WORLD SHIP SOCIETY

All WSS Events prior to 2016

Saturday, December 5, 2015 – 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

2015 PONY BRANCH HOLIDAY PARTY

The Winebar, 65 Second Avenue, Manhattan

On Saturday December 5, 2015, a sell-out crowd of 50 members and guests enjoyed food, drinks and the camaraderie of fellow ship enthusiasts at the annual PONY Branch Holiday Party, this year celebrated at The Winebar in Manhattan’s East Village. Entertainment included three vintage videos — a voyage from Southampton to Cape Town aboard the RMS TRANSVAAL CASTLE of the Union-Castle Line; “The World at Three,” a voyage around the world on the P&O-Orient Lines fleet; and a round trip voyage from Southampton to New York on the incomparable S.S. FRANCE.

Friday, November 20, 2015 – 6:00 PM

THE ROUTE OF THE ROCKET

presented by Tom Rinaldi

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

On Friday, November 20, 2015, WSS-PONY Branch member Tom Rinaldi presented photographs and impressions from his journey along the “Route of the Rocket.” The Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta of Bangladesh is home to what may be the last traditional sidewheel riverboats still in regular commercial service anywhere on Earth. Here where waterborne transport is still a necessary fact of life, a fleet of four ancient Scottish-built paddlewheelers continues to function as a vital part of the region’s transportation infrastructure. Known as the “Rocket boats,” some of these vessels have been in service for nearly 90 years. Though converted from steam to diesel propulsion in the 1990s, these relics of the British Raj have changed little over the years, leaving them to provide an incredible window into a time when such riverboats were common all over the world.

Saturday, October 24, 2015 – 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM

WSS-PONY BRANCH 50th ANNIVERSARY LUNCHEON

One hundred PONY Branch members and guests celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the World Ship Society – Port of New York Branch at Pier A Harbor House located at The Battery in Lower Manhattan. Now a dining and event venue, Pier A was originally built in 1886 as the headquarters for the Department of Docks and the Police Department’s Harbor Patrol. Festivities included a three-course luncheon followed by presentations on how New York’s waterfront has changed since 1965 by former PONY Branch Chairman Ted Scull, and on the history of the PONY Branch by “Mr. Ocean Liner” Bill Miller. As a founding member of the PONY Branch, Bill was also given the honor of blowing out the candles on the 50th Anniversary cake.

OCEAN LINER BAZAAR

Saturday, October 3, 2015 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

417 East 61st Street, New York City (between First and York Avenues)

Approximately 50 attendees braved threatening skies to attend this year’s Ocean Liner Bazaar which featured 16 enthusiastic collectors and dealers of ocean liner memorabilia who exhibited ship models, paintings, prints, posters, brochures, deck plans, china, silverware, ashtrays, pins, medallions and other items both popular and rare from passenger shipping lines past and present.

October 10-17, 2015

7-NIGHT, ROUND-TRIP

NEW YORK SAILING TO NEW ENGLAND

AND CANADA ABOARD REGAL PRINCESS

Seventeen PONY Branch members and friends sailed from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal aboard Princess Cruises’ newest and largest ship, REGAL PRINCESS, on a cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Bar Harbor, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; and Newport, Rhode Island.

Friday, September 25, 2015 – 6:00 PM

CELEBRATING 175 YEARS OF CUNARD
presented by Bill Miller
Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Cunard is perhaps the most famous name in passenger shipping. It conjures up images and recollections of the great luxury liners, lavish shipboard interiors, celebrities onboard, and even soldiers during wartime. Cunard has owned some of the greatest and grandest liners of all time — the Mauretania, Lusitania, Aquitania, the six Queens of course, and many more. And no company has more distinctions and notations – from the very first world cruise to the first ship’s newspaper. “Getting There Is Half the Fun” superbly symbolized Cunard’s hugely popular trans-Atlantic service.

This year, Cunard celebrated its 175th anniversary. The events, festivities and celebrations included the three current Queens meeting in Liverpool, Cunard’s spiritual home, in May. Bill Miller – longtime Branch member, author of over 90 books and well known as Mr. Ocean Liner – was there for all of the festivities. He entertained PONY Branch members and guests with a lively presentation on the colorful history of Cunard, and shared spectacular photos of the 175th Anniversary celebrations at Liverpool.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

PONY Branch Luncheon on the SEA PRINCESS

Manhattan Cruise Terminal

Friday, June 26, 2015 – 6:00 PM

THE LAST SHIPS OF STATE:

THE PASSENGER SHIPS OF THE SOVIET UNION

presented by Doug Newman

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Often ignored by or unknown to Western ship enthusiasts, the Soviet Union once possessed one of the largest and most varied fleets of passenger ships ever assembled. At its peak in the 1970s and 1980s, the Soviet passenger fleet included everything from pre-World War II German ocean liners, damaged in the war and salvaged, to cruise ships and passenger-car ferries as modern as any in the world. Their purposes were just as varied, but all were literal ships of state, each in its own way serving the Soviet state and only it, even after Western governments had abandoned their support for passenger shipping. Each proudly wore on its funnel a version of the Soviet flag, a golden hammer and sickle on a red band; and those that left home waters carried this symbol into ports around the world, including New York. They were truly the last ships of state.

PONY Branch board member Doug Newman presented the story of the passenger ships of the Soviet Union in all their diversity, covering both those familiar in the West and those that never ventured beyond the Iron Curtain, along with the variety of international and domestic routes they plied and the ways in which they served the Soviet state. He illustrated his talk with both original, unpublished photos and selections from the publicity materials produced about the ships over the decades. Doug concluded with a brief overview of the fates of the ships and the Soviet shipping companies after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Friday, May 29, 2015 – 6:00 PM

PERSONAL SHIP TRAVEL RETROSPECTIVE

presented by Paul Klee

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Boat deck of the S.S. France

Photo by Paul Klee

Paul Klee has had a lifelong passion for ships since he first sailed on the French Line’s LIBERTE as a young boy. Whether on classic Atlantic liners or utilitarian sea ferries, Swiss lake paddle steamers or a Polish container vessel carrying his own car, Paul’s fascination with ships as transportation, rather than as cruise vessels, has never diminished.

For more than 50 years Paul has chronicled his passion in slides and digital photos, many of which he shared with PONY Branch members and guests during a wide-ranging and entertaining program that took a nostalgic look back at maritime travel with a purpose.

Friday, April 24, 2015 – 6:00 PM

THE LUSITANIA DISASTER:

A Look at the Ship and Her People One Hundred Years Later

presented by Jim Kalafus

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Bob Allen collection

2015 marks the centennial of one of history’s most infamous and controversial maritime disasters, the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by the German U-boat U-20 on May 7, 1915. The Lusitania disaster has been a goldmine for historians. Adult survivors composed a large number of long letters home between May 8 and May 9, 1915. What they said then and what they said later were often polar opposites.

