Cruise Ship History: Holland America Line’s VOLENDAM crossing the pond - from New York to Europe - in 1937.
By Michael L. Grace | August 11, 2008
Experience the Holland America Liner Volendam through color home movies shot aboard a crossing in 1937. Bon Voyage!
The SS VOLENDAM…
For more great cruise videos check out: www.shipgeek.com.
Topics: HOLLAND AMERICA LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES | No Comments »
Cruise Ship History - Wonderful youTUBE video of the Rex - The Italian Line’s great liner.
By Michael L. Grace | August 10, 2008
Please note: The website is being updated and new entries will be made later in the month. Trust you enjoy the many postings available now. Visit the index archives or search for various ships and lines. Thanks, the Editors…
The Italian Line’s SS Rex, launched in 1931, held the westbound Blue Ribbon between 1933 and 1935. The ship was elegant and had beautiful public rooms. It was considered one of the most beautiful liners in the world. The video chronicles the life and death of this great liner. The Rex operated transatlantic crossings from Italy with its running mate, the Conte di Savoia.
THE REX
On 8 September 1944, off Koper, Rex was hit by 123 rockets launched by RAF aircraft, caught fire from stem to stern, rolled onto the port side, and sank in shallow water. The ship was broken up at the site beginning in 1947.
Topics: ITALIAN LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES | 2 Comments »
Cruise History - 1928 - HOME MOVIE OF COAST-WISE TRIP FROM FLORIDA TO SAVANNAH aboard the Merchants and Miners Trans Co SS NANTUCKET - Courtesy of www.shipgeek.com
By Michael L. Grace | August 8, 2008
This is a wonderful 1928 - HOME MOVIE OF COAST-WISE TRIP FROM FLORIDA TO SAVANNAH aboard the Merchants and Miners Trans Co SS NANTUCKET courtesy of www.shipgeek.com on youTUBE. Lots of deck scenes with film of passengers entertainment along with hilarious sequence on steward helping woman who has sea-sickness. The background music is “Yes, we have no bananas.”
The SS NANTUCKET (formerly the FARGO) was part of the Merchants & Miners Transportation Company fleet. Merchant & Minder was founded in Baltimore in 1852 to operate a cargo and passenger steamship line between Baltimore and Boston, Mass. Their service continued to Norfolk, Savannah and Jacksonville.
Vacation By Sea - Year Round - Merchants and Miners Transportation Company - 1923
A new route between Baltimore, via Savanah and Jacksonville commenced in 1909 and in 1920 a service was initiated to Havana, Cuba, but this was discontinued after about a year.
Postal Card featuring the Merchants and Miners ships.
A service to Nassau, Bahamas started in 1939, but on the entry of the United Stated into World War II in 1941, most of the company’s ships were requisitioned for war duty. Limited services continued, but after the war, it was not considered financially viable to re-purchase ships which had been sold to the Government or to build new ships and in 1948 it was decided to cease trading. The company was officially liquidated in 1952.
Topics: CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS, Merchants & Miners, VIDEOS | 3 Comments »
Cruise Ship History: THE MIOTTEL COLLECTION - “The mother lode of liner collections and tributes to the S.S. Normandie and any liner…” - History of the French Line’s SS NORMANDIE
By Michael L. Grace | August 7, 2008
“If there’s a better or more lovingly displayed collection of S.S. Normandie material in the world (and that includes France), I don’t know of it. What Crash has assembled here is nothing less than the history of a legend. For people interested in transatlantic shipping in general and the Normandie in particular, it is the mother lode.”
Harvey Ardman, Author: “NORMANDIE HER LIFE AND TIMES”
S.S. NORMANDIE
When the French Line decided to supplement the revolutionary Ile de France of 1926 with a record-breaking super-liner in early 1930, they turned to naval designer Vladimir Yourkevitch to design the new ship. It was intended that the ship would be France’s contender for the Blue Ribband of the Atlantic, and it would be a floating showcase for the talent of French artisans and craftsmen. In designing the ship, Yourkevitch incorporated turbo-electric engines and the relatively new and innovative bulbous bow. The French Line also announced with much fanfare that new ship would be the first liner to exceed 1000 feet in length, and it would have a gross tonnage of 60,000 tons—making it the world’s largest ship.
On October 29, 1932, Madame Lebrun—wife of the French President—launched the new ship. By this time, however, the economic >When construction was completed on Normandie, she was the longest and largest ship afloat—measuring 1,028 feet in length with an initial tonnage of 79,280. To the pride of her owners and countrymen, she claimed the Blue Ribband from the Italian Liner Rex on her maiden crossing in May 1935. Keen on keeping the title “longest, largest, and fastest” ship in the world, it did not escape her owner’s attention that the British had announced the tonnage of their new super-liner Queen Mary that was nearing completion at 81,235. So during the winter refit in 1935, a deckhouse was added to her aft deck increasing her final tonnage to 83,423, allowing her to maintain title of world’s largest ship. And though she eventually lost the Blue Ribband to Queen Mary in August 1938, her top speed of 31.2 knots was only a fraction slower.
