff, and Sir John 'Sandy' Woodward, Commander of the Task Force.
Widows of some of the troops killed in the campaign were present.
Lord Sterling, P&O chairman, told guests: ''Canberra encapsulates all that is best in spirit and character of the British people.''
After the dinner, the Duke of York took the salute as bands from the Royal Marines, Britannia Royal Naval College, the Parachute Regiment, the Royal Air Force and the pipes and drums of the Scots Guards Beat Retreat.
As well as her time in the Falklands, the dinner also paid tribute to the 44,807-ton Canberra as she retires.
Launched in March 1960, she has carried thousands of Britons emigrating to Australia and thousands more on cruises, sailing more than three million miles.
A decision about her future has still to be announced, but Captain Scott-Masson said he firmly believed she should be scrapped rather than sold.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article