ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES |

THE FAMOUS REFUGE SHIP SS EXODUS WAS ORIGINALLY THE “HONEYMOON” NIGHT BOAT SS PRESIDENT WARFIELD

October 8, 2011 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

The SS EXODUS… former SS PRESIDENT WARFIELD… night boat of the “honeymoon fleet”

CRUISE SHIP HISTORY: OLD BAY LINE – NIGHT BOAT PRESIDENT WARFIELD BECAME THE FAMOUS SS EXODUS.

The SS President Warfield was named after the Old Bay Line’s president. Warfield’s niece was Bessie Wallis Warfield (June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986), best known as Wallis Simpson and later still the Duchess of Windsor, was a mistress, and later wife, of the former Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and was indirectly responsible for his abdication of the throne, though it has been argued that his probable Nazi sympathies were a factor.

PRESIDENT WARFIELD (EXODUS) – “Old Baltimore At Twilight” by Paul McGehee. The beautiful inner harbor of Baltimore holds memories for many people … memories of the days when you could go down to the “Long Dock” to buy watermelons brought in by the Chesapeake Bay skipjacks and bugeyes … memories of the downtown smells of roasting coffee and spices coming from McCormick’s. In 1934, the Baltimore Trust building towered over the port, witness to the daily comings and goings of the passenger steamers that would dock along Light Street, close to the end of the steamboat era.

President Warfield (Exodus) - Painting by Melvin O. Miller

The OLD BAY LINE Dock in Baltimore.

The Baltimore Steam Packet Company, also known as the Old Bay Line, was an American steamship line from 1840 to 1962, providing overnight steamboat service on the Chesapeake Bay, primarily between Baltimore, Maryland, and Norfolk, Virginia.

Called a “packet” for the mail packets carried on government mail contracts, the term in the 19th century came to mean a steamer line operating on a regular, fixed daily schedule between two or more cities.

By the time the venerable packet line ceased operation in 1962 after 122 years of existence, it was the last surviving overnight steamship passenger service in the United States.

A VIEW AT SUNSET – from BALTIMORE TO NORFOLK aboard A OLD BAY LINE NIGHT BOAT DURING THE LATE 1950S…

CITY OF NORFOLK – Chesapeake Bay night boat. She was built at Sparrows Point, MD in 1911 for passenger and freight service between Baltimore and Norfolk. She operated in this service, first for the Chesapeake S.S. Co. and then the Old Bay Line, until 1962 when the company ceased operations. This view shows her backing from her Baltimore wharf at 7:30 AM on Oct. 31, 1949 on her way to dry dock.

Dancing on the OLD BAY LINE.

Services on the OLD BAY LINE.

In addition to regularly calling on Baltimore and Norfolk, the Baltimore Steam Packet Company also provided freight, passenger and vehicle transport to Washington, D.C., Old Point Comfort, and Richmond, Virginia, at various times during its history.

The Old Bay Line, as it came to be known by the 1860s, was acclaimed for its genteel service and fine dining, serving Chesapeake Bay specialties. Walter Lord, famed author of A Night to Remember and whose grandfather had been the packet line’s president from 1893 to 1899, mused that its reputation for excellent service was attributable to “… some magical blending of the best in the North and the South, made possible by the Company’s unique role in ‘bridging’ the two sections … the North contributed its tradition of mechanical proficiency, making the ships so reliable; while the South contributed its gracious ease.”

Old Bay Line steamer arriving in the early 1960s.

One of the Old Bay Line’s steamers, the former President Warfield, later became famous as the SS Exodus ship of book and movie fame, when Jewish refugees from war-torn Europe sailed aboard her in 1947 in an unsuccessful attempt to emigrate to Palestine.

THE PRESIDENT WARFIELD as the Exodus in 1947.

(Left) The SS Exodus, formerly the Baltimore Steam Packet Company’s President Warfield, arriving with 4,515 Jewish refugees at Haifa on 20 July, 1947.

On July 12, 1942 SS President Warfield was acquired by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) and converted to a transport craft for the British Ministry of War Transport.