The magnificent First Class Dining Salon.
Though she was the world’s largest ship, the enormous size of Normandie did not mean she carried more passengers than any ship had ever carried. Her grandeur meant that each passenger had more space. The dimensions of her dining-salon—walled in molded glass, air-conditioned and decorated by the foremost artists and craftsmen of France—were breath taking. The sun deck, clear of all obstructions, stretched two city blocks in length. She was equipped with a permanent theater, seating nearly 400, and a beautiful chapel. Staterooms aboard Normandie—virtually all with luxurious bath or shower facilities—afforded a new scope for the kind of gracious living that French Line passengers had come to expect while on board ship.
Her cruiser bow and the turtleback extending over the foredeck enabled Normandie to take the roughest seas smoothly, without loss of speed. Her electric drive reduced vibration to an absolute minimum—though she was plagued with terrible vibration because of inappropriately designed propellers during her early crossings. Radios onboard allowed her to be in constant touch at all times with both Europe and America. Normandie was truly a wonder-ship that one could not see without wanting to travel onboard.
Launching of the S.S. NORMANDIE video on youTUBE.
Regrettably the service career of what is arguably the most superb liner to ever sail was tragically short. Scheduled to sail the day before war started in Europe, she was detained at New York as U.S authorities checked to ensure she did not have munitions or arms aboard. She would spend the remainder of her days in New York, and with the fall of France to the German armies, her fate seemed uncertain. However, with America’s entry into the war, the U.S. Coast Guard seized Normandie in May 1941. In December, the U.S. Navy took control of the vessel and renamed her USS Lafayette.
On February 9, 1942, while undergoing the major refit to accommodate thousands of U.S. troops, sparks from a workman’s welding torch set her ablaze. Firemen were able to extinguish the blaze, but tragically the liner capsized as a result of the tons of water used to fight the fire. She would be salvaged, but ultimately was scrapped at Port Newark, New Jersey—truly an ignominious end for perhaps the greatest liner to ever sail.
Topics: FRENCH LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES | No Comments »
Cruise History: Michael L. Grace’s story on the RMS EMPRESS OF JAPAN - Canadian Pacific’s “Blue Ribbon Holder” - The fastest ship on the Pacific and a liner with four life’s. From Empress of Japan to World War 2 vessel to Empress of Scotland to the Hanseatic.
By Michael L. Grace | August 4, 2008
More wonderful moments in cruise line and cruise ship history. The RMS Empress of Japan had four life’s. First as the trans-Pacific record holder liner, then serving during World War 2, followed by being renamed the Empress of Scotland on the trans-Atlantic run and then finally sailing under the German flag. It was ironic, the allied ship used during WW 2 to fight the Nazis, was sold to Hamburg America Line and rebuilt as the Hanseatic for cruise and trans-Atlantic service.
Canadian Pacific 1938 Travel Magazine advertisement.
1930—1942: RMS Empress of Japan
The Empress of Japan carried out her sea trial successfully in May 1930, achieving a top speed of 23 knots; and on June 8, 1930, she was delivered to Vancouver for service on the trans-Pacific route. In this period, she was the fastest ocean liner on the Pacific. Due to being a part of Canadian Pacific’s service carrying Royal Mail, the Empress of Japan carried the RMS (Royal Mail Ship) prefix in front of her name while in commercial service with Canadian Pacific. She would continue sailing the Vancouver-Yokohama-Kobe-Shanghai-Hong Kong route for the rest of the decade. Amongst her celebrity passengers were a number of American baseball all-stars, including Babe Ruth, who sailed aboard the Empress of Japan in October 1934 en route to Japan. The outbreak of war in Europe caused the Empress of Japan to be re-fitted for wartime service. Following the Japanese attacks on the Empire outposts in the Far East in December 1941, the name of the ship needed to be named. In 1942, she was renamed the Empress of Scotland.
Piper and passengers aboard the RMS Empress of Scotland as the ship approaches a UK port.
1942—1958: Empress of Scotland
Following the end of World War II, the Empress of Scotland was needed to meet the newly developing demands for trans-Atlantic passenger service. In the period between 1948 and 1950, she was rebuilt at Fairfield in Glasgow. These modifications were necessary to better meet weather conditions on the colder Atlantic route. This extensive re-fitting included a radical reconfiguration of her cabins from the original four classes to just two — first and tourist.
Hanseatic approaching New York City.
