Built by Harlan & Wolff at Belfast for the famous Blue Funnel Line, a company started by the Holt Brothers of Liverpool as a steam cargo carrier to China in the era of the famous clippers, CALCHAS was the third such ship to carry the name for the company. Launched in 1946, she was the line's first post-war launching, after losing half their fleet; some accumulated 350,000 tons of ships. In service at 487' length with a 62'4" beam, CALCHAS grossed 7,639 tons, and would soon be manned by 22 midshipmen and 14 engineering cadets, as a worldwide training ship.
This model is an excellently small-scaled dockyard work, with its silver fittings throughout and every detail attended to. The hull is a solid carved timber, painted with black waterline and driven by its four-blade propeller. The single funnel is painted in the company livery, and like all ships of this line, the name was taken from a source in Homer's "Iliad' & "Odyssey".
The ship briefly transferred as GLENFINLAS to the Glen Line when that company was acquired by Blue Funnel, but she soon was back under the Blue Funnel. An accident where a petrol-driven forklift fell into a deep hold and burst, gutting her completely ended her career in 1973. The dedication in the name of Lawrence D. Holt, one of the last family members involved with the company, is dedicated to "Aulis" the location where the Greek Army gathered to prepare for war on Troy, all those centuries before.
