NYCruzr

I had the opportunity to meet John Maxtone-Graham aboard the Norway in 1988 and he autographed a couple of my books. A true gentlemen. It was pleasure to chat with him and his wife.

He will certainly be missed!

Hello Big Al,

Impressive list of vessels! Not to be picky, but I was looking at the dates that you sailed the Michelangelo and Raffaello. You seem to be off by a few years because those ships didn't enter service till about 1965.

Just thought you might want to double check your dates!

Have a great day!

Angelo

Since my mother wouldn't fly till 1970, the only way to see our family in France & Morocco, (I was born in Casablanca) from NY was to go Transatlantic from NYC to Le Havre, France, or Algerciras, Spain...so I was very lucky to have sailed on:

 

USS United States 1958 ( I came to America on her!!) and 1967

USS Constitution 1962,1963 & 1964

USS Independence 1961 ( we came in Hurricane Donna- horrible!!) & 1960

Michelangelo 1962 & 1963

Raffaello 1963

Queen Mary 1959

Queen Elizabeth 1959

France June 1966

 

Not a bad list, huh? Currently, I have cruised on 20 ships covering 29 cruises since 1990..I have been elected Event Coordinator for the Florida Chapter for the SSUSC ( SS United States Conservancy) about 3 weeks ago...you can read about this on the "whatever happened to" links here on CC...Come Sail Away...

 

Big Al

You are definitely not nuts. I've cruised and traveled solo because if I didn't I wouldn't have gone on vacation. I gave up on waiting for friends who were all for it and then would back out when we had to book and put up some money. Go on your trip and enjoy....cruises are great for going solo!

I'm heading on my first cruise in three days ... solo ... am I nuts??

 

Carnival Freedom from Fort Lauderdale to Nassau and Freeport.

 

Pleaseeee don't let me get seasick. :(

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, I guess that's one way of looking at it. Unfortunately, the photos of her being picked apart piece by piece were heartbreaking nonetheless!

Hi Reney313,

Just thought I would pass on the the beautiful Norway was not actually left to break up in the waves. She was towed to Alang in India where she was slowly and methodically cut apart until there was nothing left of the grand lady.

Really a tragic end for such a beautiful ship.

Angelo

In 1973 we returned from Italy on the Michelangelo and though I was only 11 years old I still remember the cruise director. Her name was Mirta and I'll never forget her because she was petite, kind and absolutely ADORABLE woman who I had a total crush on! Every time I saw her around the ship I always made an attempt to get closer and chat with er. Attended nearly every event on board where she was the MC.

Would love to know where she ended up and how she's doing!

Anyone remember her?

NYCruzr

Thanks again very much for the photos!

Those ships hold many great memories and I collect just about any photos I can get, especially more unique ones like the one you sent because both ships were in port together in New York, which was pretty rare!

Happy Sailing!

NYCruzr (Angelo)

JimandStan,

I love that photo of the ships lined up in luxary liner row. My dad used to be the manager of first and cabin class for the Italian Line and I have sailed on both the Michelangelo and Raffaello, both pictured in that photo. I would greatly appreciate a copy of that photo if you would be so kind as to send it to me via email. I also sailed on the former France (also in the picture) after it had become the Norway. It's a great photo!

My email address is ang0462@gmail.com. Hope you won't mind sending me a copy as they all bring back great memories.

Thank you,

ANgelo (NYCruzr)

Quick Quibble: Unless you were on the record breaking maiden voyage, I think that you will find that it was a 5 day crossing (well, 4 days, 16 hours or so)

 

After breaking the records, the United States Lines ran her at the same speed as the Queens, and later the France of 1960.

In 1979 went on the Festivale which later became Big Red Boat. It was when Carnival has three ships. We had a ball. I had no idea that we were supposed to tip and I spent all my money. Went to the casino and won $100 that saved me an embarassment. that was the trip that got us hooked.

Wasn't the Big Red Boat originally the Oceanic?