1958—1966: Hanseatic
Following her sale to Hamburg Atlantic Line in 1958, the ship was radically rebuilt to meet the expanding market for trans-Atlantic passenger service. The ship’s superstructure and funnels were rebuilt and her passenger accommodations were re-configured. The vessel emerged as the 30,030 GRT SS Hanseatic. The re-named and re-flagged ship was designed to carry as many 1350 passengers in comfortable luxury on the Hamburg-New York route. In 1955 the ship was destroyed by fire in New York City harbor and subsequently scrapped.
Hanseatic youTUBE video of a 1960 NASSAU CRUISE.
Topics: CANADIAN PACIFIC LINES, GERMAN LINERS, HAMBURG AMERICA LINE, STEAMSHIP LINES, VIDEOS | No Comments »
Cruise Ship History: Editor Michael L. Grace’s story on the tragic life of J. P. Morgan’s luxury yacht CORSAIR IV is featured on New York Social Diary.
By Michael L. Grace | August 2, 2008
The steamer yacht Corsair IV, built for J.P. Morgan Jr. in 1930, after its postwar conversion into a cruise ship in the Pacific.
THE TRAGIC LIFE OF CORSAIR IV as featured this week on New York Social Diary…
By Michael L. Grace
J. Pierpont Morgan Jr. could never have imagined his yacht Corsair IV being converted into a deluxe cruise ship whose short career would end in tragedy but it happened.
J.P. Morgan Jr. and his legendary business tycoon father, J. Pierpont Morgan, owned four yachts christened Corsair, and built three of them. Each yacht was bigger, faster, and more comfortable than the preceding one. The Morgan Corsair created major media attention for the times resulting in a legendary quote by the senior Morgan when he was asked how much it cost to operate a boat that size. His quick response: “Sir, if you have to ask that question, you can’t afford it.”
The story and photos were featured on New York Social Diary this week.
Topics: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, AMERICAN CRUISE LINES, PACIFIC CRUISE LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES, yachts | 2 Comments »
Cruise Ship History - The LURLINE was Hawaii. Matson Line’s flagship represented Hawaii to the traveling public and for years provided First Class service from California to Hawaii.
By Michael L. Grace | July 31, 2008
The LURLINE was Hawaii!
William Matson had first come to appreciate the name in the 1870s while serving as skipper aboard the Claus Spreckels family yacht Lurline (a poetic variation of Loreley, the Rhine river siren)[1] out of San Francisco Bay. Matson met his future wife, Lillie Low, on a yacht voyage he captained to Hawaii; the couple named their daughter Lurline Berenice Matson. Spreckels sold a 150-foot brigantine named Lurline to Matson so that Matson could replace his smaller schooner Emma Claudina and double the shipping operation which involved hauling supplies and a few passengers to Hawaii and returning with cargos of Spreckels sugar. Matson added other vessels to his growing fleet and the brigantine was sold to another company in 1896.[2] Matson built a steamship named Lurline in 1908[3]; one which carried mainly freight yet could hold 51 passengers along with 65 crew. This steamer served Matson for twenty years, including a stint with United States Shipping Board during World War I. William Matson died in 1917; his company continued under a board of directors.
A first class stateroom aboard the Lurline in the 1930s.
Lurline Matson married William P. Roth in 1914; in 1927 Roth became president of Matson Lines. That same year saw the SS Malolo (Flying Fish) enter service inaugurating a higher class of tourist travel to Hawaii. In 1928, Roth sold the old steamship Lurline to the Alaska Packers’ Association. That ship served various duties including immigration and freight under the Yugoslavian flag (renamed Radnik) and was finally broken up in 1953.
The SS Lurline at sea.
In 1932, the last of four smart liners designed by William Francis Gibbs and built for the Matson Lines’ Pacific services was launched: the SS Lurline christened on July 12, 1932 in Quincy, Massachusetts by Lurline Matson Roth (who had also christened her father’s 1908 steamship Lurline as a young woman of 18).
Dance band and singers. Ballroom scene aboard the SS Lurline in the 1930s.
On 12 January 1933, the SS Lurline left New York City bound for San Francisco via the Panama Canal on her maiden voyage, thence to Sydney and the South Seas, returning to San Francisco on 24 April 1933. She then served on the express San Francisco to Honolulu service with her older sister with whom she shared appearance, the Malolo.
Lurline was half way from Honolulu to San Francisco on 7 December 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. She made her destination safely, traveling at maximum speed, and soon returned to Hawaii with her Matson sisters Mariposa and Monterey in a convoy laden with troops and supplies.
She spent the war providing similar services, often voyaging to Australia, and once transported Australian Prime Minister John Curtin to America to confer with President Roosevelt.
Advertisement from 1947 copy of Holiday Magazine.
Lurline was returned to Matson Lines in mid 1946 and extensively refitted at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, California in 1947 at the then huge cost of $US 20 million. She resumed her San Francisco to Honolulu service from 15 April 1948 and regained her pre-war status as the Pacific Ocean’s top liner.