Manned by a British merchant crew led by Capt. J. R. Williams, it departed St. John’s, Newfoundland on September 21, 1942, along with other small passenger steamers bound for the United Kingdom. Attacked by a German submarine 800 nautical miles (1,500 km) west of Ireland on September 25, the ship evaded one torpedo, and, after the scattering of its convoy, reached Belfast, Northern Ireland. In Britain, it served as a barracks and training ship on the River Torridge at Instow.

Returned by Britain, it joined the U.S. Navy as President Warfield on May 21, 1944. In July it served as a station and accommodations ship at Omaha Beach at Normandy. Following duty in England and on the Seine River, it arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, July 25, 1945, and left active Navy service September 13. President Warfield was struck from the U.S. Naval Vessel Register on October 11 and returned to the War Shipping Administration on November 14.

(Left) President Warfield enroute to Europe from the USA in 1947, where she would be renamed Exodus 1947.

On November 9, 1946 the WSA sold President Warfield to the Potomac Shipwrecking Co. of Washington, D.C., who were acting as an agent of the Jewish political group Haganah. The ship eventually ended up with Hamossad Le’aliyah Bet—the underground Jewish organization in Palestine intent on helping underground Jewish immigrants enter Palestine. It was renamed Exodus 1947 after the biblical Jewish exodus from Egypt to Canaan.

The ship was deliberately chosen because of its derelict condition. It was risky to put passengers on it, but it was felt this would compel the British to let it pass blockade because of this danger or put the British in a bad light internationally. The President Warfield left Baltimore February 25, 1947 and headed for the Mediterranean. With Palmach (Haganah’s military wing) skipper Ike Aronowicz as captain, and supervised by Haganah commissioner Yossi Harel as the operation’s commander, it sailed under false orders and left at night with 4,515 passengers from the port of Sète, France, on July 11, 1947, and arrived at Palestine’s shores on July 18.

1,282 women, many being pregnant, 1,600 men and 1,672 children boarded the ship in Sète. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington D.C.).

(Left) The President Warfield in Séte harbor awaiting the refugees. (Archiv Ursula Litzmann, Düren).

The British Royal Navy cruiser Ajax and a convoy of destroyers trailed the ship from very early in its voyage, and finally boarded it some 20 nautical miles (40 km) from shore. The Exodus had been purposely refitted to make boarding impossible with barriers and barbed wire along the top decks and steam hoses hooked to the boilers fitted for defense. Attempts had been made by the British to keep the Exodus from leaving France and interception at sea was decided upon as the ship was unseaworthy and presented the continual danger of sinking. The boarding by the British was difficult and had to be managed from the bridges of the destroyers and was challenged by the passengers and Haganah members on board. Two passengers and one of the crew, 1st mate William Bernstein, a U.S. sailor from San Francisco, died as a result of bludgeoning and several dozen others were injured before the ship was taken over.Due to the high profile of the Exodus 1947 emigration ship, it was decided by the British government that the emigrants were to be deported back to France. Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin suggested this, and the request was relayed to General Sir Alan Cunningham, High Commissioner for Palestine, who agreed with the plan after consulting the Navy. Before then, intercepted would-be immigrants were placed in internment camps on Cyprus, which was at the time a British colony. This new policy was meant to be a signal to both the Jewish community and the European countries, which assisted immigration that whatever they sent to Palestine would be sent back to them.

Not only should it clearly establish the principle of REFOULEMENT as applies to a complete shipload of immigrants, but it will be most discouraging to the organizers of this traffic if the immigrants… end up by returning whence they came. The damaged former President Warfield remained moored to a breakwater at Haifa harbor as a derelict until it burned to the waterline August 26, 1952. Later towed to Shemen Beach, Haifa, it was raised in 1963 and scrapped by an Italian firm.

Filed Under: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, Cruise History, Cruise Memorabilia, cruise reviews, CRUISING THE PAST VIDEOS, CUNARD LINE, SOCIAL HISTORY, STEAMSHIP LINES, UNITED STATES LINE, WHITE STAR - CUNARD LINE Tagged With: 1920s, 1950s, blue ribband, Cruise History, CRUISE LINE HISTORY, cruise ship history, CRUISE SHIPS, Cruises, cruising the past, duchess of windsor, Haganah, HONEYMOON FLEET, JEWISH REFUGES, Liner History, liners, NIGHT BOAT, retro, RMS TITANIC, SOCIAL HISTORY, ss exodus, ss president warfield, steamship history, WW 2

THE S.S. PORTLAND STARTED THE ALASKA GOLD RUSH!