Wow...that really is an accomplishment! Kudos to all of those involved in the effort. I do hope that it will be possible to bring the SS United States back to its original splendor! Best of luck!

NCL Norway in 1989 with stops in the Bahamas, St. Thomas, St. Marteen and a private island. Beautiful ship and wonderful trip. Not sure what became of her.

Most Regretfully, the Norway was scrapped by a a company in Alang, India. If it interests you, you can search for threads about the "Norway" or "Norway Blue Lady" or "SS France Norway"....or some other combination of those names. You will come up with several threads of the story and demise of that beautiful ship, along with some very sad photos.

I'm not sure if my first trip qualifies as a "cruise" as it was a transatlantic trip to Italy aboard the Italian Line's Raffaello. That was my introduction to ships and have been hooked ever since. My first Caribbean cruise was in 1979 aboard the Guglielmo Marconi also of the Italian Line, though the company's days were numbered by then.

I'm not sure if my first trip qualifies as a "cruise" as it was a transatlantic trip to Italy aboard the Italian Line's Raffaello. That was my introduction to ships and have been hooked ever since. My first Caribbean cruise was in 1979 aboard the Guglielmo Marconi also of the Italian Line, though the company's days were numbered by then.

Great story about the Monterrey. The interesting thing about it was that I started reading just out of curiosity and had no idea until the end that the ship eventually became the Britannis, a ship that I traveled on once when she was doing cruises to nowhere out of New York! I said "Hey wait a minute....I was on that ship"!

Thanks for sharing the history!

NYCruzr

 

 

 

Monterey (1932-2000) Built as ss Monterey by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Quincy, Mass in 1932 for U.S.-based Matson Line destined for their Pacific Ocean liner service (Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia). She was one of four ships in the Lines' "White Fleet" which included ss Malolo, ss Mariposa and ss Lurline. She was the third of those four ships designed by William Francis Gibbs and was identical to Mariposa and very similar to her sister ship Lurline. Her positioning cruise from the East to the West coast on 12 May 1932, saw her take 83 passengers from New York City. Her subsequent maiden voyage took place on 3 June 1932 from San Francisco after which she made stops in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Syndney and Melbourne.

 

During World War II, Monterey served as a fast troop carrier, often operating alone so she wouldn't be slowed by formation navigation in a convoy. In 1941, before U.S. declaration of war, the United States Marine Corps chartered her to carry 150 Chinese, Korean and Japanese missionaries and stranded U.S. citizens from China to San Francisco. Back in the City by the Bay, she was quickly refitted to hold 3,500 troops. On 16 December 1941 she steamed to Hawaii with 3,349 fresh troops, returning with 800 casualties of the Japanese atack on Pearl Harbor.

 

On 22 August 1942, she was briefly acquired by the United States Navy and assigned the name/designation USS Alameda (AP-68). However, she was returned to the WAr Shipping Administration on 25 September 1942 so never served under that name. Her war-time service would see her travel to the South Pacific and Australia, via the Panama Canal and Key West to Scotland (Glasgow), England (Liverpool), North Africa (Casablanca and Oran), Italy (On the way to Naples off the coast of Algeria, she and her convoy were attacked by German bombers) and even one trip to Brasil.

 

After the war, on 26 September 1946 Monterey arrived at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, CA for refitting and return to passenger service with Matson. However, funding for the project ran out after only 30% of the work had been completed so for five years she sat idle in Alameda. She was then purchased by the U.S. Government in August 1952 and towed to the mothball fleet in nearby Suisun Bay.

 

Meanwhile, her former owners, Matson Line, were enjoying fair post-war success with Lurline and were looking to expand their passenger operation once more. Matson bought the old mothballed s Monterey back from the US Government on 3 February 1956 and, since they had named another vessel Monterry by then, had to come up with a new name for their first Monterey. They therefor rechristened her ss Matsonia, replacing their earlier Matsonia which had been sold to Home Lines. On 22 May 1957, Matsonia teamed up with her sister Lurline on the San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu run providing a 'first class only' service between Hawaii and the American mainland.

