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Books - The Dutch "TITANIC" the second STATENDAM sunken as JUSTICIA

The " Dutch TITANIC ", laid down 1912 as STATENDAM, seized by the British Royal Navy to become the trooper JUSTICIA . A new book by historian Tamás Balogh is the first compendium about that liner, that never saw civil service, and was lost during WWI. While TITANIC is ostentatiously called the most luxurious liner, STATENDAM offered luxury features that recalled the grandness of lounges and luxuries of the German Ballin trio - e.g. a Main Lounge two decks high, between the first and second funnel, a two deck high Dining Room, as well a Wintergarden of one and a half deck hight. OLYMPIC Class only offered one deck high salons ... by Earl of Cruise b/w copy from a painting of the intended STATENDAM, the second in the fleet of HOLLAND AMERICA LINE - courtesy Peter Meersman, collector of the original painting The first STATENDAM (10,322 GT) was constructed and inaugurated in 1898 and had been sold to ALLAN LINE in 1911. When STATENDAM II was laid down in Belfast...

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Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing.   by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w...

HISTORY - ss KAISER FRIEDRICH the failed German Greyhound

The failed German Greyhound ss KAISER FRIEDRICH is one of the tragic figures in shipping history, as we find it in rms TITANIC , ss NORMANDIE, ss GREAT EASTERN and a number of other vessels human engineering created. Each vessel has its own history record. by Earl of Cruise ss KAISER FRIEDRICH build 1897 by Schichau - source Wikipedia Isambard Brunel created the perfect vessel of his time, or thought so. The ss GREAT EASTERN was in the end, besides far ahead of time, but without the power she needed, a financial desaster, and in the end the cause of the heart attack and death of the genius of the 19th century. The tragedy of rms TITANIC is all too known to all of us. While she was build to sail smooth over the Atlantic, as her sister the rms OLYMPIC , "the old reliable", did. she did not finish her inauguaral sailing and took 1,514 souls with her to the bottom of the Atlantic.  The ss NORMANDIE , the `Palais Flottant´, the `Vaisseau de Lumière´ was ahead of her...

Design - Call me FRANCE again - will the mythical ship be back at sea

Le FRANCE, the famous and mythical French ocean liner, will he be back at sea again? President Charles De Gaulle claimed, during the christening ( by Yvonne de Gaulle ) ceremony May 11th, 1960, that FRANCE III is a true revival of glamorous NORMANDIE ... Those having sailed on NORMANDIE and had the luck of experiencing his grandeur and then top luxuries on board, named FRANCE "vulgar" ... as my aunt and others able to compare. Didier Spade, a French naval architect and businessman, connected to FRANCE via his father´s and grandfather´s engagement in the outfitting of the famous and last French Transatlantic liner, created a new interpretation of the famous and still loved FRANCE. by Earl of Cruise Didier Spade´s vision of the Nouveau FRANNCE - courtesy Mer et Marine When FRANCE was purchsed by visionairy Kloster, the once liner lost its character after the transforming into the then biggest cruise vessel. What was left was only a last glance of the 1950/60s design ...

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI...

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five...

HISTORY - ts / ss BREMEN and ts / ss EUROPA

Germany’s two luxury liners, BREMEN and EUROPA , have not only played an important part in their country’s mercantile revival, but have added also an immortal chapter to the history of transatlantic travel. Copy from Shipping Wonders of the World   From part 6 , published 17 March 1936 editing by Earl of Cruise ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: Shipping Wonders of the World/Bundespresse Archiv The PRIDE OF A NATION - the NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD quadruple-screw turbine express liner BREMEN . The keel of this ship was laid in June 1927. Her launch took place in August, 1928. In less than a year later, the Bremen made her first voyage to America, when she crossed the Atlantic from Cherbourg to New York in four days seventeen hours forty-two minutes, thus setting up a new record and gaining the coveted “Blue Riband”. During the passage the Bremen attained an average speed of 27.83 knots. ss / ts BREMEN in her early years - Source: W ikipedia For the pop...

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France   by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise   This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te".   by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy ...

HISTORY - rms MAJESTIC - Hand in Hand with rms TITANIC

TITANIC and MAJESTIC (1890), both Royal Mail Ships, hand in hand? How so? The review of João Martins will show. by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise And WHITE STAR LINE was more than only a shipping line which employed rms TITANIC. WHITE STAR was company with a great heritage and introduced many innovations which became standards. Founded by Thomas Henry Ismay , originally from Maryport, and shareholders amoung whom had been HARLAND&WOLFF . Later the Irish shipbuilder, located in Belfast, built all ships for WHITE STAR. rms MAJESTIC as built by HARLAND&WOLFF - Sour ce: Wikipedia ( original seize ) T he rms MAJESTIC was a 9,965 GRT British ocean liner built by HARLAND & WOLFF for WHITE STAR LINE and completed in 1890. Her career was profoundly intertwined with rms TITANIC. In the late 1880s competition for the Blue Riband, the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was fierce amongst the major shipping lines. At the time the prize belonged to CUNA RD...

Heritage - UNITED STATES LINES - a review

In my UNITED STATES LINES historic review I want to show the rise and fall of the last national shipping and post line of the United States of America. by Earl of Cruise © UNITED STATES LINES The UNITED STATES LINES has been at first a transatlantic shipping company that operated passenger, mail and cargo services from 1921 to 1989. The passenger service with oceanliners was offered until 1969 - most famously by ss  UNITED STATES . The line became well known in the 1920s, when two valiant rescues were made. These ships involved have been the ss PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT in 1926, and the ss AMERICA in 1929 both under the command by Captain George Fried . 19th Century Since the dramatic ending of the COLLINS LINE in mid 19th century, after successfully crossing the North Atlantic, there has not been any major US American steamship line. The congress was not able giving a push to any new entrepreneur to come. So foreign companies got the main share in post trading and pas...

HISTORY - AUSTRO AMERICANA the Austro-Hungary shipping line into the new world

Not many know about the Austro-Hungary shipping line, AUSTRO AMERICANA , which sailed out of Trieste to the Americas. Austro-Hungary and shipping? You may ask ... you may have heard about Vienna Walz, coffe house culture, Hotel Sacher and its famous chocolate cake, the Prater, chateau Schönbrunn, the Fiakers - the famous horse carriages and such things. But passenger shipping lines? There has been AUSTRO AMERICANA and ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD , renamed in LLOYD TRIESTINO after 1918 and after purchased by EVERGREEN renamed in Italia Marittima. The actual company ÖSTERREICHISCHER LLOYD is a new formed management company situated in Austria.   by Earl of Cruise KAISER FRANZ JOSEH I. the biggest liner of AUSTRO AMERICANA - own collextion Parts of my family lived for a long time in the Austro-Hungary empire, which can be qualified as a "United Nations of the Balkan". Having traces into Austria-Hungay, the realm of Hungary in special, it is a pleasure for me making thes...