Walt Disney sailing with this wife and daughters on the Lurline.
Her high occupancy rates during the early 1950s caused Matson to also refit her sister ship SS Monterey (renaming her Matsonia) and the two liners provided a first class only service between Hawaii and the American mainland from June 1957 to September 1962, mixed with the occasional Pacific cruise. Serious competition from jet airliners caused passenger loads to fall in the early 1960s and Matsonia was laid up in late 1962.
1950s interior for the Lurline’s first class staterooms.
Only a few months later, the Lurline arrived in Los Angeles with serious engine trouble in her port turbine and was laid up with the required repairs considered too expensive. Matson instead brought the Matsonia out of retirement and, characteristically, changed her name to Lurline. The original Lurline was sold to Chandris Lines in 1963.
Topics: MATSON LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES | 2 Comments »
Cruise Ship History: Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas arriving in New York aboard the French Line’s SS Champlain in 1934.
By Michael L. Grace | July 28, 2008
The SS Champlain was a cabin class ocean liner built in 1932 for the French Line by Chantiers et Ateliers de Saint-Nazaire, Penhoët. She was sunk by a mine off La Pallice, France, in 1940 — one of the earliest passenger ship losses of World War II.
The Grand Salon…
Although not as well remembered as her larger fleetmates, the Champlain was the first truly moderne ocean liner and embodied many design features later incorporated into the French Line’s legendary SS Normandie. Her interiors were designed by Rene Prou who decorated spaces on several earlier French Line ships, including the cabin motorship Lafayette.
The SS Champlain…
When she made her debut in June 1932, the Champlain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious cabin class liner afloat.
Opera Diva Lotta Lehmann and her three Austrian-born (and anti-Nazi) stepsons, Hans, Peter and Ludwig Krause, landing in New York on the SS Champlain, 1938.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Champlain was pressed into evacuee work, transporting refugees from Europe to the safety of North America. This included many European Jews escaping Nazi Europe. It was on one of these return trips that the Champlain met her fate.
Postcard from the SS Champlain…
On June 17, 1940, the liner struck a German air-laid mine while swinging at anchor in the waters off La Pallice, France, near Île de Ré, and quickly heeled over on her side. A few days later a German U-boat fired a torpedo into the hulk — possibly to finish her off, as much of the ship lay above water level. Many sources quote a wire service report from 1940 that as many as 300 lives were lost but this is erroneous. Although there were many injuries there were only 11 or 12 fatalities. The wreck lay quite visible for over twenty years and was eventually scrapped in 1965.
Topics: CELEBRITIES AT SEA, FRENCH LINE, FRENCH STEAMSHIP AND CRUISE LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES | 2 Comments »
Cruise Ship History - Our new retro 1950s video celebrating cruising aboard Alaska Line’s SS ALASKA - First Class fares started at $190 per person - 12-Days at sea - Sailing from Seattle, Washington…
By Michael L. Grace | July 27, 2008
Cruise Ship History - Our new retro 1950s video celebrating cruising aboard Alaska Line’s SS ALASKA - First Class fares started at $190 per person - 12-Days at sea - Sailing from Seattle, Washington.
Our new historical video of a 1954 sailing aboard the SS ALASKA on a cruise to Alaska and the Inside Passage. A retro 50s look at a style of cruising and travel now vanished. Views of the ship leaving the Port of Seattle, with streamers, confetti and visitors waving goodbye — something rarely seen today. See the ship sail up the inside passage… with passengers dancing, dining, playing shuffleboard and man nostalgic scenes of an Alaska steamship far different from the massive ships sailing the Inland Passage today.
Alaska Line brochure - in 1920s - fares were $90 and up per person first class for 12-Days…
The Alaska Steamship Company operated passenger service from Seattle to all ports in Alaska from 1895 until 1954. During the summer weekly sailings visited the Inside Passage. The line challenged all kinds of winter conditions and operated year round offering regular sailings as far north as Nome. These are family films and footage taken during the 1920s through the 1950s.
The SS ALASKA sailing the inside passage…
Alaska Steamship Line vessel in Juneau - 1940s…
Topics: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS, VIDEOS | No Comments »
Cruise Ship History - The great ocean liners are now just memories on films. From Cunard Line to the French Line these great youTUBE videos from newsreel footage and home movies keep the memories alive!
By Michael L. Grace | July 27, 2008
Cruise Ship History - The great ocean liners are now just memories on films. From Cunard Line to the French Line these great youTUBE videos from newsreel footage and home movies keep the memories alive!
Topics: CUNARD LINE, FRENCH LINE, GERMAN LINERS, UNITED STATES LINE, VIDEOS, WHITE STAR - CUNARD LINE | No Comments »
« Previous Entries