Historian and researcher Jim Kalafus, a recognized expert on the Lusitania and other ship disasters, had the pleasure of meeting or speaking with some of the last remaining survivors. Their friendship and support motivated Jim and his colleagues to reach out to families of the survivors and document their stories. Jim presented a fascinating program examining some of the key components of the Lusitania legend as told by survivors in their earliest, least embellished accounts.

Friday, March 27, 2015 – 6:00 PM

CRUISING MIAMI STYLE

The Birth of the Modern Cruise Industry and the Ships That Led the Way

presented by Allan E. Jordan

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Photo by Tim Dacey

In December 1964, an Israeli ferry named Bilu arrived in the Port of Miami, then served largely by elderly coastal steamers pressed into service as low-budget cruise ships. The 6,445-gross-ton, 525-passenger Bilu was unassuming little ship, but her arrival in Miami marked the beginning of a revolution. Soon Miami-based entrepreneurs, including Knut Kloster and Ted Arison, were building a new generation of purpose-built cruise ships; and Miami was on its way to becoming the center of a multi-billion-dollar, worldwide vacation industry.

Historian Allan E. Jordan traced the history of cruising in Miami from the port’s earliest cruises to the events of the mid-1960s that led to the birth of the modern cruise industry. He explored how obscure ships including Bilu, Nili and Princesa Leopoldina led the way for better-known ones such as Sunward, Starward, Boheme, Song of Norway, Mardi Gras and Emerald Seas.

Allan is the author of numerous articles on the past and future of cruising for publications including Cruise Travel magazine, and of two books: Saluting the Aloha Spirit, which recalls the history of American Hawaii Cruises and the sister ships Independence and Constitution, and a 40th-anniversary history of Norwegian Cruise Line. He has also appeared as a guest lecturer on cruise lines such as Royal Viking, Crystal, Oceania and Princess.

Sunday March 1, 2015

LUNCHEON ON THE NORWEGIAN BREAKAWAY

(Co-sponsored by the Propeller Club of NY & NJ)

Manhattan Cruise Terminal

Friday February 27, 2015 – 6:00 PM

SS UNITED STATES: AMERICAN-MADE EXCELLENCE

Presented by John Maxtone-Graham

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

There is no ocean liner that defines American excellence more than S.S. United States. At the peak of the Cold War, she was a weapon wrapped in crisp white linen; one of the finest liners on the North Atlantic, and a speed demon designed to outrun Soviet torpedoes as a troopship. She didn’t just steal the speed record from Queen Mary on her maiden voyage in July 1952; she shattered it. Never again would a passenger ship surpass her Blue Riband achievement on a revenue voyage.

The pride of the American Merchant Marine has had a rough life since her blazing speed was surpassed by the blistering speed of the Boeing 707, however. Retired suddenly in 1969 due to severe revenue losses, she has since gone from layup to layup; stripped of her fixtures and fittings in Newport News, stripped of her bulkheads in Ukraine, and stripped of her dignity rusting away at the pierside in Philadelphia. Yet just when it seems that it’s over for the “Big U,” she always seems to find a new salvation — a salvation that the S.S. United States Conservancy is now hard at work to make permanent in a mixed-use static role.

John Maxtone-Graham, author of the “Ocean Liner Bible” The Only Way to Cross, among other definitive works, spoke to 110 members and guests of the World Ship Society — Port of New York Branch about his latest work, a magnum opus tribute to the “Big U” in the style of his previous books Normandie and France/Norway. A lavish volume as packed with detailed information as it is luscious images, SS United States is the fruit of several years of intense research by Maxtone-Graham. Copies of the book were available for purchase at the meeting, and there was a book signing after the program.

Friday January 30, 2015 – 6:00 PM

THE WAY WE WERE: PASSENGER SHIPPING IN 1965

Presented by Greg Fitzgerald

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Photos by Ted Scull

Fifty years ago, the World Ship Society – Port of New York Branch was formed onboard Norwegian America Line’s Sagafjord. To commemorate the inception of the Branch, new Program Chair Greg Fitzgerald presented a retrospective on the state of passenger shipping in 1965.

A year on the cusp of major change in the passenger shipping industry, 1965 heralded a transition to a reduced calendar of year-round trans-Atlantic services and the beginnings of a mix of winter pleasure cruises and summer crossings. Summers would still be full of packed ships on the North Atlantic, with legendary liners such as the original Cunard Queens and the mighty S.S. United States plying the seas. These ships were nearing the end of their economic viability, however, and were pressed into warm-weather cruise service in the winter as low demand for rough-weather Atlantic crossings made that service unsustainable.

Meanwhile, newer North Atlantic tonnage, such as Rotterdam and France, thrived, and some of the last dedicated liners, such as the Italian beauties Michelangelo and Raffaello began their relatively short lives. The Soviet Union would launch the Aleksandr Pushkin, which celebrates its fiftieth anniversary in 2015 as a rare survivor of the time. At the same time, the keel for what would be the last ocean liner of the golden age, Queen Elizabeth 2, was laid down in July 1965.

It was also a time of tragedy. The disastrous burning and sinking of the Yarmouth Castle would change ship design in years to come and usher fire-safety mandates that sent many classic ships to the scrapyard.

Greg’s program included a nostalgic look back at the state of the shipping industry when the PONY branch was established in 1965, along with a look at what later became of many of the notable ships of that year.

Saturday December 13, 2014

PONY BRANCH HOLIDAY PARTY

12:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Piccolo Fiore Restaurant

230 East 44th Street, Manhattan

Sixty-one members and guests enjoyed a delicious 3-course Italian lunch and a color film presentation on the magnificent French liner NORMANDIE at the annual PONY Branch Holiday Party at Piccolo Fiore restaurant in East Midtown, Manhattan. Entitled Deco: Age of Glamour, the 57-minute film was produced in 1999 by the BBC for the Victoria and Albert Museum, and features the only color footage of the remarkable ship. The footage was filmed as a test during a westbound crossing in August, 1939 that would be her final sailing before being laid up in New York prior to the outbreak of World War II. The film presentation was introduced by PONY Branch member and noted maritime author Bill Miller.

Friday November 21, 2014 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE SHIPS

Chosen by PONY Branch Members

Five PONY Branch members shared with us their favorite ships drawn from whatever criteria they wished to pursue. Presenters included Doug Newman (who also acted as emcee), Tom Rinaldi, Bob Allen, Stuart Gewitzman, and Paul Immerman.

One contributor said that in selecting his favorite ships of those he’d sailed on, he found that they shared some similar characteristics, looking and feeling like ships, having promenades and ample deck spaces so one is never far removed from the ocean. Another approached with ten favorites, one per decade of the 20th Century and a runner up. They were significant due to their design and/or impact on ocean liner and cruise ship history. A third’s favorite ships ranged from classic liners to modern cruise ships, and ships that were somewhere in between. He’d chosen them for reasons ranging from decor to on-board atmosphere. A fourth was characteristically vague as he said the choices would be a little bit here, a little bit there, ships I’ve seen and ships I wished I’d seen. The show ended with a sing-along of “Ocean Liner Song” based on Cole Porter’s “You are the Top” but with original lyrics by Ellen Meshnick Immerman.

