MS KUNGSHOLM on Carribean Cruise – by 1941, with the war in Europe, most liners were not crossing the Atlantic.
“The young man—his name was Ray Kinsella, and he was a member of the ship’s Junior Entertainment Committee—waited for Barbara at the railing on the portside of the promenade deck. Nearly all passengers were ashore and, in the stillness and moonlight, it was a powerful place to be. The only sound in the night came from the Havana harbor water slucking gently against the sides of the ship. Through the moon mist the Kungsholm could be seen, anchored sleepy and rich, just a few hundred feet aft. Farther shoreward a few small boats corked about.” J. D. Salinger – A Young Girl In 1941 With No Waist At All – Mademoiselle 25, May 1947, pages 222-223, 292-302
Cruising The Past: “Catcher in the Rye” author J.D. Salinger has died at age 91 in New Hampshire.
In 1941, the position of entertainment director for the Swedish America Line’s M.S, Kungsholm (built in 1928) was held by Salinger. He authored a number of short stories with the Kungsholm or a “liner” as the setting. The official Swedish American Line website documents Salinger’s position aboard the Kungsholm. He made one cruise.
Mr. Salinger would go on to become a world-renown author with the publication of “The Catcher in the Rye” in 1952.
Salinger was undoubtedly the Kungsholm’s most famous crew member.
