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The great German liner Bremen, which ran a British blockade, ended her career in a scrapyard. After docking in New York on August 28, 1939, only four days before the outbreak of World War II, Captain Adolf Ahrens of Germany’s North German Lloyd shipping line was faced with a decision. ... Read More »

Premiere Passenger Trains during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s  were the finest in the world. With excellent meals, suburb Pullman service, dinner in the diner, club lounges, train secretaries, barbershops, cocktail bars, observation cars… trains like the Super Chief, 20th Century Limited and the California Zypher were world-famous.   New ... Read More »

Six months after the Nazis celebrated Kristallnacht, the German transatlantic liner MS St. Louis sailed on May 13, 1939, from Hamburg Germany. The voyage became a symbol of American and Canadian heartlessness, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism. CUBA PROFITED WITH HEAVY FEES FOR VISAS Flags were flapping in the wind and well-wishers ... Read More »

The Titanic didn’t just send hundreds of its passengers to the bottom of the ocean—it also took all the evidence of what life was like onboard for the ill-fated travelers. Or at least it would have, were it not for Father Francis Browne. Frank Browne’s mother died whilst he was ... Read More »

By the mid-1950s, with the postwar passenger boom at its peak, more than 50 passenger liners sailed the sea lanes between New York and America. Among the most splendid were two new ships of the Italian Line, the Cristoforo Colombo, and the Andrea Doria. Newsreel of the Andrea Doria They ... Read More »

For first-class passengers aboard ocean liners and cruises, from the 1930s into the 1960s, the menu choices were staggering. On ships like the SS Europa, RMS Queen Mary, and the SS United States, dinner might have had 12 courses, with 8 to 10 options for each course. It is difficult ... Read More »

One of the most shocking tragedies of World War 2 occurred on November 18th, 1939, when the Dutch liner “Simon Bolivar” struck a German mine in the North Sea, and sank with the loss of over 120 lives, including woman and children. Poignant stories told by survivors are here reprinted ... Read More »

Zim Lines began passenger service connecting Israel with Mediterranean ports began after the State of  Israel was established in 1948 and for 20 years they operated an excellent sea transportation fleet of ships In the early 1950s, Zim became a member of the North Atlantic Passenger Conference and bought Home ... Read More »