AN HISTORIC HOBOKEN AFTERNOON TOUR

Saturday, November 1, 2014 – 2PM to 5PM

PONY Branch Chairman Ted Scull and Bob Foster, Director of the Hoboken Historical Museum, led a guided tour of the museum’s new exhibit: Hoboken, Ellis Island and the Immigrant Experience, 1892-1924. En route to the museum, participants toured the restored 1907 DL&W ferry and railroad terminal, and walked along Hoboken’s redeveloped waterfront and through the campus of Stevens Institute.

Royal Princess Luncheon: Saturday Oct 25, 2014 – 10:30 AM

Brooklyn Cruise Terminal

Friday October 24, 2014 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

THE FABULOUS NORMANDIE by Bill Miller

She was “floating Ginger Rogers” … pure Art Deco on the high seas … top heavy with glamour and said to be the finest Atlantic liner ever … she was triumph, innovation, notation, but also the victim of a far too short life at sea.

Commissioned in 1935 as the biggest, longest, fastest and certainly best fed liner on all the high seas, the extraordinary Normandie sailed only for a little more than four years. Laid-up at New York’s Pier 88 in August 1939, the 83,000-tonner would never sail again. Intended to be one of the three largest Allied troopships serving in the Second World War, her conversion from luxury to military service spelled her end. She burned on February 9, 1942, then capsized, only to be salvaged, righted and sent off to the scrappers in 1946. The pride of the French Line was only eleven years old at the time.

Bill Miller has recently authored yet another book: Classic Liners: SS Normandie.

OCEAN LINER BAZAAR

Saturday, October 18, 2014 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

Abigail Adams Smith Auditorium

417 East 61st Street, New York City (between First and York Avenues)

A friendly gathering of enthusiastic collectors and dealers of ocean liner memorabilia exhibited ship models, paintings, prints, posters, brochures, deck plans, china, silverware, ashtrays, pins, medallions and other items both popular and rare from passenger shipping lines past and present. The celebratory occasion provided a chance for the more than 60 attendees to meet other ship enthusiasts with similar interests.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
RMS TITANIC: A Lesser Known Episode
and
RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH: 2 A First-Hand Accident Account By Richard Wagner

Alexis de Tocqueville, a nineteenth-century French historian, observed that everything in America eventually becomes a court case, and the TITANIC was no exception. Indeed, the TITANIC case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court where the decision was rendered by Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., a judge many consider to have been America’s finest legal mind and a man who also happened to have sailed on numerous Cunard liners in his spare time. Our speaker, Richard Wagner, presented the details of the suit, including the reason why the case made it all the way to the Supreme Court, Justice Holmes’ unexpected resolution of the legal issues, and the eventual outcome.

In the second part of his presentation, Richard Wagner provided an illustrated first-hand account of abandoning ship after the August 1992 collision between Cunard’s QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 and two underwater rock pillars off Martha’s Vineyard that resulted in a 74-foot-long gash in the ship’s hull. The passengers had to abandon ship and eleven voyages were canceled. Like the TITANIC disaster, this collision was the result of a pyramid of events involving such unrelated things as scheduling decisions in Bermuda, late returning shore excursions and flawed navigational charts.

Richard Wagner practiced law for 20 years. During that time, he wrote a series of articles for the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society on the life of Justice Holmes. Richard also sailed no less than 71 times on QE2 and has written extensively about that ship.
He studied journalism as an undergraduate at Cornell University (BS); studied law at Cambridge University; has a law degree from Pace University (JD) and an MBA from Iona College. He worked as a Senior Litigation Counsel for Verizon and served on the board of directors of the Navy League and was the editor of the Navy League Log.

He is currently editor of Beyondships, a website about cruise ships, ports and destinations as well as military ships and particularly the US Navy. In 2013, the site had over four million page views. http://www.beyondships.com/

Friday, June 27, 2014 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

THE SHIP OF SUPERLATIVES: LOOKING BACK A DECADE AT THE LAUNCH OF THE QUEEN MARY 2

organized by Greg Fitzgerald

January 8, 2004. HM Queen Elizabeth II smashes a jeroboam of Veuve Cliquot against the hull of the first express ocean liner built since 1969. The story of QUEEN MARY 2 begins.

Ten years ago, the QM2 was considered a ship of superlatives in every way. She beat every other liner and cruise ship in every dimension; length (1,132 feet, beating FRANCE by 97 feet), tonnage (148,528 GRT, 8,958 GRT more than the Voyager-class ships of Royal Caribbean), and cost ($780 million in 2003, which equals $983 million today). She was considered the new standard of seagoing luxury, and a major ad campaign leading up to her launch called “Can you wait?” showed office workers in evening gowns and mothers serving breakfast in cocktail dresses. The world was captivated by QM2 in a way that no ship had in decades.

Today, her size has been surpassed by several ships, but since the retirement of QUEEN ELIZABETH 2, she remains the only express ocean liner in service. She is still a magnificent ship, turning heads in every port and maintaining her status as the “Queen of the Seas.” But…have we become jaded by her magnificence after ten years as a staple of the Port of New York? Has familiarity made us forget just how incredible an achievement she was a decade ago?

We went back in time to 2003-2004, and revisited the emotion that surrounded QM2’s launch and first months. PONY members Ben Lyons, Susan Banker, Greg Fitzgerald, Tom Rinaldi and others recalled their participation in welcoming the brand-new ship. From a visit to the shipyard at Saint Nazaire, to her maiden voyage to Fort Lauderdale, to her maiden arrival in her second home of New York, we took ourselves back in time to that magical moment in maritime history — the launch of the next “last great liner.”

Friday, May 30, 2014 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

We Want You As A Passenger!

Steamship Lines Promote Their Ships and Services – Ted Scull

From the earliest days of ocean travel, steamship lines used all manner of promotions to fill their ships. In this PowerPoint presentation, Ted Scull, Chairman of the PONY Branch, looked back at some of the ways they were able to catch our eye using posters, paintings, print ads, illustrated brochures (often with detailed deck plans), post cards and ship models. Some of the art work was created by the best artists of the day, while some was done in-house to minimize expenses. Many of the outstanding posters and paintings represented popular styles of the period, and they often included a great deal of interesting information above and below the images, such as where the ships sail, tonnage figures (to impress) and booking office addresses.

Ted Scull has collected posters for the last 40 years and nearly a score grace the walls of the apartment that he shares with his understanding wife Suellyn. Ship models are also on display in the living room and foyers, and his collection also includes many hundreds of brochures and post cards. Drawing on this extensive personal collection and many other images gathered over the years, Ted presented a fond look at steamship promotional materials from the truly noteworthy to the mundane (at least in the eye of the speaker — others may disagree with the evaluations). Besides the well-known transatlantic steamship lines, the program included materials from Grace Line, Matson, Moore-McCormack, Orient Line, P&O, British India, Union-Castle, Messageries Maritimes, and others.