June 21, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruise and Social History: The S.S. PORTLAND started the Alaska Gold Rush!

On July 17, 1897, the steamship Portland arrived in Seattle from Alaska with 68 miners and a cargo of “more than a ton of solid gold” from the banks of the Klondike River in Canada’s Yukon Territory. This set off a rush to Alaska and an era of prosperity in King County that lasted for more than a decade

(Left: Seattle residents woke to the sound of newspaper boys hawking an extra edition of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer with headlines of GOLD)

The article began, “At 3 o’clock this morning the steamer Portland from St. Michael [Alaska] for Seattle, passed up the Sound with more than a ton of solid gold aboard.” The Post-Intelligencer scooped the other Seattle newspapers when its reporter, Beriah Brown Jr., took a tug from Seattle to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and waited for the Portland to pass by. Brown was the son of Beriah Brown (1815-1900), a former P-I editor and Seattle mayor.

The tug, Sea Lion, met the Portland off Cape Flattery, and Brown embarked the inbound steamer and interviewed some of the gold miners. Then the tug headed full speed to Port Townsend. Brown ran to the telegraph operator’s home and roused him and wired the story to the Post-Intelligencer: “A ton of gold is coming to Seattle.”

The Post Intelligencer issued the extra edition before the Portland docked. The news spread fast and by 6 a.m. a crowd of more than 5,000 greeted the Portland when she tied up to Schwabacher Wharf.

The famous “Ton of Gold” that started the Alaska Gold Rush was unloaded here in 1897. The S.S. Portland landed the valuable cargo at this pier ten known as Aschwabacher dock.
Erected National Maritime Day 1957

Among the Portland’s passengers were:

William Stanley, a former Seattle bookseller, and his son, who went to the Yukon valley in 1896 and returned with from $90,000 to $112,000 in gold dust and nuggets;

Frank Phiscator from Baroda, Michigan, who spent just three months in Alaska and disembarked the Portland with from $96,000 to $120,000 in gold;

T. J. Kelly, a Tacoma resident, who returned from the Klondike with $10,000 in gold;

Clarence Berry, a Fresno, California, fruit farmer and his wife, who unloaded off the Portland about $135,000 in gold dust and nuggets.

After all the gold was weighed the Post-Intelligencer’s one-ton estimate turned out to be too low. The actual amount unloaded from the Portland was two tons.

People were immediately infected with Klondike Fever. By 9:30 a.m. the city’s downtown streets were so crowded with people that some streetcars were forced to stop running. Seattle Times reporters, longshoremen, and others quit their jobs on the spot and looked for passage to Alaska.

William D. Wood (1858-1917), mayor of Seattle, who was attending a convention in San Francisco, telegraphed his resignation and headed to Alaska without even stopping in Seattle.

Local merchants quickly sold out of miners’ supplies.

The fever spread across the United States quicker than any virus.

Within 24 hours, 2,000 New York residents attempted to buy tickets for the Klondike, unsuccessfully because the locals had already bought them. Within 10 days, 1,500 persons departed Seattle for the gold fields.

The rush was on.

Filed Under: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: alaska gold rush. alaska steamship company, cruise ship history, Liner History, s.s. portland, s.s. united states, smith college, SOCIAL HISTORY, Titanic, vassar college

THE ALASKA STEAMSHIP COMPANY – Photos and History

May 27, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Ocean Liner History: The Alaskan shipping industry began to grow in the late 1800s with the expansion of fishing and cannery activities. As a result, there was a dramatic increase in the need for transportation of other products to and from the lower 48 states. In 1894, six men, recognizing this need, incorporated; they gathered $30,000 by selling 300 shares at $100 each, and then set about scouting for a ship to begin hauling.

They found and purchased the Willapa, which could carry passengers as well as freight. Their timing could not have been better; soon after the Alaska Steamship Company (ASC) opened for business, Alaska began to experience major economic benefits resulting from the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. In addition to fish products, ASC began hauling mining equipment, dog sleds, cattle, and miscellaneous supplies.

