RHMS Ellinis 86cm with Lights – Chandris Migrant Ship

Before she carried migrants to Australia, she carried movie stars to Hawaii. The RHMS Ellinis – “Greek Lady” – began life in 1932 as the SS Lurline, the most glamorous ship in America’s Pacific: Matson Line’s celebrated “white ship” on the Hollywood-to-Honolulu run, where film stars sunbathed on her decks and crowds threw streamers from the pier on famous “Boat Days.” This 86cm model captures her second life in the classic Chandris livery – white hull, blue ribbon, red antifouling and twin blue funnels with the famous white “X” – with warm LED lighting glowing through her portholes and decks.

From 1963 the Ellinis became one of the great migrant ships of the Australian run, bringing tens of thousands of Greek, British and European families through Melbourne and Sydney to a new life. A ship that hosted Hollywood royalty in one era and carried new Australians in the next – few liners can tell two stories so well, and this model honours them both.

Key features of the RHMS Ellinis ship model with LED lights:

• Dimensions: 86 x 13 x 28cm (33.9″ L x 5.1″ W x 11″ H) – approx. 1:225 scale
• Faithfully painted in Chandris Lines livery with twin blue “X” funnels and Greek flag at the stern
• Plank-on-frame construction with individual wood strips applied to the hull
• All windows, portholes and deck details carved directly into the timber – no stickers or decals
• Warm LED lighting illuminates the superstructure, decks and portholes
• Finely detailed lifeboats, cargo derricks, deck games and swimming pools
• Illuminated “ELLINIS” name sign on the boat deck, just as on the real ship
• Built entirely with wooden and metal fittings – no plastic components
• Mounted on a polished wooden stand with a brass RHMS ELLINIS nameplate
• Want to display your RHMS Ellinis in full view? We have display case that you can pick from. (The case is sold separably).

The story of the RHMS Ellinis

Launched in 1932, the SS Lurline was the flagship of the Matson Line and one of the most beloved ships in American history. On the San Francisco–Los Angeles–Honolulu run she defined the golden age of Pacific travel: lei-draped passengers, Royal Hawaiian Band farewells and celebrity sailings that filled the gossip columns. When war came, she traded glamour for grit, serving as a troopship across the Pacific – including voyages carrying American servicemen to Australia in the darkest days of 1942.

Restored to luxury after the war, the Lurline reigned over the Hawaii trade until the jet age. In 1963 Chandris Lines purchased her, refitted her in Greece for more than 1,600 passengers in one class, and renamed her Ellinis – “Greek Lady.” That December she began her new career on the migrant run to Australia, joining her fleetmate Patris and later sailing alongside the Australis in the greatest era of assisted migration by sea.

For twelve years the Ellinis was a regular and welcome sight at Station Pier and Pyrmont, carrying migrants outward-bound and budget travellers and returning Greeks homeward. She later cruised from Australian ports before being laid up in 1980, and though she went to the breakers in 1987, she donated a parting gift: spare parts that kept her Chandris sister Britanis – the former Matson Monterey – sailing for years afterwards.

Hollywood belle, war veteran, Greek Lady, new-Australian icon: the Ellinis lived more lives than almost any liner afloat, and this model preserves her at the heart of the Australian story.