2012 March |

THE NAZI VERSION OF THE “TITANIC” – THE 1943 FILM MADE AT UFA IN BERLIN DURING WORLD WAR II.

March 28, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

LINER, SOCIAL AND CRUISE HISTORY: THE OTHER “TITANIC”: THE NAZI VERSION YOU’VE NEVER SEEN… THE 1943 FILM MADE AT UFA IN BERLIN DURING WORLD WAR II.

The Nazi version of the Titanic story that fed shots (and plots?) to later western versions of the tragic tale…

The British took footage from the German film for “A Night To Remember”… the German film, is a very powerful piece of cinema. The film underplays the propaganda message and focuses on the characters instead. It also keeps the anti-semitism to blink-and-you-miss-it. This could have been the reason Goebbels’ banned the film. That and the fact by 1943 the Nazis’ message was turning towards what were called Durchhalteparolen, or rallying cries to hang on in there, such as typified by the 1945 film “Kolberg’. For the best Titanic film ever, seek out Roy Ward Baker’s “A Night To Remember” from 1958. For the worst watch Cameron’s ludicrous “Titanic”!

Cunard Line’s RMS CARONIA – The most famous liner in cruising history… she was the “millionaires yacht”!

March 26, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Travel and Social History: Cunard Line’s the RMS CARONIA – The most famous liner in cruising history… she was the “millionaires yacht”! Cunard Line History…

One of the best social history travel history films. The RMS CARONIA was the premiere cruise ship of the 1950s. The passenger list was filled with America’s rich. This ia an excellent Cunard Line advertising film of the CARONIA through Mediterranean with stops and side trips to many of the major cities with quick shots of interesting sights and maps showing route as the tour progresses. Tour starts along the African coast at Madeira to Tangiers, Malta, Cairo, pyramids, Luxor and into Israel, Istanbul, Yalta, Athens ruins, Dubrovnik, Venice, Vienna, Florence, Rome, Sicily, Naples, Pompeii and Herculanium ruins, French and Spanish Riviera, Portugal, Gibraltar and other scenic stops. — Various, appointments, activities, dining and Cunard Lines advertising their cruise opulent services. Footage from this subject is available for licensing from www.globalimageworks.com.

The RMS CARONIA – the “Green Goddess” – probably the most deluxe cruise-ship in the history of cruising. Now a just a memory… None of the current condo ships compare. This was a liner…

AUSTRALIAN Coastal Cruises aboard the MV MOONTA…

March 20, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

The advertisement for the Adelaide Steamship Company’s popular Gulf Trip features the MV Moonta which operated from 1931 to 1955.

The Gulf Trip was one of the most popular South Australian holiday tours for fifty years.

Moonta is the best remembered of the several ships which operated on the Gulf Trip, which in addition to passengers, carried cargo.

The ship visited Port Lincoln, Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie, leaving Port Adelaide on Saturday and returning on Friday morning. Tours would be arranged in each of the towns in addition to the relaxation and entertainment offered on board ship. Good meals and service, comfortable accommodation, deck games, swimming pool and fancy dress dances provided all the ingredients for a romantic holiday. Life partners were met, honeymoons taken and anniversaries celebrated aboard the Moonta and her sister ships Rupara and Paringa.

The Moonta was built by Burmeister & Wain of Copenhagen in Denmark in 1931. She arrived in Adelaide in November of that year and made her last run of the Gulf Trip in January 1955. At 2,693 tons gross, Moonta carried 150 passengers was 288 feet long and had a cruising speed of 12.5 knots.

Video of the MV MOONTA as the Casino Le Lydia – very interesting view of the ship during a pop concert…

THE MUCH LOVED MV MOONTA

By Reuben Goossens – be sure to visit his excellent website at: ssmaritime.com

The much loved Australian coastal passenger cargo liner, MV Moonta was built in 1931 by Burmeister & Wain shipyard in Copenhagen Denmark for the Adelaide Steamship Company.

She was known for her comfortable accommodations and public rooms and she accommodated 150 passengers.

The ship featured three lounges that included the Social Hall, Smoke Room and the ever popular Wintergarden.

In addition there was the walk around promenade deck and a spacious sports deck above…

Click here to read more at ssmaritime.com:

