Great liners of the 1960s...

Lloyd Triestino's magnificent liner GUGLIELMO MARCONI photographed arriving in Cape Town early in the morning, see a coal burning tug "smoking" on starboard. Built in 1960-1960 for the Europe to Australia service, the MARCONI used the Suez but had to divert to the Cape route after 1967 due to the Suez waterway closure. This hadded extra weeks on the liner voyages East and in the end led to an earlier demise for many ships. MARCONI had a final stint of liner service in the Brazil and River Plate service from January 1976 until June 1977 and laiter was rebuilt as the COSTA RIVIERA, but her original good looks were sploiled by then.

The MARCONI, her sister GALILEO and the sisters MICHELANGELO and RAFAELLO had their keels laid in the same day - 8 September 1960, and were some of the best passenger ships of the 20th century, but some say they were built too late and survived only thanks to the Italian tax payers until the 1970s. In fact they were constructed mostly to keep Italian yards in Genova and Trieste busy and give employment to Italian seafarers... Anyway it was a nice form of public spending, we still talk on those ships and the Italian maritime perfection.

Bill Miller says that some of the best passenger ships built in the 1960s were Italian:
"The ITALIAN SENSATION - The GUGLIELMO MARCONI (and her twin sister, GALILEO GALILEI), commissioned in 1963, was one of the great Italian liner "sensations" of the early '60s. It was a hugely significant era, begun with the very beautiful LEONARDO DA VINCI and concluding, in 1965-66, with the likes of the MICHELANGELO, RAFFAELLO, OCEANIC & EUGENIO"C"."

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. 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

Liners to Australia

GALILEO and MARCONI: Lloyd Triestino 1963 twins

"The Galileo & Marconi were the ultimate Italian liners on the Aussie run," according to Sydney-based Keith Hickey. "I had my first meal aboard in the early '60s. Italian food was then still very exotic in Australia. I had spaghetti as a starter. I remember it being hard to eat. I had to be very neat and very exact. I also remember that the menu was in Italian and in English. These ships had lots of outdoor decks with great pools. They were better than any of the other Italian rebuilds, which were second in popularity. Chandris was popular as well, but in third place. For Australians, it was noted to go to Europe in tourist class on Lloyd Triestino, but return home in first class and avoid the Italian, Greek and other Mediterranean migrants."

The NORTHERN STAR and the SOUTHERN CROSS

"The Southern Cross was the great fore-runner of modern design in big liners. She had her funnel placed far aft and that allowed for open mid ship passenger space. Engines aft was the future," remembered Keith Hickey, an Australian ocean liner enthusiast. "The Southern Cross was already big news when she was launched at Belfast in 1954. The Queen especially went there, flying over from Scotland, for the naming. Every detail was typically planned, as I remember. But there was too much low cloud and the royal flight was delayed. The launching was set for an exact time. Everything had to go as planned. But then everyone was worried about the Queen. In the end, the Queen and her entourage arrived just 15 minutes before the launching. It all went as planned. It was, in fact, the first ship launched by the Queen as Queen."

"The Southern Cross was novel for her time -- she was all-tourist class. Passengers in a single cabin were the same as those in a 6-berth. She was well ahead of her time. She even looked very modern, very contemporary. She had a light violet hull and green upper works at first. She actually looked bright, even tropical. She carried no cargo whatsoever and was a first even for that. She was the very best ship of her time for migrants and low-fare roundtrippers." She went on to several other lives. in 1973, she was sold by Britain's Shaw Savill Line to be rebuilt as the Greek cruise ship Calypso for the shortlived Ulysses Line. In 1980, she joined Western Cruise Lines and became the Azure Seas. In 1992, she changed again and for the last time to Ocean Breeze, continuing to operate for owners such as Admiral Cruises, Dolphin Cruise Lines and finally Imperial Majesty Cruise Line. She had a good, long life -- lasting 48 years until sold to scrappers in Bangladesh and then being broken-up in remote Chittagong in the fall of 2003. Yesterday's photo showed that 20,200-ton liner berthed at San Pedro, in the Port of Los Angeles, as the Azure Seas. I did a 4-night trip on her to Mexico in February 1990.

"At the Shaw Savill Line, the Northern Star of 1962 was a larger, slightly improved version of the Southern Cross of 1955. The Northern Star actually replaced the Dominion Monarch, an old veteran that dated from 1939. TheNorthern Star was named at her launch by the Queen Mother and had lots of publicity in her maiden year. But she was always a tender ship, however. She had mechanical difficulties from the start as well. It was even rumored that she was almost lost during her sea trials in the North Sea. From the beginning, she never had the popularity of the Southern Cross. She may have been bigger and an improvement in ways, but the Northern Star never had the right feel."