The company began by servicing Southeast Alaska, running only between Skagway and Seattle. Another shipping company, the Northwest Steamship Company, had organized the northern route as a result of the Nome gold strike in 1900, servicing Valdez, Cook Inlet, and the Bering Sea ports. A third party, the Guggenheim Company, bought out both ASC and the Northern Steamship Co., keeping the ASC name. They expanded the fleet into 18 ships and expanded service to all Alaskan ports from Ketchikan to Kotzebue.

For the next quarter of a century, ASC relied on copper from the Kennecot mines, gold, and salmon for backhauls from northern cities to the lower 48 states. By 1938, the copper mine had closed and the gold rush had subsided. With backhauls now significantly reduced, the Alaskan shipping industry was severely impacted. In addition, the much relied-upon fishing industry was only seasonal. The one-way haul was one of the great problems of the Alaska run; the other problem was the weather. Ships were constantly threatened by fierce Alaskan weather patterns.

Eventually, the Kennecot Company acquired controlling interest from Guggenheim Company. In 1944, G.W. Skinner of Seattle purchased all interests and retained the management identified with the Alaska Steamship Company for the next several years.

The ASC joined the war effort in 1942, losing five ships in various campaigns. In 1953, they expanded into container service. The holds of the vessels were paved to accommodate fork lifts. New masts were engineered to lift massive vans. New generators were installed to provide power for van refers (refrigerated vans) and heater equipment. Containerization was recognized as the most significant development in ocean transport since the steam engine. There was less damage to freight, less pilfering, and labor costs were significantly reduced as there was no more piece by piece handling of cargo.

In 1954, the company ceased passenger operations due to high costs of labor and union standards. By then, ASC had established itself as a pioneer in containerization. At one point, the company pumped $11 million into the economy by employing dockworkers, ship workers, and stevedores, hauling freight, and operating ship and dock facilities. However, because of increased fuel and insurance costs, increased competition from barges, ferries, and tugboats, and continual union demands, the Alaska Steamship Company ceased operations in 1971.

Filed Under: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: alaska, ALASKA CRUISES, Alaska Steamship Company, ocean liner history

1919 POSTCARD MESSAGE: “KILLING A LITTLE WHILE ON THIS TUB” – ABOARD ALASKA STEAMSHIP’S SS JEFFERSON

March 19, 2011 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Edwin writes: “Killing a little while on this tub…” on this postcard… postmarked 1919

The “tub” – S.S. Jefferson – Photo side of postcard.

Alaska Steamship’s SS Jefferson at salmon cannery dock, Port Nellie Juan.

The SS Jefferson was built in 1904 and scrapped in 1925.

History: Alaska Steamship Company, Seattle, 1895-1971

Regular monthly boat service from U.S. ports to Alaska began in 1867 following the purchase of Alaska from Russia. Occupation troops were dispatched and cargo and mail soon followed. By 1875 several ship lines were making the voyage up the Panhandle in spite of often inhospitable waters and a treacherous coastline. The first tourists began booking passage as reports of unparalleled scenery were increasingly publicized.

On August 3, 1894, Charles Peabody, Capt. George Roberts, Capt. Melville Nichols, George Lent, Frank E. Burns and Walter Oakes formed the Alaska Steamship Company which would eventually enjoy a near monopoly of freight and passenger service to Alaska.. This group of six men began gathering $30,000 by selling 300 shares of stock, at $100 each. Charles Peabody was named president of the company.
On Jan. 21, 1895, the Alaska Steamship Company was finalized. The first vessel purchased was the 140-foot steamer WILLAPA.

History of the Alaska Steamship Company, Seattle, 1895-1971

March 10, 2010 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

1950s ALASKA CRUISE – Retro August 1954 look at the final days of the Alaska Steamship Company with a history of the famous organization that provided passenger service to the far north.

A fond farewell. The SS Denali ends the era of passenger service for the Alaska Steamship Company as she makes her final departure and sails away for the last time from Pier 42, Seattle at 3 p.m., September 24, 1954.

Sailing day meant excitement for the Alaska Steamship Company liners. Here is the SS Alaska sailing from Seattle in 1952.

ALASKA CRUISE YOUTUBE RETRO VIDEO – AUGUST 1954 – $9.00 PER DAY.