Friday, April 25, 2014 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

VALARIE D’ELIA – A REPORTER’S LIFETIME ASSOCIATION WITH SHIPS

Valarie D’Elia was born into a family travel business dating back to 1902, when her great-grandfather booked his friends and relatives from Italy to Ellis Island in steerage class on transatlantic ocean liners as part of the immigration wave. Four generations later, Valarie took her first cruise on Holland America’s 1938-built Nieuw Amsterdam when she could barely see over the banisters of the gangplank, and also sailed on the original Queen Mary to Nassau with her travel agency parents.

Valarie has parlayed her family background and its century’s worth of perspective into a career as a travel journalist. She began her broadcast career as a radio news anchor in Miami while a junior at the University of Miami, and then went on to anchor and report for several radio stations in the New York Metropolitan area before earning her master’s degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. For nine years beginning in January 1997, she was the host of The Travel Show on WOR Radio, providing travel expertise on a nationally syndicated show airing in 100 markets. She is an occasional guest on NBC’s Today Show and MSNBC among others, and contributes to Moment of Nature videos on CBS Sunday Morning. As the consumer travel reporter for NY1 News for the past 17 years, Valarie covers the cruise industry, frequently reporting on new ship launches, ports of call and cruise deals, as well as safety & health issues.

To-date, Valarie D’Elia has taken over one hundred cruises and is the caretaker of a treasure trove of steamship memorabilia and other souvenirs relating to her family’s travel business, many of which she shared with PONY Branch members during an entertaining and enlightening PowerPoint presentation. Valarie concluded her program by presenting several video clips from her “Travel With Val” segment, which she produces, shoots, hosts and edits for broadcast on NY1 News. Broadcast times and a great deal of consumer information for travelers can be found on her website: www.travelwithval.com.

The evening was capped-off by a delicious Italian-themed refreshment buffet, orchestrated by Carol Miles.

Friday, March 21, 2014 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
NORWEGIAN AMERICA LINE – BY BOB ALLEN

As the 100th Anniversary of the Norwegian America Line approached in early 2013, it was announced that the last survivor of the line — SAGA RUBY, ex-VISTAFJORD — was due to be retired during the first week of 2014. It was an odd coincidence that SAGA RUBY’€™s final season would be during the NAL centenary year. PONY-Branch Porthole Editor Bob Allen took us on a nostalgic voyage through the history of the Norwegian America Line passenger fleet. Despite its fame and superb reputation, the entire passenger fleet consisted of just eight vessels, two of which sailed for less than five years, because of fire and World War II.

In a series of images we explored BERGENSFJORDS and OSLOFJORDS that were built for different generations of travelers, yet shared the high standards for passenger comfort and reliability for which Norwegian America Line was renowned. We saw how the centenary was remembered in Norway at a fine exhibition in Bergen. Our speaker then focused on the final two ships of the fleet — SAGAFJORD and VISTAFJORD — which enjoyed long careers for Norwegian America Line, Cunard Line and Saga Cruises. During the Question and Answer period, a proud former steward from the Stavangerfjord (which was retired in 1963 after 45 years of service), shared a few memories.

An elaborate refreshment buffet, orchestrated by Carol Miles, pepped up the social hour with Norwegian herring, salmon and goat cheese as the main features.

Friday, February 28, 2014 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
CANADA STEAMSHIP LINES – BY JOHN HENRY

There was nothing like it, according to our speaker John Henry.

A New York City journalist and author of Great White Fleet: Celebrating Canada Steamship Lines Passenger Ships (Dundurn, 2013), he traced the rich history of these steamers in a PowerPoint presentation.

For decades, Canada Steamship Lines of Montreal fielded a fleet of passenger ships that dwarfed any other on North America’s inland waters. Known collectively as the Great White Fleet, these steamers could be found in ports of call all the way from Duluth, Minn., at the western end of Lake Superior, to the lower St. Lawrence River east of Quebec City — a distance spanning the better part of 2,000 miles. At the company’s inception, in 1913, no fewer than 51 vessels were classified as purely passenger or combination passenger/freight ships — a staggering total.

These ships operated on five routes: from Detroit to Duluth; from lower Niagara River ports across Lake Ontario to Toronto; from Toronto across Lake Ontario to Rochester, N.Y., and through the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence as far as Prescott, Ont.; from Prescott down the St. Lawrence rapids to Montreal; and, still farther down the St. Lawrence, from Montreal to Quebec City and the stunning Saguenay River. A stately trio of twin-funneled cruise vessels included the Richelieu, Tadoussac and St. Lawrence serving on the last-named route with stops at CSL-owned hotels.

In many ways, CSL was an inland waters version of the mighty Canadian Pacific. The last of the company’s splendid passenger ships were withdrawn in 1965, and the company continues as a freight operator.

The speaker’s well-researched and abundantly-illustrated hard cover book was available for purchase following the program.

Friday, January 31, 2013 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
THV PATRICIA: A WORKING VESSEL WITH ALL THE COMFORTS

By Karl R. Zimmermann

Last September, Karl and Laurel Zimmermann cruised the southern coasts of England and Wales aboard a little-known ship, one a tiny fraction of Queen Mary 2’s size but even more properly British—the THV Patricia. “THV” stands for Trinity House Vessel. Built in 1982, the Patricia is a small, hardworking ship, just 282 feet long, that tends buoys and lighthouses and responds to emergencies. In what might seem an anomaly, this otherwise no-nonsense ship carries on its upper decks six handsomely furnished and spacious passenger cabins, plus a bright, window-girt dining room and similar lounge above it.

Trinity House, which has been around for five hundred years, has three functions. It’s a maritime charity, it provides pilots to guide ships into harbor, and it serves as a General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales, and the Channel Islands, the role that involves the Patricia. So what were the Zimmermanns doing aboard? In 2003 Patricia Voyages was created, allowing the public to book rooms originally intended for the Trinity House “Visiting Committee” of supervisors. Passengers get to watch whatever work is at hand, with no guarantee what or where it will.

In addition to recounting the pleasures and particulars of their week-long voyage, Karl Zimmermann sketched in the long history and evolving role of Trinity House in these times of fast-moving technological change and took a look at some of the corporation’s earlier tenders.

Friday, December 6, 2013 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
THE ULTIMATE IN UNUSUAL WORLD CRUISES By PONY Branch Members

An around the world cruise may just be the ultimate wish for many ship enthusiasts but few of us have ever had the time, let alone the money, to undertake such an ambitious sea venture. So we have pooled our considerable resources by tying together individual segments undertaken over the decades by a half dozen members who have volunteered to create one, using slides, digital images and live narration.

