ALL POSTS

Over the past 30 years, Los Angeles-based portrait artist, Juan F. Bastos, has executed several hundred portrait commissions on three continents. These oil paintings and pastel drawings hang in private homes, corporate offices, government buildings, embassies, libraries, churches, and universities. A number of Juan Bastos’ portraits remind me of [John ... Read More »

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… ... Read More »

Early History of Oldest Continuously Operating U.S. Steamship Company. The Pacific Mail Steamship Company, predecessor of the American President Companies Ltd., was founded in 1848, two years before the transcontinental railroad was completed; its founding at this time provides American President Companies its claim as the oldest continuously operated steamship ... Read More »

One of the great hotels of the world. Berlin was a port of call by train in 1929 — after sailing from New York to Germany aboard the SS BREMEN. Upon arrival, tourists enjoyed a quick train ride from Hamburg to Berlin and then accommodations at the world famous Adlon ... Read More »

Why has the RMS Empress of Ireland tragedy been forgotten? The sinking of the RMS Empress Of Ireland hit Canada hard and was the worst maritime disaster in Canadian history. Occurring just two years after the RMS Titanic disaster, and a year before the loss of the RMS Lusitania, it ... Read More »

A cruising photo and video journey in the 1930s… A wonderful video of cruising in the 1930s… Home movies… Read More »

Many American flag steamship lines – APL, Matson Lines, Moore-McCormick, Grace Line, etc. – faced the same fate when the US government withdrew their mail and operating subsidies to carry military personnel in the 1960s. The same fate happened to the American railway system in the late 1960s when the ... Read More »

The first civilian casualty of World War II. The passenger ship was the Anchor-Donaldson liner RMS ATHENIA… which was chartered to the Cunard Line. She was sunk without warning west of Scotland by the German submarine U-30. RMS ATHENIA The German U Boat U-30 had been at sea for several days, ... Read More »

AMERICAN BANNER LINES – From a failed pioneering tourist liner to a celebrated university at sea. July 1958 – First Class Trans-Atlantic Crossing $312.  Tourist Class $214.  7 days at sea, 8 nights, transportation and all meals. $40 a day first class and $25 a day tourist class. Times have ... Read More »

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 ... Read More »