This is a wonderful historical video of a 1954 sailing aboard the SS ALASKA on a cruise to Alaska and the Inside Passage. A retro 50s look at a style of cruising and travel now vanished. Views of the ship leaving the Port of Seattle, with streamers, confetti and visitors waving goodbye – something rarely seen today. See the ship sail up the inside passage… with passengers dancing, dining, playing shuffleboard and man nostalgic scenes of an Alaska steamship far different from the massive ships sailing the Inland Passage today. The Alaska Steamship Company operated passenger service from Seattle to all ports in Alaska from 1895 until 1954. During the summer weekly sailings visited the Inside Passage. The line challenged all kinds of winter conditions and operated year round offering regular sailings as far north as Nome. These are family films and footage taken during the 1920s through the 1950s.

Cruise Liner and Steamship History – Alaska Steamship Company, Seattle, 1895-1971

History of the Alaska Steamship Company – Cruising The Past

SS UNTIED STATES – New York wants the great ship to return. Great video of sailing on a cruise to the West Indies during 1964.

January 12, 2010 By Michael L. Grace

Proposal to bring the SS UNITED STATES back to Manhattan.

Cruise Ship History: More steamship history with a video cruise aboard the SS United States. In 1964, former SS United States purser Jim Green returned to the ship as a passenger for a West Indies cruise along with his beloved wife Frieda. Here, set to the music of the ship’s own orchestra, is a nostalgic journey back to 1964. This video also answers the trivia question: “Why were live turtles carried aboard the SS United States?” Hint: it wasn’t for the soup! Enjoy this retro look at the United States Line and its flagship.

1950s ALASKA CRUISE – Retro August 1954 look at the final days of the Alaska Steamship Company

July 29, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

1950s ALASKA CRUISE – Retro August 1954 look at the final days of the Alaska Steamship Company with a history of the famous organization that provided passenger service to the far north.

Sailing day meant excitement for the Alaska Steamship Company liners. Here is the SS Alaska sailing from Seattle in 1952.

ALASKA CRUISE YOUTUBE RETRO VIDEO – AUGUST 1954 – $9.00 PER DAY.

Cruising The Past presents an historical video of a August 1954 sailing aboard the SS ALASKA on a cruise to Alaska and the Inside Passage. A retro 50s look at a style of cruising and travel now vanished. Views of the ship leaving the Port of Seattle, with streamers, confetti and visitors waving goodbye – something rarely seen today. See the ship sail up the inside passage… with passengers dancing, dining, playing shuffleboard and man nostalgic scenes of an Alaska steamship far different from the massive ships sailing the Inland Passage today. [Read more...]

Filed Under: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, STEAMSHIP LINES Tagged With: 1950s alaska cruises, alaska 1950s cruises, Alaska Steamship Company, alaska steamship line, Cruises, d. e. skinner, gold rush ships, retro cruises, ships, SS ALASKA, ss aleutian, ss BARANOF, ss DENALI, ss YUKON, Steamships

Cruising The Past and Cruise Ship History features the maritime art of James A. Flood.

July 12, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

RMS TITANIC at 1:00 AM – Lifeboat, rockets and the sinking liner by James A. Flood.

Cruising The Past and Cruise Ship History features the maritime art of James A. Flood.

His website features paintings of ships (RMS Titanic, SS Lurline, SS Rex, etc.).

There are ships biographies and photographs of some of his hand-built ship models.

Jim is a terrific maritime artist and his paintings capture many of the great liners and contemporary cruise ships. [Read more...]

Filed Under: ALASKA STEAMSHIP LINES, UK STEAMSHIP AND CRUISE LINES, UNITED STATES LINE, WHITE STAR - CUNARD LINE Tagged With: CUNARD LINE, holland america, maritime art, Titanic

Cruise Line History – July 4th menus featuring “Russian Caviar” and “Kangoroo Tail Soup” on the High Seas from 1900 until 1938 – aboard the SS Manhattan, SS Aleutian and the SS City of Rome.

July 4, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Cruise Line History – July 4th trans-Atlantic liner and Alaska cruise ship dinner menus from the past… featuring “Russian Caviar” and “Kangoroo Tail Soup” on the High Seas from 1900 until 1938 – aboard the SS Manhattan, SS Aleutian and the SS City of Rome.