Naturally, we set off from New York with Marge Dovman taking us aboard one of her favorite freighter trips along the East Coast and through the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Paul Klee took over sharing his trans-Pacific voyage aboard the Queen Mary 2 via Hawaii to the South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. Transferring to a Holland America Line ship, Alan Borthwick sailed from Sydney through the Roaring Forties along the south coast of Australia and northward to Singapore.

Ted Scull then filled in the long segment between here and the Mediterranean by stringing together five separate voyages, four taken many decades ago and one present day. We first sailed in the elderly Shipping Corporation’s State of Madras via Malaysian ports and across the Bay of Bengal to Madras where he continued across the Indian Subcontinent aboard Indian Railways’ Bombay Mail to Bombay. There he picked up the equally elderly British India liner Dwarka for a passage via Karachi into the Persian Gulf as far as Dubai, transferring to the contemporary and rather luxurious Silver Whisper via Oman, the Red Sea, Suez and into the Mediterranean.

Doug Newman took over using the classic cruise liner Marco Polo to sail from Piraeus (Port of Athens) westward via Italian ports to Barcelona where Ted completed the short link via train to Bilbao and Swedish Lloyd’s Patricia to Southampton. The grand finale came with Fred Rodriguez’s superfast crossing, while encountering Hurricane Camille, to New York aboard the S.S. United States.

To top off the evening, our annual holiday buffet followed, with food arranged by Stuart Gewirtzman and catered by Fairway.

Friday, November 22, 2013 – 6:00 PM

Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
Sailing to the Sun: Cruising History & Folklore – By William H. Miller

Cruising is different than crossing. The ports are really forms of entertainment rather than destinations, and the sense of purpose for the voyage is different, with more recreation for cruising. Bill Miller told us that the cruise industry, especially here in the USA and in places like Germany, the UK & Australia, is booming and the future is not just bright but very bright. More people are traveling on ships than ever before. But where did it all begin? Over 150 years ago, P&O is credited with offering the first cruise, a voyage offered for those of “scientific persuasion,” and so it began, slowly at first. We’ll hear of the very first World Cruises in the 1920s, big liners like the Mauretania and Aquitania going off on long winter cruises and the creation of the small, luxury cruise ship Stella Polaris. The Depression of the 1930s brought cruising to the masses, even $10 a night “booze cruises” were forms of escapism from tough financial times at home. Growth and expansion continued: the Wilhelm Gustloff and Nazi “Strength Through Joy” cruising, the high luxuries of the Caronia and the growth of mass market cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Lines & Royal Caribbean in the late 1960s. Today, expansion and growth are beyond even the wildest expectation with the likes of the biggest liner of all time, the 6,400-passenger, 225,000-ton Allure of the Seas, sailing tropic waters. Yes, cruising is the best vacation on earth! And 15 million Americans take cruises every year.

LIFE ON BOARD, FROM CHARLES DICKENS’ TRANSATLANTIC CROSSING IN 1842 UNTIL TODAY
A PowerPoint Talk by Anthony Cook
Friday, October 25, 2013 – 6:00 PM

Cunard Line’s Britannia of 1840Mauretania (1939) Photo by Arthur J. Ferguson

The PONY Branch once again welcomed London resident Anthony Cooke who presented how drastically, and in some cases not, ocean travel and life on board ship has changed over the years. He began with Charles Dickens’ uncomfortable Atlantic crossing on Cunard’stiny Britannia in 1842, and, among much else, included a description of a voyage on the White Star Line’s Majestic made by a very grumpy passenger in 1891. He then brought us right up-to-date with the modern ships and their balcony cabins, skating rinks and show biz entertainment. Refreshments, reflecting the tastes of both sides of the Atlantic, included crust-less cucumber and thin-sliced ham sandwiches, pigs in blankets, crisps and shortbread biscuits.

A NORWEGIAN COASTAL VOYAGE ABOARD MS LOFOTEN – by Greg Fitzgerald

Friday, September 27, 2013 – 6:00 PM

Branch Secretary Greg Fitzgerald took us along on his six-day journey, which he conducted in April 2013, and shared what makes LOFOTEN so special to her enamored fans. He shared photos of the ship in the stunning Norwegian scenery, as well as describing the special atmosphere onboard and the stops along the historic coastal express route.

Hurtigruten’s LOFOTEN of 1964 is the final link to the past fleet of traditional coastal steamers plying the Norwegian coast. Running in regular service on an 11-day round-trip run from Bergen, across the Arctic Circle to Kirkenes in the far north of Norway, the little LOFOTEN shares this route with her larger and more modern fleetmates.

However, a voyage on LOFOTEN gives far beyond the experience of the modern Hurtigruten ships. It is a voyage to another time, on a ship which boasts many of the same features that ship lovers lament the loss of in recent years as the last classic ocean liners have gone to the breakers. As LOFOTEN never leaves Norwegian waters in passenger service, she is not subject to the same SOLAS restrictions that international ships are; thus, she is filled with rich woods, gorgeous traditional artwork, and a cozy atmosphere.

Following this most enjoyable talk, members and guests enjoyed some gjetost, a sweet Norwegian goat cheese, smoked salmon and various biscuits and breads.

EXPEDITION CRUISES – THE PLANNING AND EXECUTION

Friday, June 28, 2013 – Ben Lyons

As traditional harbors in the Caribbean and Mediterranean have become more crowded, more and more ships and super yachts (some as big as small cruise ships) are venturing “off the beaten track.” Destinations once rarely visited are routinely reached- from the ice of the Northwest Passage to the culturally rich nation of Papua New Guinea.

Yet reaching these destinations requires specialist skills and local expertise. Operating safely in often harsh or dangerous climates carries risks, and despite the inherent flexibility of an expedition, the planning begins months, if not years, in advance.

Ben Lyons, former Chief Officer on Queen Mary 2 and Captain of National Geographic Explorer, spoke about his role as CEO of EYOS Expeditions. EYOS plans, organizes and guides expeditions for the most adventurous super yachts in the world. Having just disembarked from The World, Residensea’s luxury apartment ship, on its EYOS-led expedition to the White Sea, he related some of the planning that expeditions require, the challenges of operating in different regions, and shared some anecdotes from his time serving aboard the National Geographic Explorer including a recent cruise up the West African coast.

Friday, May 31, 2013 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room , 40 East 35th Street (between Park and Madison), Manhattan
REMEMBERING P&O SS CANBERRA – by Theodore W. Scull

P&O-Orient Lines’ S.S. Canberra came out of Harland & Wolff’s Belfast shipyard in the spring of 1961. At 45,733grt, she immediately took the title of the largest liner ever built for any service other than the North Atlantic, besting the previous record held by her running mate S.S. Oriana, completed at the end of 1960. However, Oriana was always the faster vessel, a fact that will be explained by our speaker, Ted Scull.

Between 1979 and 1986, Ted spent more than a half-year aboard Canberra as a lecturer, mostly on segments of the UK-Australia run via Suez or Panama. We will hear about shipboard life from the British liner’s navigating bridge down to the Pig & Whistle. Many of her crew and staff spent most of their working lives aboard her.

