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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

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.

Titanic Letter Return Sought By John Edward Simpson Relatives After Auction

February 27, 2012 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Ocean Liner and Cruise History

The descendants of a surgeon who died on the Titanic nearly 100 years ago are appealing for a benefactor to purchase a soon-to-be-auctioned letter he wrote from the doomed ship — and to return it to the city where the vessel was built.

A two-page note John Edward Simpson wrote to his mother days before the ship sank in April 1912 is to expected to fetch at least $50,000 at the auction later this week in Long Island, New York.

Simpson’s great-nephew John Martin said Sunday that the family can’t afford to buy it, but would love to see it back in Belfast.

THE GREAT BRITISH LINER – THE SS CANBERRA – THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

December 23, 2009 By Michael L. Grace 1 Comment

CRUISING THE PAST: THE SS CANBERRA – THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

A great BBC youtube video of the SS CANBERRA returning from the Falklands.

For 37 years the SS Canberra was a very familiar sight in Southampton’s Western Docks and in ports the world over, particularly Sydney which, it could be said, has been her second home. In April 1982 the unthinkable happened when Britain went to war in hopefully the last colonial campaign in her history and for the first time in 42 years a P&O liner was requisitioned for service as a troop transport.

During the three months of the Falklands campaign she made headlines the world over, and she became a household name as she continued her peacetime role. However, her career had not always been so secure and for a few months in 1972 it seemed she was destined prematurely for the scrapyard. Had that come about she would probably be remembered today as P&O’s `great white elephant’, the liner which it had been thought would shape the future but, instead, had fallen victim to the age of the jet airliner and steeply rising oil prices.

The P&O liner Canberra (in my opinion one of the most beautiful ships to come out of Harland & Wolff) when the ship was leaving Belfast for Southampton, to begin her maiden voyage.

Arrival in Adelaide, Australia.

THE SS CANBERRA AND THE FALKLANDS

After the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982, which initiated the Falklands War, the Ministry of Defence requisitioned the “Canberra” as use as a troopship.

Nicknamed the “Great White Whale”, the “Canberra” proved vital in transporting the Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines to the islands more than 9,000 miles from the UK. Whilst the “Queen Elizabeth 2″ was held to be too vulnerable to enter the war zone, “Canberra” was sent to the heart of the conflict. “Canberra” anchored in San Carlos Water on 21 May as part of the landings by British forces to retake the islands. Although her size and white colour made her an unmissable target for the Argentine Air Force, the “Canberra”, if sunk, would not have been completely submerged in the shallow waters at San Carlos. However, the liner was not badly hit during the landings as the Argentine pilots tended to attack the Royal Navy frigates and destroyers instead of the supply and troop ships.

SS CANBERRA SAILING WAY FROM SYDNEY

When the war ended, Canberra was used to repatriate the Argentine Army, before returning to Southampton to a rapturous welcome. After a lengthy refit, Canberra returned to civilian service as a cruise ship. Her role in the Falklands War made her very popular with the British public, and ticket sales after her return were elevated for many years as a result.

SS CANBERRA BEING SCRAPPED

Filed Under: orient line, P & O Line Tagged With: BRITISH LINERS, P&O Lines, ss Canberra, Titanic

P&O Liners – San Francisco Bay – 1960s

July 28, 2009 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

1960s – Photo from Cruise History – San Francisco, California – P&O liners SS CANBERRA (docked at the Matson Line pier) and the SS ARCADIA (in background) sailing away.

Filed Under: P & O Line Tagged With: 1960s, Cruising, P&O Lines, retro, San Francisco, SS Arcadia, ss Canberra

Cruise Ship History – Burial at sea aboard the SS UNITED STATES in the 1950s. Bodies (passengers and crew) were not transported to the next port until recently. The passengers were buried at sea.

September 19, 2008 By Michael L. Grace Leave a Comment

Photo of a burial at sea aboard the SS United States in the 1950s.

The body pictured here on the promenade deck of the SS United States most likely could have been a crewmember in the stewards or catering department.

Notice how canvas curtains have been placed so passengers could not see the burial.

Besides the officers, there are mainly stewards and cooks in the photo. The ship would not have carried the crewmember to the next port. The SS United States on a trans-Atlantic crossing probably would have housed a passenger’s body. But most lines did not. Passengers were buried at sea.

Two passengers were buried at sea on the SS Canberra aboard a 1968 sailing from Los Angeles to Australia.

Until the last couple of decades, burial at sea (passengers or crew) was common. Corpses were not carried to the next port. In the late 1960s, I sailed from Los Angeles to Australia aboard the SS Canberra and there were two burials at sea. Both were passengers.

The burials took place around six in the morning.

We were sailing via the Orient so there were long passages at sea – 6 to 7 days. There were no morgues aboard ship. The body would be wrapped in a canvas bag and pushed overboard. It would be covered with a flag but the flag did not go with the body. The Anglican (Episcopal) service of burial was read, with officers, crew and some passengers in attendance. There was no announcement in the ship’s paper.

Recently, I was aboard the Princess Cruise’s Island Princess, touring the crew’s quarters and galleys. There is a refrigerated compartment known as the morgue and bodies are kept there until they can be removed at the next port.

Filed Under: STEAMSHIP LINES, UNITED STATES LINE Tagged With: , atlantic, burial at sea, CRUISE LINE HISTORY, cruise ship history, e f hutton, liners, P&O Line, scandinavia, ss america, ss Canberra, ss united states, Steamships, super-liner, united states lines

THE GREAT BRITISH LINER – THE SS CANBERRA – THE LAST GASP OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE

P&O Liners – San Francisco Bay – 1960s

Cruise Ship History – Burial at sea aboard the SS UNITED STATES in the 1950s. Bodies (passengers and crew) were not transported to the next port until recently. The passengers were buried at sea.

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