 

Within five years however, profits from passenger service had fallen to the point where Matson decided to anchor Matsonia indefinitely in San Francisco Bay. Sister ship Lurline continued to operate but suffered a major turbine problem in February, 1963; one that would require costly repairs. Instead of repairing Lurline, Matson sold the popular ship to Greek-based Chandris Lines who rechristened her Ellinis. Stung from poor public opinion regarding that sale, Matson rechristened the former Matsonia (ex-Monterey) as the new Lurline on 6 December 1963 and returned her to service.

 

By 1970, passenger receipts were down so low that Matson chose to cease liner service altogether. On 25 June 1970, Lurline arrived in San Francisco also to be sold to Chandris Lines. Five days later she steamed under new ownership out of the Golden Gate on her way to Piraeus with the new name Britanis.

 

At Piraeus, she was greatly modified to hold 1,655 passengers, mainly by subdividing existing cabins and converting cargo holds to new cabin areas. She re-entered service on 21 February 1971, leaving Southampton, England bound for Sydney and back; a regular roundtrip she would make for three years. In 1974 she saw service as a cruise ship in the Caribbean during winter and in Europe during the summer. After another lay-up time in 1980, Britanis cruised between New York and Bermuda in May 1982 with a smaller capacity of 1,200 passengers. In the 1983-1984 winter season, she sailed from Miami to the Caribbean, switching back to New York in the summer of 1984.

 

She received a major overhaul in 1986 which included parts from her sister Ellinis (ex-Lurline), some of which had gone to Ellinis from Homeric (ex-Mariposa) when Homeric was scrapped in 1974. At this point, parts from three sister ships were now bound together in Britanis. This refit gave Britanis eight years of Caribbean cruising until 19 November 1994.

 

 

In 1994, Britanis was chartered by the U.S. Government for use as a floating barracks/accomodation ship for military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She suffered minor damage from an electrical fire and was repaired, at U.S. Government expense, and then laid up at Tampa, Fl in late 1996.

 

During that time, her owners, Chandris, opted to sell Britanis as part of a plan to cease cruise line operation. The ship was maintained in anchorage until 24 January 1998 when she was sold to AG Belofin Investments of Liechtenstein and renamed Belofin-1. Her new owners intended to recoup their investment by selling the ship to scrappers, but a downturn in steel prices held them up for more than a year. On 3 July 2000, Belofin-1 was towed by the Ukrainian ocean-going tug Irbis out of Tampa Bay with the CN Marine ferry Bluenose lashed to her port side. The group was bound for the ship breakers at Alang, India. Belofin-1 began taking on water and listing during the voyage but nobody was on board to right the list. The tugboat crew cut her free and Belofin-1 capsized and sank due to progressive flooding some fifty miles off Cape Town, South Africa on 21 October 2000, ending an illustrious 68-year career.

 

 

 

Great story about the Monterrey. The interesting thing about it was that I started reading just out of curiosity and had no idea until the end that the ship eventually became the Britannis, a ship that I traveled on once when she was doing cruises to nowhere out of New York! I said "Hey wait a minute....I was on that ship"!

Thanks for sharing the history!

NYCruzr

 

 

 

Monterey (1932-2000) Built as ss Monterey by Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Quincy, Mass in 1932 for U.S.-based Matson Line destined for their Pacific Ocean liner service (Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia). She was one of four ships in the Lines' "White Fleet" which included ss Malolo, ss Mariposa and ss Lurline. She was the third of those four ships designed by William Francis Gibbs and was identical to Mariposa and very similar to her sister ship Lurline. Her positioning cruise from the East to the West coast on 12 May 1932, saw her take 83 passengers from New York City. Her subsequent maiden voyage took place on 3 June 1932 from San Francisco after which she made stops in Los Angeles, Honolulu, Auckland, Pago Pago, Suva, Syndney and Melbourne.