Even with the liner trade fading fast, Canberra was nearly always full, though in her later years, she spent most of her time cruising from Southampton. Her passenger lists and atmosphere varied like night and day between UK cruises and overseas liners voyages, and her popularity was given a huge boost as a result of her crucial role in the nasty 1982 Falklands Conflict.

Accompanied by some British pub snacks, come join us for a celebration of one of the greatest liners ever, and in fact, so well built that the Pakistani ship breakers at Gadani Beach lost money on the dismantling contract.

Friday, April 26 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room , 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

A Man and His Ship: America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the SS United States

Steven Ujifusa gave a book talk on A Man and His Ship, published by Simon & Schuster. It was recently named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the ten best nonfiction books of the year (2012).

It’s the sweeping story of William Francis Gibbs’ quest to build the fastest, finest ocean liner in history—set against the politics, culture, and enterprise of twentieth century America. Taking readers back to a golden age, when America’s industrial might, innovative ambition, and maritime dynamism were unmatched, Steven Ujifusa’s groundbreaking debut sheds light on a forgotten genius and the sleek vision to which he gave birth. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family’s sudden financial ruin, Gibbs overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history.

Steven Ujifusa is an historian and a resident of Philadelphia and has written numerous articles on architecture and urban history. When he is not writing, he enjoys singing, photography, rowing on the Schuylkill River, and travel. A native of Chappaqua, New York, Steven received his undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and a joint masters in historic preservation and real estate development from the University of Pennsylvania. He has appeared on National Public Radio and CBS Sunday Morning, and has given presentations at the National Museum of the US Navy, the Harvard Club of New York, Independence Seaport Museum, the Boston Athenaeum, and the Maryland Historical Society.

Following the talk, Steven signed copies of his book ($30).

Friday, March 22 – 6:00 PM
Community Church Assembly Room , 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

FROM POET TO EXPLORER: CRUISING NORTHERN EUROPE ON THE LAST ATLANTIC LINER OF THE 1960’S,

MARCO POLO, ex-ALEXANDR PUSHKIN by Bob Allen

Our Porthole Editor and longtime member Bob Allen presented a program about his recent voyage on the MARCO POLO, formerly ALEXANDR PUSHKIN. Operated by the British line Cruise & Maritime Voyages, the ship is the only liner in service built for transatlantic crossings (other than QUEEN MARY 2), and one of the oldest passenger ships afloat. During a career spanning 48 years, she has been a Russian transatlantic liner, an Australian-based cruise ship, a deluxe destination-intensive vessel specializing in Far Eastern and Antarctic itineraries, and a German-market cruise ship. We saw images of this classic liner, as well as fascinating ports of call on a “Great Waterways of Europe” cruise along the Thames, Seine and Scheldt Rivers, and the North Sea Canal.

MARCO POLO at Amsterdam, the Netherlands, October, 2012 (Bob Allen)

Friday, February 22, 2013 – 6:00 P.M.
Community Church Assembly Room , 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

CRUISING TWO GREAT RIVERS: THE YANGTSE & THE NILE – By David Hume

Our Vice-Chairman, David Hume related his experiences of two very different river cruises. For the first, we boarded the 2006-built, 268-passenger Victoria Anna of Victoria Cruises for a cruise down China’s Yangtze River from Chongqing to Yichang, stopping at the ghost town of Fengdu and passing through the spectacular Three Gorges, and via a system of locks, skirting the Three Gorges Dam. Victoria Cruises is a Sino-American joint venture with the firm’s headquarters located in Flushing, Queens, one of New York City’s three Chinatowns. Then on Egypt’s legendary Nile, he cruised in the 146-passenger riverboat Emilio of Domina Prestige Cruise Line for a journey from Aswan to Luxor, visiting the ancient temples of Kom Ombo and Edfu and touring the Valley of the Kings and Valley of the Queens.

Photo Credit: Victoria Anna by David Hume

AN EVENING OF SHIP VIDEOS IN NEW YORK AND SOUTHAMPTON by TEE ADAMS
Friday, January 25, 2013 – 6:00 P.M.
Location: Community Church Assembly Room , 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

Our presenter, Tee Adams, has had a camera in his hands since he was four years old and continued his passion for photography through school and college. Starting in 2007, he began taking a video camera along, eventually graduating to a pro HD camera and now owns three. His day job focuses on school and college marketing, shooting for folders, and video productions for institutions across the country.

His interest in ships surfaced when the family took him out of school (4th grade) to sail aboard the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2’s third eastbound on June 5, 1969. During the bridge tour, Tee was permitted to steer the vessel, with close officer supervision he would like to add. Tonight he will show a video of QUEEN MARY 2 sailing in and out of Manhattan. While shot over the last several years, at different locations, he feels this provides a good view of the transit to the traditional Manhattan piers and the often difficult job it is to get her docked. The inward shots were taken from the ship and the Palisades in Weehawken, New Jersey, and the outward from the ship itself, Stevens Institute in Hoboken and from Staten Island as she passed under the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge.

In the evening’s opening segment, we saw Cunard, P&O and other cruise ships taken at Southampton Docks, from the Hythe Ferry, locations along Southampton Water and an upper floor of Jury’s Inn.

Our speaker comes to us from Devon, PA, located along Philadelphia’s Main Line, and he is a member of our branch and a long-time ship shooter along the Hudson

GATEWAY TO THE WORLD: THE GREAT PORT OF NEW YORK

by William H. Miller, Jr
December 7, 2012 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

OCEAN LINER BAZAAR
Saturday, December 1, 2012 – 10:00 am – 2:00 pm
417 East 61st Street, New York City (between First and York Avenues)

A friendly gathering of enthusiastic collectors and dealers of ocean liner memorabilia will be exhibiting and selling ship models, paintings, prints, posters, brochures, deck plans, china, silverware, ashtrays, pins, medallions and more, both popular and rare collectible items at all price levels from passenger shipping lines past and present.

Some specific examples of items for sale this year are a 1930’s vintage Normandie poster by Paul Colin, a sterling silver Lusitania spoon and a trophy vase from the France.

A well-regarded cruise agency will be on hand to answer questions about what ships to consider for a future voyage.

This popular annual event is open to the public and admission is just $5.00 per person, payable at the door. The most serious collectors come early, and the celebratory occasion provides a chance to meet other ship enthusiasts with similar interests.

The Port of New York Branch of the World Ship Society was established in 1965 when a group of ship enthusiasts met aboard the Norwegian liner Sagafjord at a West Side pier. The not-for-profit organization 1) holds monthly meetings in a midtown location with speakers such as authors, past and present ship personnel and passenger liner enthusiasts who generally share PowerPoint presentations and videos on maritime-related topics; 2) arranges ship visits, including on-board lunches, and harbor trips; and 3) publishes a monthly newsletter The Porthole.

