The SS United States is sending out what may be its final distress call. Colin Farrell is seen aboard the famous ship. Left) Colin Farrell heads down rusting First Class promenade of the SS UNITED STATES; (Right) The First Class promenade deck during the heyday of trans-Atlantic travel aboard ... Read More »
Tag Archives: Cruise History
The SS United States and the latest Range Rover have a lot in common.
The SS United States and the latest Range Rover are both made in large part from aluminum, in order to save weight without sacrificing strength. Both can draw connections to the military; Land Rovers have served with the British armed forces, as well as other armies around the globe, for ... Read More »
ZIM LINE – Israel’s Passenger and Cruise company in the 1950s and 1960s
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 »
Cary Grant’s other REX – The gambling boat off Santa Monica, California – Part 2
Film star of stars Cary Grant sailed on the great liner German liner S.S. Rex when crossing the pond but gambled on board the “Rex” just off the Santa Monica pier. Besides the fabulous Italian ocean liner, S.S. REX launched in 1931; there was another S.S. REX. The far lesser ... Read More »
Mid-Century Liners: The M/V Aureol – Liverpool to West Africa
Elder Dempster Lines was one of the UK’s largest shipping companies, and during its 150-year history, it operated more than 500 ships. Based in the historic port of Liverpool it was the major shipping line to serve West Africa. As well as its cargo ships, the Elder Dempster Lines operated ... Read More »
Cruising on the SS Yale and the SS Harvard between San Francisco and Los Angeles during the “Roaring Twenties”!
The SS Yale and SS Harvard became known as “white Flyers of the Pacific”! The sister ships each made four sailings a week, carrying 565 First Class passengers at an average speed of 23 knots between the two major California cities. The fast coastal ships provided an overnight cruise on the ... Read More »
Ships and Liners of Messageries Maritimes
Messageries Maritimes was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as Messageries Nationales, later called Messageries impériales, and from 1871, Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes, casually known as “MesMar” or by its initials “MM”. Its rectangular house flag, with the letters MM on a white background and ... Read More »
SP’s Streamliner COAST DAYLIGHT – The most beautiful train in the world
The Southern Pacific’s Streamliner Coast Daylight was the West’s finest train into the 1950s, linking Los Angeles and San Francisco in a glorious daylight trip, streaking along the edge of the Pacific Ocean for more than a hundred breathless miles. Chair car passengers had full access to the Coffee Shop, ... Read More »
History of Cruising… from the BRITANNIA to the LOVE BOAT…
The earliest ocean-going vessels were not primarily concerned with passengers, but rather with the cargo that they could carry. Black Ball Line in New York,?in 1818, was the first shipping company to offer regularly scheduled service from the United States to England and to be concerned with the comfort of ... Read More »
RMS Titanic’s abandoned bodies…
It was April 23, 1912, at daybreak, out on the North Atlantic. The seascape looked every bit like a well-adorned graveyard, with an overcast sky, rolling fog and, as far as one could see, pieces of wreckage that bobbed in the swells. Doors, pillows, chairs, tables, and scattered remains were ... Read More »