36 years ago...

It was exactly 36 years ago, on 11th February 1975: I got a 35 mm Olympus camera, a 100 ASA B&W film and went to the docks to start photographing shipping in Lisbon. Although my very first negatives and original prints date back to July 1970, the quality of this early atempt was limited due to a poor camera  performance.

The year of 1975 when I did start it all was a time of change in shipping, a revolution was underway in Portugal, our passenger ship fleet was bein sold out and most foreign passenger ships were also going busted  at a time people believed the last great liner ever was QE2...

Thirty six years later, we have more ships than ever to sail on and photograph..., and I'm still busy with my Nikon cameras and lenses...

The photos of INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE at her CCN berth in Lisbon in the summer of 1975 and of FRANCA C arriving also in 1975 were some of my very first images of ships. Enjoy...

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

FRANCA C EM LISBOA EM 1975

Amanhã dia 19 de Julho de 2006, passa em Lisboa no cruzeiro inaugural o novo paquete de cruzeiros italiano COSTA CONCORDIA, de 112.000 toneladas. Motivo para recordar aqui o primeiro navio de cruzeiros da Costa, o velhinho FRANCA C, de que apresentamos duas fotografias obtidas em Lisboa em 1975, numa das últimas viagens transatlânticas do navio.

Construído em 1914 nos EUA com o nome MEDINA, passou a chamar-se ROMA em 1948 quando foi transformado em transporte de emigrantes. Comprado pela Costa em 1952, foi utilizado na linhas transatlânticas do Mediterrâneo para a América do Sul e Central com o nome FRANCA C, até 1959, quando foi modernizado para cruzeiros, actividade em que foi pioneiro. Vendido pela Costa em 1977 passou a chamar-se DOULOS após transformação em navio-biblioteca pela Operation Mobilization, uma entidade missionária que desde então opera este paquete com uma tripulação de voluntários cristãos. É actualmente o mais antigo navio de passageiros em actividade.

Texto e fotos de Luís Miguel Correia - 2006

THE FRANCA C IN LISBON IN 1975

The new 112.000 GT flagship of Costa Cruises, the COSTA CONCORDIA makes her first visit to Lisbon tomorrow, 19-07-2006 on her inaugural cruise. So it is fit to remember here Costa's first cruise ship, the old FRANCA C, with two photographs taken in Lisbon in 1975 when the ship was doing her final Atlantic crossings.
Built in 1914 in the USA as the MEDINA, she became the emigrant carrier ROMA in 1948 and was purchased by Costa in 1952, operating at first on the Mediterranean to South and Central Americas as the FRANCA C. In 1959 she was refitted for cruising and became the first full time cruise ship in the Costa fleet. Sold in 1977 she became the DOULOS following conversion into a floating bookshop and missionary ship by Operation Mobilization, a missionary organization that still uses what is now the oldest active passenger ship in the world.

Text and photos by Luís Miguel Correia - 2006