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RMS TITANIC AUCTION – Includes photos of the SS CALIFORNIA

October 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A historically significant, museum-quality archive of material pertaining to the doomed ocean liner the RMS Titanic will be offered on the first day of a three-day multi-estate sale planned for Oct. 21-23 by Philip Weiss Auctions. The event will be held in the firm’s gallery facility, located at #1 Neil Court in Oceanside, N.Y., starting at 4 p.m. (EST).

“It’s rare when anything Titanic-related comes on the market, and when it does it’s often a minor item,” said Philip Weiss of Philip Weiss Auctions, “but this is an incredible archive that came to us directly from a descendant of John and Nelle Pillsbury Snyder, who were rescued when the Titanic sank on the morning of April 15, 1912. This is sure to generate great interest.”

Included in the archive is a letter written on Titanic stationery (and dated April 10, five days before the sinking); another letter, dated April 18, that talks about the confusion from news sources and the White Star Line (which built the Titanic) at the time of the sinking; and original photos taken from the rescue ship the RMS Carpathia, showing lifeboats headed towards survivors.

(Left: the SS California) Also included will be a group of possibly the only photos in existence of the steamship SS Californian, shown sailing toward the Carpathia in a belated rescue effort. An inquiry at the time revealed the Californian was actually closer to the Titanic than the Carpathia, and even saw the rocket flares indicating a ship in distress, but for a variety of reasons it was slow to respond.

The archive will also boast a wealth of newspaper clippings from the time, numerous family mementos, Titanic history and collectibles.

To learn more about Philip Weiss Auctions and the firm’s calendar of events, to include the upcoming Oct. 21-23 auction, log on to www.WeissAuctions.com.

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1940s to 1960s – FROM BOSTON TO LIVERPOOL – THE SS NOVA SCOTIA and SS NEWFOUNDLAND.

October 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The sister-ships NEWFOUNDLAND and NOVA SCOTIA were post-war replacements for two very similar ships which had both been lost in the Second World War. The NOVA SCOTIA was completed in 1947, a few months ahead of her almost exact sister, the NEWFOUNDLAND.  Both ships had accommodation for 62 first-class and 92 tourist-class passengers on service from Liverpool to St Johns, Newfoundland; Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They were fine examples of the combined cargo and passenger liner; smaller examples of Cunard’s MEDIA and PARTHIA.

The NEWFOUNDLAND

The NEWFOUNDLAND and the NOVA SCOTIA suffered from the difficulties experienced by the Cunard ships; namely the problems of maintaining a regular passenger schedule combined with delays in cargo operations; and the necessity of carrying a large and increasingly expensive catering department to look after the passengers. When the passengers had disembarked and the ships were in port working cargo, the stewards remained on ship’s pay.

The NOVA SCOTIA

By 1961 the two ships had become uneconomic to operate on their designed routes and were withdrawn from service in 1962. Both the ships were sold to the Dominion Far East Line which carried out a partial rebuild to provide accommodation for 130 first-class passengers on a service between Australia and the Far East. The NOVA SCOTIA was renamed FRANCIS DRAKE, and the NEWFOUNDLAND became the GEORGE ANSON.  In their new roles the two sister-ships remained together until 1971 when they were both sold to Taiwanese ship-breakers.

For complete information and history of these ships please click here for the excellent website  ssmaritime.com.

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The four lives of Canadian Pacific’s RMS EMPRESS OF JAPAN…

October 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Cruise and Liner History: 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.

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Canadian Pacific 1938 Travel Magazine advertisement.

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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.

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Piper and passengers aboard the RMS Empress of Scotland as the ship approaches a UK port.

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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.

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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.

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P&O Lines – SS Ranchi

October 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment


The S.S. Ranchi was built for the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. at Newcastle Upon Tyne, England and was launched on 24 January 1925. Her gross registered tonnage was 16,650, her length was 547 feet and her beam 71 feet. She was one of the P&O ‘R’ class liners from 1925 that had much of their interiors designed by Lord Inchcape’s daughter Elsie Mackay.  Named after Ranchi, the capital city of Jharkhand state in eastern India, she sailed on a regular route between England and Bombay, India. Later she sailed to the Far East. She carried 600 passengers.

The ship was requisitioned into the Royal Navy on 27 August 1939 (at the onset of World War II) and commissioned on 23 October 1939 as the armed merchant cruiser HMS Ranchi (Pennant F15). As an armed merchant cruiser, her gross registered tonnage was 16,738.


History of P&O and Orient Lines… great video presentation…

Her sister ships SS Rawalpindi, SS Rajputana and SS Ranpura were also converted to armed merchant cruisers. Except for small corvettes, the converted passenger ships like HMS Ranchi were the only armed protection for most of the early convoys. With their six-inch guns, they were the only escorts that could engage German surface ships. Very few convoys received the protection of the larger cruisers or battleships.  From October 1939 until February 1942 she served the East Indies Station; from March 1942 until January 1943 she was part of the Eastern Fleet (Indian Ocean). She was returned and use as a troopship by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) on 16 March 1943.

Two months after the end of World War II in the Pacific, in October 1945 the Ranchi sailed from Singapore to Southampton carrying amongst others released prisoners of war and civilian internees recently liberated from Japanese camps. Hilda Bates, who had been interned in Batu Lintang camp at Kuching, Borneo, wrote on 23 October 1945: “We are now speeding towards England aboard the Ranchi, which is packed with troops and other ex P.O.W.s like ourselves … In our cabin there are twelve women, – five of whom are returning home as widows.”

On 18 July 1947 the Ranchi was returned to her owners, P&O. The Ranchi was used as an emigrant ship between June 1948 and 1952, when she completed 15 voyages from England to Australia. The shipping nominal rolls are held at the Victorian Public Records Office, Melbourne, Australia. Her first post war voyage was from Tilbury Docks on 17 June 1948, although her journey was delayed into Fremantle as there were rough seas off the coast of Western Australia. During her refit at Southampton and London Docks, her second funnel was removed and she also retained her traditional P&O colors of a black funnel and cream hull. The Ranchi was broken up at Newport, Monmouthshire in 1953.

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