 

During World War II, Monterey served as a fast troop carrier, often operating alone so she wouldn't be slowed by formation navigation in a convoy. In 1941, before U.S. declaration of war, the United States Marine Corps chartered her to carry 150 Chinese, Korean and Japanese missionaries and stranded U.S. citizens from China to San Francisco. Back in the City by the Bay, she was quickly refitted to hold 3,500 troops. On 16 December 1941 she steamed to Hawaii with 3,349 fresh troops, returning with 800 casualties of the Japanese atack on Pearl Harbor.

 

On 22 August 1942, she was briefly acquired by the United States Navy and assigned the name/designation USS Alameda (AP-68). However, she was returned to the WAr Shipping Administration on 25 September 1942 so never served under that name. Her war-time service would see her travel to the South Pacific and Australia, via the Panama Canal and Key West to Scotland (Glasgow), England (Liverpool), North Africa (Casablanca and Oran), Italy (On the way to Naples off the coast of Algeria, she and her convoy were attacked by German bombers) and even one trip to Brasil.

 

After the war, on 26 September 1946 Monterey arrived at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard in Alameda, CA for refitting and return to passenger service with Matson. However, funding for the project ran out after only 30% of the work had been completed so for five years she sat idle in Alameda. She was then purchased by the U.S. Government in August 1952 and towed to the mothball fleet in nearby Suisun Bay.

 

Meanwhile, her former owners, Matson Line, were enjoying fair post-war success with Lurline and were looking to expand their passenger operation once more. Matson bought the old mothballed s Monterey back from the US Government on 3 February 1956 and, since they had named another vessel Monterry by then, had to come up with a new name for their first Monterey. They therefor rechristened her ss Matsonia, replacing their earlier Matsonia which had been sold to Home Lines. On 22 May 1957, Matsonia teamed up with her sister Lurline on the San Francisco-Los Angeles-Honolulu run providing a 'first class only' service between Hawaii and the American mainland.

 

Within five years however, profits from passenger service had fallen to the point where Matson decided to anchor Matsonia indefinitely in San Francisco Bay. Sister ship Lurline continued to operate but suffered a major turbine problem in February, 1963; one that would require costly repairs. Instead of repairing Lurline, Matson sold the popular ship to Greek-based Chandris Lines who rechristened her Ellinis. Stung from poor public opinion regarding that sale, Matson rechristened the former Matsonia (ex-Monterey) as the new Lurline on 6 December 1963 and returned her to service.

 

By 1970, passenger receipts were down so low that Matson chose to cease liner service altogether. On 25 June 1970, Lurline arrived in San Francisco also to be sold to Chandris Lines. Five days later she steamed under new ownership out of the Golden Gate on her way to Piraeus with the new name Britanis.

 

At Piraeus, she was greatly modified to hold 1,655 passengers, mainly by subdividing existing cabins and converting cargo holds to new cabin areas. She re-entered service on 21 February 1971, leaving Southampton, England bound for Sydney and back; a regular roundtrip she would make for three years. In 1974 she saw service as a cruise ship in the Caribbean during winter and in Europe during the summer. After another lay-up time in 1980, Britanis cruised between New York and Bermuda in May 1982 with a smaller capacity of 1,200 passengers. In the 1983-1984 winter season, she sailed from Miami to the Caribbean, switching back to New York in the summer of 1984.

 

She received a major overhaul in 1986 which included parts from her sister Ellinis (ex-Lurline), some of which had gone to Ellinis from Homeric (ex-Mariposa) when Homeric was scrapped in 1974. At this point, parts from three sister ships were now bound together in Britanis. This refit gave Britanis eight years of Caribbean cruising until 19 November 1994.

 

 

In 1994, Britanis was chartered by the U.S. Government for use as a floating barracks/accomodation ship for military personnel at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She suffered minor damage from an electrical fire and was repaired, at U.S. Government expense, and then laid up at Tampa, Fl in late 1996.