Filed Under: STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: 1030s, 1960s stewardess, american steamship history, Anders Wilhelmsen, Arison Shipping Company, australia, australia maritime, AUSTRALIAN COSTAL CRUISES, barbara and jerry heil, bennie thomposn, BERGEN LINE, Bilu, Biscayne Terrace Hotel, Bohème, BROOKE ASTOR, burson marsteller, captain james ferguson, Caribbean cruising, Carnival (CCL), Carnival Corporation, Carnival Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruises, carolyn cheeks kilpatrick, Cassablanca Hotel, charles rangel, Chobol, christopher j. dodd, clarence mitchell, Commodore Cruise Lines, Concordia sinking, costa allegra, costa concordia, COSTA CONCORDIA SINKING, costa cruise, costa cruises, Cruise History, CRUISE LINE HISTORY, cruise ship history, CUNARD LINE, donald payne, donna christensen, Dr Washington Dodge, Ed Stephan, ellis island, EVA PERON, father browne, Fearnley and Egar, Finland, first class, FIRST CLASS MENU TITANIC, first class ocean, frank browne, Gibraltar, Gotass Larsen, GULF CRUISES, GULF TRIP, Harry Larsen, Henry Aldridge & Son’s, Hindenburg, history carnival cruises, history cunard line, History of Cruise Ships, hitler, HOLLAND AMERICA LINE, Howard Berman, Internal Utilities, Ira Riklis, Israel’s War Of Independence, Kirby Sommers, Kloster, Kloster Rederi, Knut Kloster, Lamar S. Smith, Leslie Frazer, Liner History, Love Boat, maritime accidents, maritime disasters, maritime history, maritime matters, maritime passengers, mark perry, mary bono mack, MEGA SHIP DISASTERS, Meshulam Riklis, micky arison, MV MOONTA, Mv princess Victoria, ncl, new zealand, Nili, Nordic Prince, normandie ship, Norwegian Caribbean Lines, Norwegian Epic, oasis of the seas death trap, ocean liner disasters, ocean liners, Olaf Wallenis, P&O cruise lines, passenger liners, passenger steamships, photos titanic, pictures of the titanic, Pier luigi foschi, PRINCESS CRUISES, radio city music hall, RCCL, rep charles rangel carnival corp, retro, RMS TITANIC, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International, Royal Caribbean International’s, Royal Carribbean International, Royal Viking Line, Royal Viking Sea, Royal Viking Sky, Royal Viking Star, RUTH DODGE TITANIC, Sandy Chonol, Seabourn Cruise Lines, seabourn cruises, Seattle, sex, Shari Arison, ship disasters, ship geek, ship sinking, Si?or Skau?en, Skald Club, Skyward, SOCIAL HISTORY, society, Song of Norway, sopa, Southward, Space Needle, SS awatea, ss Canberra, ss champlain, ss morro castle, ss united states, Starward, steamship history, STEAMSHIP LINES A?da, Sun Viking, Sunward, T.S.S. Awatea, tasman sea, Ted Arison, the titanic, Thomas J. Donohue, Titanic, titanic cruise line, titanic history, titanic pictures, titanic ship, titanic sinking, Travel Weekly, union steam ship company, WASHINGTON DODGE JR TITANIC, white bear lake, Yarmouth, Yarmouth Castle, Yarmouth Cruise Lines 1, yvette clarke

COSTA CONCORDIA DISASTER: Bell Disappears From Shipwreck Site. The RMS TITANIC’S Bell Was Saved.

March 16, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Underwater thieves have evaded an array of laser systems that measure millimetric shifts in the Carnival Corp’s Costa Concordia shipwreck and 24-hour surveillance by the Italian coast guard and police to haul off a symbolic booty – the ship’s bell. The giant cruise liner capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after hitting a rock on January 13, killing at least 25 people. Seven people are still unaccounted for.

(Left: The bell from the crow’s nest was rung moments before the RMS Tittanic struck an iceberg.) The bell from the RMS Titanic was saved.

Prosecutors have accused Captain Francesco Schettino of causing the accident by bringing the multi-storey Costa Concordia, which was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, too close to the shore.

Now prosecutors have opened an investigation to find out who filched the modern-day Titanic’s bell.

Judicial sources said on Thursday thieves nabbed the ship’s bell more than two weeks ago from one of the decks of the Costa Concordia, which is submerged in 8 meters (26 feet) of water.

Investigators suspect more than one person was involved in stealing the heavy bell, etched with the ship’s name and 2006, the year it was christened. Ships bells were traditionally used to signal half-hour intervals in a four-hour watch.

“I can only guess that someone took it as a sort of morbid memento,” Giglio’s mayor, Sergio Ortelli, told Reuters.

“In my mind, the missing bell is of no importance. We have the ship’s statue of the Madonna in our church, and that for us has much more symbolic meaning.”

Divers recovered the meter-tall plaster statue of the Madonna in January from the ship’s chapel and gave the statute to the parish priest of Giglio.

