Regina Magna

[ladycaveat]

In 1974, I took my first cruise on the Regina Magna, a ship owned by, I think it was the Chandris Line. I was told she used to be called the Normandy . . . know that everything was written in German and she was used during World War II. Beautiful old ship which I remember fondly. I heard she sank somewhere off the coast of China. Does anyone know anything about her?

[CMHF]

Here's the link

 

http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/ChandrisRMagna.html

 

 

It sank in 1980 on the way to the breakers. It looked pretty modern considering is was built in 1939.

Harvey

[dougnewmanatsea]

It looked pretty modern considering is was built in 1939.

The ship was very, very heavily rebuilt in 1958-1959 before she entered service as BREMEN. As PASTEUR she was a typical late '30s French liner.

 

Her problem was that her original steam engines were not replaced in the BREMEN conversion, and she proved unreliable mechanically - what was basically a new ship was already 20 years old mechanically when she entered service for Norddeutscher Lloyd in 1959. This is why Hapag-Lloyd (who inherted her when they were formed in 1970 by the merger of Hapag and Norddeutscher Lloyd) retired her prematurely, and why Chandris had her in active service for only three years.

 

More photos of this ship can be seen here (site in German); if you click on "Der Untergang" at the bottom of the page you can see photos of her sinking in 1980.

 

She was never directly replaced by Hapag-Lloyd as when she was retired in 1971, they closed out their liner services and concentrated on cruises, which was handled by their other ship, EUROPA.

 

The name BREMEN is carried on by an expedition cruise ship, built in 1990 as FRONTIER SPIRIT and with Hapag-Lloyd since 1993 (Hapag-Lloyd were also part-owners of Frontier Cruises, her original operators). She is scheduled to be renamed DISCOVERER in 2005 as she will be chartered to US tour operator Expedition Leaders, so there will once again be no Hapag-Lloyd ship named BREMEN. The present vessel is the sixth BREMEN, the former PASTEUR was number five. You can read about the present BREMEN from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' official site here.

[ladycaveat]

Oh my goodness . . . thank you so much for the info. So it was Bremen not Normandy? What an exciting history she had. Maybe it was because it was my first cruise or maybe it because she was soooo big . . . whatever, I treasure the memories and pictures I have of the Regina Magna.

[dougnewmanatsea]

Oh my goodness . . . thank you so much for the info. So it was Bremen not Normandy?

Originally, she was PASTEUR - French, and built around the same time as NORMANDIE which was the ill-fated flagship of the French Line, considered by many to be the greatest ocean liner of all time (see here for a primer on NORMANDIE). PASTEUR was of the same nationality and vintage, but was much smaller and built for the less prestigious South Atlantic route.

 

So NORMANDIE is not that far off, but she was PASTEUR and then BREMEN before becoming REGINA MAGNA, not NORMANDIE.

[Byronmac]

I sailed on this ship in March of 1973, 7 days, out of Curacao. The cost was $379 including airfare from Toronto! Inside cabin, washbasin, shared toilet!

Puerto Rico, Guadelope, Barbados, Caracas, Curacao.

 

 

 

 

In 1974, I took my first cruise on the Regina Magna, a ship owned by, I think it was the Chandris Line. I was told she used to be called the Normandy . . . know that everything was written in German and she was used during World War II. Beautiful old ship which I remember fondly. I heard she sank somewhere off the coast of China. Does anyone know anything about her?

[ladycaveat]

What a great ship she was . . . loved trying to read everything in German. She was my first ship and will be going on one of Carnival's (Triumph) in April. For whatever reason . . . after six other cruises . . . it's just not going to be the same. What can I say . . . one's "first" is the one that will forever be remembered as being the best . . .