MEMBERS VIEWS OF NEW YORK HARBOR & SHIPPING PLUS ANNUAL HOLIDAY PARTY
Friday, December 9, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan

For our December holiday party, some of our best member photographers showed their pictures of the New York harbor scene. With four presenters scheduled, each had 15 minutes. Paul Klee shared liner photos from the 1960s and 1970s, plus OpSail 1964 and historic harbor scenes. Rob O’Brien showed ocean liners from the golden era to twilight. Rob has his own website and is noted for his night photography. Rich Wagner, who also has his own website, showed Norwegian Epic’s maiden arrival in New York and photos of QE2’s final departure from New York, including some narration. He included some shots of QM2 arriving in Manhattan this past summer taken from the bridge and possibly add various cruise ships that have called in New York this year. Stuart Gewirtzman featured many of the boats and ships that can be seen every day working in New York Harbor, as well as photos of unusual ship visits and events that have occurred in recent years. Also featured were several photos of maritime wrecks and ruins taken in areas of the harbor, and not often visited by the general public. Before the program, members gathered for the holiday buffet.

AN EVENING OF SHIP VIDEOS IN NEW YORK AND SOUTHAMPTON – by Tee Adams
Friday, November 18, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

Unfortunately, our speaker for this program first had a tire rim failure en route from suburban Philadelphia, then was stranded for over an hour in a traffic tie up leading to the Lincoln Tunnel, so he was unable to get into New York for the program. We are rescheduling him for early 2012. As a substitution, we had an impromptu discussion about recent branch ship visits and then talked about some possibilities for a group cruise in 2012.

METROPOLITAN WATERFRONT ALLIANCE – Transforming New York Harbor
Speaker Roland Lewis, President and CEO
Friday, October 30, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

In October, our speaker was Roland Lewis, CEO of the Municipal Waterfront Alliance, who showed a film and spoke about the many changes that have occurred along New York City’s 520 miles of shoreline and what’s to come. MWA is the voice for almost 600 organizations with ties to our regional waterways.

http://www.waterfrontalliance.org/

Hudson River Park and three apartment buildings
by Richard Meier, architect. Photo and Copyright by Theodore W. Scull

On 23 October, we chartered a boat from Classic Harbor Cruises to photograph five cruise ships sailing from three terminals – Norwegian Gem, Seven Seas Mariner and AIDA Aura from Manhattan, Queen Mary 2 from Brooklyn and Celebrity Summit from Bayonne. All enjoyed a beautiful evening out in the harbor.

Classic Harbor’s Cruises’ 35-passenger Beacon at
Pier 62 following the harbor trip.

SS UNITED STATES CONSERVANCY – A PROGRAM BY EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DAN McSWEENEY
Friday, September 30, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

In September, 100 members and guests attended a program presented by the SS United States Conservancy’s Dan McSweeney. Founded in 2004, and though initially serving as an advocacy group for the legendary ship, we learned that the Conservancy’s role has evolved significantly in the interim years. The Conservancy has since become owners and stewards of the vessel through a generous grant from Philadelphia philanthropist Gerry Lenfest in 2010.

The organization’s new mandate is to save America’s great ship of state and her legacy by developing a world-class museum and educational programs focused on the vessel and by setting the conditions in which a successful public-private partnership can be established to redevelop the ship as a self-sustaining, multi-purpose stationary attraction. Our Port of New York is the primary focus of effort for this project.

SS UNITED STATES at her current berth in Philadelphia May 14, 2011 (Photo & Copyright Theodore W. Scull)

SS UNITED STATES docked in Manhattan August 25, 1966

(Theodore W. Scull Collection)

As the founding Executive Director of the Conservancy, Dan McSweeney has played a major role in the organization’s establishment and evolution. We learned that he has been intimately involved in negotiations surrounding title transfer, ongoing discussions with the EPA on remediation issues, planning for the emerging partnership, and management/outreach efforts for the organization. Increasingly, he will focus on business development coordination for the Conservancy as Managing Director of the project.

During a diverse career, McSweeney served as a Marine officer, advisor on communications and counterterrorism efforts domestically and abroad, and education program director. His father immigrated to the U.S. from Scotland and worked aboard the SS United States as a crew member (cabin steward).

We watched a 20-minute film and a narrated PowerPoint presentation and participated in a question and answer session following.

SS UNITED STATES at New York October 1969

(Photo & Copyright Theodore W. Scull)SS UNITED STATES in the North River (photographer not known)

MS ROTTERDAM (1997) and SS ROTTERDAM (1959)
9-Night Transatlantic Crossing
Rotterdam–Southampton–New York
Optional Stay Onboard Cruise Hotel Rotterdam
July 4th Week – click here for details
Tracking Down Preserved Passenger Ships in Asia – Tom Rinaldi
Friday, June 24, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

For the June program WSS/PONY membership secretary Tom Rinaldi discussed his May 2011 visits to five historic passenger vessels preserved in Asia. Around the world, only a small handful of deep-sea merchant vessels have been successfully preserved by way of adaptive reuse. Five can be found today serving in stationary roles in the Philippines, China and Japan. Tom had the opportunity to visit them thanks to a fellowship awarded by the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University where he earned a masters degree in 2010. The vessels included the Hikawa Maru, Yotei Maru (former train ferry), Brasil Maru, Ming Hua (former Ancerville), and Augustus. In addition, we heard some amazing tales of how he got between the ships by train and overnight ferries.

The former mv Augustusat Manila, Philippines

mv PHILIPPINES (ex-mv AUGUSTUS, 1952);
MANILA, PHILIPPINES:
Built in 1952 at Cantieri Riuniti dell’Adriatico, Trieste, Italy, for the state-operated Societa Generale di Navigazione Italia (Italian Line), to serve the company’s express route between Genoa, Italy and Buenos Aires, Argentina, by way of ports in Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Uruguay. Sold for other use, 1976, and later renamed ms Philippines.

Adapted for stationary use as a hotel and convention center at Manila in 1999. Today one of only two surviving South Atlantic liners that facilitated the postwar diaspora from Europe to South America. Little altered from original construction, with intact interiors by Gustavo Pulitzer Finali and others.

The Brasil Maru as a museum vessel at Zhanjiang, China

mv BRASIL MARU (1954); ZHANJIANG, CHINA:
Built in 1954 for the Osaka Shosen Kaisha Line’s Transpacific service between Kobe, Japan, and South American ports including Santos, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina, via the Panama Canal. Facilitated transport of passengers and cargo between Japan and South America to serve Brazil’s community of Japanese expatriates, the world’s largest. Retired from service in 1974, she subsequently became a museum ship at Toba, Japan. Moved to Zhanjiang, China for continued preservation as a museum ship, 1997.

The ex-mv Ancerville rests in a landlocked berth at Shenzhen, China.

mv MING HUA (ex-mv ANCERVILLE, 1962);
SHENZHEN, CHINA: Christened in 1962 by French president Charles de Gaulle at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, St. Nazaire, France. Entered service that year for Compagnie de Navigation Paquet service between Marseilles and Dakar, Senegal, two years after Senegalese independence from France. Purchased by Chinese government for China-East Africa service, 1973, and renamed Ming Hua. Permanently moored at Shenzhen, China in 1986 for stationary use as hotel and event space.