Filed Under: Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, SOCIAL HISTORY, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: 1960s stewardess, carnival corp, costa concordia, Costa Concordia Bell, Costa Concordia Disaster, Costa Concordia Site, Costa Concordia Sunk, Costa Concordia Tragedy, Crime News, ellis island, EVA PERON, Grave Robbers, Grave Robbing, Hindenburg, History of Cruise Ships, Italian Cruise Ship, Italian Cruise Ship Bell, Italian Cruise Ship Sunk, ITALY, normandie ship, Norwegian Epic, pictures of the titanic, radio city music hall, Reuters, RMS TITANIC, Rome, Rome-Italy, ss Canberra, ss united states, the titanic, Titanic, titanic cruise line, titanic history, titanic pictures, titanic ship, titanic sinking

Social History: The California Palace of the Legion of Honor and Alma de Bretteville Spreckels…

March 15, 2012 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, often called Legion of Honor by San Franciscans, refers to both the fine art collection and the building that houses it. It was a gift from Alma de Bretteville Spreckels and is a three-quarters scale imitation of the Palais de la Légion d’Honneur in Paris. Built on a former cemetery, the plaza of the Legion of Honor is also the western terminus of the Lincoln Highway, the first road across America.

Social History: Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (March 24, 1881 – August 7, 1968), known both as “Big Alma” (she was 6 feet (1.8 m) tall) and “The Great Grandmother of San Francisco”, was a wealthy socialite and philanthropist who, among her many accomplishments, persuaded her first husband, sugar magnate Adolph B. Spreckels to donate the California Palace of the Legion of Honor to the city of San Francisco, California.

She was born Alma Charlotte Corday le Normand de Bretteville in the Sunset District portion of San Francisco, the fifth of six children of Viggo and Mathilde de Bretteville, two Danish immigrants. The family was very poor during her early childhood; but, in contrast to Viggo who claimed to be descended from Franco-Danish nobility (he claimed Napoleon Bonaparte as an ancestor) and used that as an excuse to avoid working while simultaneously deriding the “nouveau riche” of California, Mathilde had enough ingenuity and business sense to open a combination Danish bakery–laundry service–massage parlor which became the family’s source of income.

MS LAFAYETTE

March 13, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

With the success of the Swedish America Lines diesel powered liner MS Gripsholm, the French Line designed the MS Lafayette to a size that could be powered by the largest marine diesel engines available at that time. Before setting out on her maiden voyage from Le Havre – New York May 19th 1930, the French Line operated Lafayette on a weeklong cruise in European waters to test the reliability of the diesel engines. The French Lines second diesel powered liner, the 28,094-ton Champlain, joined Lafayette on the Atlantic run in 1932. This similar sized ship was the French Line’s first liner to incorporate the new sweeping hull design. The French Line’s largest ever liner SS Normandie entered service in 1935 with a similar hull design and almost every ship thereafter.

On a return crossing from New York in March 1934, Lafayette was caught up in a severe North Atlantic storm. Huge waves crashed through about 50 of her promenade windows causing injuries to many of the passengers. Lafayette’s return to France saw her undergo a few weeks of repairs before being re-deployed on the Atlantic run. Four years later, disaster struck when she was undergoing an overhaul at Le Havre. Oil had been spilled on Lafayette’s furnace room floor and caught fire May 4th 1938. The fire spread to one of her fuel tanks setting of a series of explosions. By the time the explosions ceased and the fires were extinguished, Lafayette was damaged beyond repair. The French Line had her burned out shell towed to the ship breakers in Rotterdam to be dismantled. Champlain also had a short life as she hit a German mine near La Pallice on the French coast June 17th 1940 and sank soon after.

Filed Under: STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: FRENCH LINE, MOTOR SHIP, MS LAFAYETTE

S.S. GREAT EASTERN

March 8, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

S.S. Great Eastern, a 22,500-ton (displacement) iron steamship designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel was built on the Thames River, England.

Intended for the passenger and cargo trade between England and Ceylon, she was by far the largest ship the World had yet seen.

She was so far ahead of contemporary commercial requirements, and industrial capabilities, that her length (nearly 700 feet) and tonnage would remain unmatched for four more decades.

Though christened Leviathan during an initial launching attempt in early November 1857, she was thereafter always known as Great Eastern. Nearly three month’s costly struggle to get her afloat, and more problems while she was completing, left her original company bankrupt. New owners decided to employ her on the route between Britain and North America. However, insufficient capitalization restricted outfitting to luxury accomodations, thus ignoring the decidedly non-luxurious, but very profitable immigrant trade. The ship financial difficulties continued compounded by a series of accidents.

MENU OF FINAL LUNCH ON RMS TITANIC TO SELL FOR $150,000 AT AUCTION.

March 1, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

(Left: Dr. Dodge, Mrs. Dodge and Master Dodge)

Liner and Social History: The RMS TITANIC menu was on the table of first-class passenger Dr Washington Dodge, a prominent banker from San Francisco, who was traveling to America with his wife, Ruth, and son, Washington Junior.

A menu, dated April 14 1912, shows the luxury food offered up to first-class passengers on the last day on board the stricken ship.

Over several courses, and with 40 options on offer, the cream of Edwardian society were served a choice of such dishes as eggs Argenteuil, consomme fermier, chicken a la Maryland, galantine of chicken or grilled mutton chops.

MS LAFAYETTE

S.S. GREAT EASTERN

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