The 24,733-ton Northern Star was never a lucky ship -- she had constant mechanical problems, breakdowns, cancelled cruises, bad press and seemingly a continuously unhappy crew. Consequently, she had one of the shortest careers in all ocean liner history -- she lasted only 13 years! In November 1975, she was prematurely delivered to scrappers on Taiwan. No one it seemed wanted her. In early 1976, she was demolished. She is seen in the attached photo in March 1972 at Melbourne.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright Bill Miller. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. 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

NEW YORK's ships by Bill Miller

Along the great piers of New York City, I was always fascinated by the pairings of liners -- which ships were berthed together. It was, in ways, like a great, big game of Checkers. In this view, from 1984, the Royal Viking Star is docked at the same pier as the Galileo.

The Lives of the Liners: Pier 56 at West 14th Street had been built in 1907 & hosted the world's biggest and grandest liners ... the likes of the Mauretania, Aquitania & Majestic. There were midnight sailings, festive bon voyage parties, champagne & dancing, a smartly dressed Rudolph Valentino & Gloria Swanson swathed in furs ... and those tossed streamers & throaty whistles sounding. But time passed and, by the 1960s, Pier 56 was unused, locked-up, left to decay. Only the faint sounds of those Boat Deck orchestras echoed ... and of happy passengers and well-wishers on the pier. 

When I took this photo in March 1977, that decay had deepened --- a great cavity in a mouth of gold fillings that is otherwise gorgeous Manhattan. It was not until 1993 that the 900-ft long shed was finally demolished.

When they were at berth, especially along Luxury Liner Row, Piers 84 thru 97, the liners were, and almost like the Empire State & Chrysler buildings, part of the cityscape. They too in ways were great structures. Here's the mighty France, loading at Pier 88, in a view from 1968.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright Bill Miller. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. 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

Cais de Alcântara, 3 de Junho de 1975

Paquete ROYAL VIKING STAR em manobra de atracação ao Cais de Alcântara no dia 3 de Junho de 1975. Pela popa vê-se o GALILEO GALILEI, do Lloyd Triestino, e entre os dois navios, a pilotar no Bom Sucesso, o QUEEN ELIZABETH 2, que depois foi atracar ao Cais da Rocha.
O Cais de Alcântara apresentava ainda a sua configuração original, com diversos armazens de carga junto ao Entreposto de Alcântara Sul e para juzante, a Estação Marítima de Alcântara junto à muralha. Na década seguinte, com a reconstrução do cais entre a Rocha e Alcântara esta paisagem mudou substancialmente e conquistou-se ao Tejo mais um terrapleno que depois deu origem ao terminal de contentores da Liscont.

The Norwegian cruise ship ROYALVIKING STAR docking at the Alcântara Passenger Ship Terminal, in Lisbon, on 3rd June 1975. Already fast at her berth is the Lloyd Triestino liner GALILEO GALILEI on one of her final round the world voyages and between them the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 is sailing past the Bom Sucesso Pilots and later berthed at the Rocha Passenger Terminal. One of my early b&W photographs taken 33 years ago... Of the three ships in the picture, the GALILEO is long gone, the ROYAL VIKING STAR still cruises as the BLACK WATCH and the QE2 is doing her final world cruise prior to her sale to Dubai with delivery next November. Click in the photo to enlarge it.
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

LISBON LINERS AUGUST 1971

The Italian liners EUGENIO C and GALILEO GALILEI in Lisbon in the early seventies

The 43 ships listed below made 81 calls to Lisbon in August 1971, 35 years ago. Many of the calls were cruises, but there were still many ships operating liner voyages to South America or África, and there were also the Portuguese troopers.

ALFREDO DA SILVA, AMÉLIA DE MELLO, ANCERVILLE, ANGOLA, ANGRA DO HEROISMO, ARGENTINA STAR, ARGONAUT, AUGUSTUS, BRASIL STAR, CABO SAN ROQUE, CANBERRA, CHUSAN, CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, EAGLE, ELLINIS, EUGENIO C, FAIRSKY, FEDERICO C, FUNCHAL, GALILEO GALILEI, GIULIO CESARE, INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE, LEONARDO DA VINCI, MANUEL ALFREDO, MICHELANGELO, MOÇAMBIQUE, MONTSERRAT, NEVASA, NILI, NORTHERN STAR, ORCADES, ORIANA, PASTEUR, PÁTRIA, PRINCIPE PERFEITO, REINA DEL MAR, RITA MARIA, SANTA MARIA, SOUTHERN CROSS, UGANDA, UIGE, URUGUAY STAR, VERA CRUZ.

Looking at the EUGENIO C at the time, she docked in Lisbon 3 times: on 1st August, (18h00 to 24h00) from Genoa to Rio de Janeiro, by 21st August she was back (12h00 /22h00) on her way to the Med, only to return to Lisbon once more on 27th August (18h00 / 24h00) for another fast crossing to Rio.

Concerning the Portuguese ships, the PRINCIPE PERFEITO arrived on 14th August from her classic August cruise to the Med, while the AMÉLIA DE MELLO completed her final voyage from Angola and Cape Verde. Words and copyright photos by L. M. Correia - 2006