 

During that time, her owners, Chandris, opted to sell Britanis as part of a plan to cease cruise line operation. The ship was maintained in anchorage until 24 January 1998 when she was sold to AG Belofin Investments of Liechtenstein and renamed Belofin-1. Her new owners intended to recoup their investment by selling the ship to scrappers, but a downturn in steel prices held them up for more than a year. On 3 July 2000, Belofin-1 was towed by the Ukrainian ocean-going tug Irbis out of Tampa Bay with the CN Marine ferry Bluenose lashed to her port side. The group was bound for the ship breakers at Alang, India. Belofin-1 began taking on water and listing during the voyage but nobody was on board to right the list. The tugboat crew cut her free and Belofin-1 capsized and sank due to progressive flooding some fifty miles off Cape Town, South Africa on 21 October 2000, ending an illustrious 68-year career.

 

 

 

You're welcome, any time. It is too bad that though you have been on many cruises you did miss traveling at least once on an Italian Line ship. I do feel privileged to have done so.

Happy cruising!

NYCruzr

Well, I was quite young at the time and don't know many details of what he did, but just to avoid a misunderstanding, he did not work on the ship. He worked at the Italian Line offices in Manhattan.

Natually, he managed a staff that was responsible for bookings and such. I do believe that one of his biggest responsibilities (if not THE biggest) was deciding how much to oversell the ship by. Apparently, that was a normal practice because there were always a certain number of cancellations expected and they wanted as many cabins sold as possible.

Hope that answered your question.

NYCruzr

I not only had the good fortune of having sailed on the Michelangelo, Rafaello, Leonardo da Vinci, Cristofero Colombo and Guglielmo Marconi, but my father worked for the Italian Line as Manager of First Class. Therefore, we traveled in First Class for free. Though I was young (sailed from ages 5-11) I have fantastic memories of traveling with the likes of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Dustin Hoffman, Alfred Hichcock to name a few.

When one of the ships was in port in New York, my father would often bring my sister and I to the ship since he had to work. We would walk the ship for a couple of hours and then meet up with my father to have lunch, served by the ship.

I remember how sorry I was to hear that those ships were being removed from service and really upset to learn that the Michelangelo and Rafaello were sold to Iran. What a gross error in judgment by the Italian government. Then at an Italian Line reunion attended by my family years later, I learned the fate of my two favorite ships. One scrapped and the other sunk by Iraqi bombing. What a tragic and undeserved end for two beautiful vessels. Regardless, they will always be a source of great and vivid memories for me and my brother and sister.

Happy sailings!

NYCruzr

When I was 17 years old, I was aboard the S/S Marconi for what had to be one of the worst movies ever made on a ship or anywhere else. It was fun to meet some of the somewhat obscure celebrities on board (Joann Worley, Rip Taylor and a couple of others I don't recall), watch the scenes being shot and we even hung out with a Telly Savalas look-alike. We went to a beach together and people were approaching him from all over asking for autographs. It was a riot.

Anyway, about two years later we got to see the movie, named "Don't Miss the Boat" being broadcast on a cable TV station. It was incredible how poor it was in every respect. Regardless, it fun to see some of the people we had met on the ship.

I have wondered where one could get a copy of that movie just for fun. If anyone has any ideas, please feel free to let me know.

NYCruzr

Hello,

I did not sail on the Galileo, but I sailed on her sister ship, the Guglielmo Marconi in 1979. I was amazing when I think back to that time because I was 17 years old and traveled with a friend of mine from school. Just us without parents of guardians of any kind. What a great time we had.

Sorry to hear about your birth certificate. Have you tried contacting the Italian Consulate's office? They may be able to give you some information of an office to contact in Italy. There must be a copy somewhere of the certificate issued on the ship since I believe you would have been considered having been born on Italian soil. Were you considered an Italian citizen?

Unfortunately, I don't have cruise plans at the moment, but do hope to have them in the near future.

Take care

Angelo