An early P&O cruise liner in Stockholm in 1905

S.S. Vectis at Christiania  (Oslo), water colour by William Lionel Wyllie
(sold  by Bonhams)

Cruising is nowadays an important part of the tourist industry, with hundreds of cruise liners plying the Seven Seas. The first years of the 20th century were still early days for cruises, but both German and British shipowners had already begun to see the vast possibilities pleasure voyages offered to them.

The first ship built exclusively for cruising was the Hamburg-America Line's  Prinzessin Victoria Luise, which was completed in 1900.

In 1904 P. & O. refitted its screw steamer Rome as a cruise liner (it had been built in 1881 for the Australian service) and renamed it Vectis. She took passengers on a variety of cruises, including Scandinavia and the Baltic.

The photograph below is from early September 1905, when Vectis visited Stockholm as part of her Baltic cruise.

The P & O cruise liner Vectis in Stockholm in 1905

The Vectis was sold to the French government in 1912, which intended to convert her to a hospital ship. For some reason this proposal did not proceed, and she was broken up the following year.