The Yotei Maru is now preserved at the Museum of

mv YOTEI MARU (1965); TOKYO, JAPAN:
The Yotei Maru entered service in 1965 as a railway ferry to cross between Aomori, Honshu and Hakodate, Hokkaido. Named after Mt. Yotei on Hokkaido, the vessel carried nearly 12 million passengers during its 23 years of service. The opening of the Seikan (Aomori-Hakodate) tunnel in March 1988 effected the end of its intended route. Following a brief stint as the Japanese government’s floating pavilion during “Ship and Sea Expo” held at Genoa, Italy in 1992, the vessel was preserved as a floating exhibit at the Museum of Maritime Science in Tokyo.

The Hikawa Maru at Yokohama.

mv HIKAWA MARU (1930); YOKOHAMA, JAPAN:
Built 1930 at Yokohama for Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) Line Transpacific service carrying passengers and cargo between Kobe, Japan, and Seattle, Washington, USA. The only large Japanese merchant ship to survive the Second World War. Served as a hospital ship during the War and returned to Transpacific service after the war. Retired in 1960, the ship was permanently moored at Yokohama and adapted for new use as a youth hostel and museum. Closed briefly in recent years, the ship is now operated as a museum by NYK line. One of only three pre- World War II passenger liners still afloat.

Visit to the N.S. SAVANNAH – click here for details

On National Maritime Day in Baltimore, MD
Saturday, May 21, 2011 – 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Pier 13, Canton Marine Terminal, 4601 Newgate Avenue, Baltimore MD 21224

National Lighthouse Museum – Planned for Staten Island

Presentation by Linda Dianto

Friday, May 20, 2011 – 6:00 PM

At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

Our speaker, Linda Dianto, a Staten Island resident for most of her life, has taken on the mission to open the National Lighthouse Museum at the original US Lighthouse Service Depot on Staten Island adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry terminal in St. George. The museum and its beautiful ten-acre site overlooking New York Harbor will become a destination for the world’s lighthouse enthusiasts and preservationists, and an exciting attraction for the millions of visitors who take the Staten Island Ferry. More than a dozen lighthouses are less than an hour’s boat ride from the museum pier. She told us about the planned exhibits and interactive displays for children and adults featuring lighthouses from around the nation, classical Fresnel lenses, lamps and technologies, modern aids to navigation and personal histories of the keepers and their families. Outdoor exhibits will include lightships, buoys and fog signals, and a return and restoration of the original Depot Lighthouse.

Layout of Site Buildings and Pier 1

Artists’ rendering of complete Museum site

The existing historic 19th and early 20th century structures on the property provide an ideal setting for exhibits, research and programs relating to the history of the United States Lighthouse Service. Even before the buildings open, a series of cultural events, tours and concerts are planned. A renovated pier and waterfront plaza will wind through the site offering beautiful views of the harbor and the historic buildings. Visitors are welcome to visit the site today, enjoy the view and get a sense of the future as home for the National Lighthouse Museum. For more information about the National Lighthouse Museum www.lighthoiusemuseum.org or contact info@lighthousemuseum.org for further questions on how you can help this museum open.

Our speaker holds a Master’s in Education from CUNY and a 6th year Certificate in Administration of Recreation Services & Resources and a Certificate in Philanthropy and Fundraising, both from NYU.

Her mission is to open the National Lighthouse Museum as soon as possible. We were happy to help promote this great idea for the Port of New York.

Archive photo in front of Lamp Shop

SS Columbia Project – Maritime Preservation for the Hudson River

Friday, April 29, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY

The SS Columbia may look familiar to New York steamboat enthusiasts, though she spent her entire career on the Detroit River. That’s because the Columbia was designed by Frank Kirby, a noted naval architect whose work also included important Hudson River steamboats such as Hendrick Hudson, Washington Irving and Robert Fulton. While all of the great Hudson River day boats have disappeared, the Columbia survives today in a somewhat neglected state in Detroit. Richard Anderson, our speaker, spoke about the history of this very important historic steamboat, a National Historic Landmark and today America’s oldest surviving passenger steamer.

We heard of his efforts with the S.S. Columbia Project, a nonprofit group that seeks to restore the vessel to active service on the Hudson River. Built in 1902, the Columbia provided service between Detroit and the amusement park on Bob-Lo Island until her retirement in 1991. Since 2006 she has been owned by the New York-based S.S. Columbia Project.

Richard Anderson, Founding President of the SS Columbia Project, launched the efforts to save the ship in 2006 and has been an advocate for Maritime Preservation since joining South Street Seaport Museum as a volunteer at age 10. Website: http://www.sscolumbia.org

Thursday, March 24, 2011 – 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 East 35th Street, Manhattan, NY
STEAM COFFIN: Captain Moses Rogers and the Steamship Savannah Break the Barrier

Historian and author John Laurence Busch described in some detail why the proposition of making the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean on a “steamship” was met with a mixture of skepticism and fear.

In 1807, Robert Fulton ran his “North River Steam Boat” as a regular passenger service between New York City and Albany, New York. But proving this might be possible on the oceans of the world was another matter; most observers in the early 19th century didn’t think it could be done. One man who did was a steamboat captain named Moses Rogers. Combining his knowledge of the old mode of transport—sail—with the new mode of transport—steam—he set out to design a vessel that was capable of overcoming the many dangers of the sea. This craft would be not a “steamboat,” but a “steamship,” the first of its kind. With this steamship called Savannah, Moses would prove to the world that steam-powered vessels were not just a provincial innovation, but rather the beginning of a global revolution.

Steamship Savannah’s particulars are — Burthen: 319 tons; Length: 98.5 feet; Breadth: 26 feet; Draught: 14 feet; Engine: 1 cylinder, “double-acting” (Watt); Port of Birth: New York. First voyage: From Savannah via New York to Liverpool on May 22, 1819, arriving June 20th.

Our speaker devoted years of research to discovering the story of Captain Moses Rogers and the steamship Savannah by scouring archives and libraries from Portland, Maine to Savannah, Georgia, and across the Atlantic, resulting in what he says is the most descriptive account of the saga of Captain Moses Rogers and the steamship Savannah ever written. The book was available for inspection and sale at the meeting.

Three Cunard Queens – Similarities & Differences – by David Hume
Friday, February 25, 2011, 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 E. 35th Street, New York, NY

Tonight, David Hume, our recent branch chairman and a frequent sea traveler, shared his thoughts on the design and arrangement of the public rooms aboard the current three Cunard Queens – Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth. He illustrated the similarities between the Queen Victoria and the Queen Elizabeth and the distinguishing characteristics which make each ship unique. He showed how the layout of the newer Cunard Queens has diverged from the layout of the Queen Mary 2.

David has sailed aboard all three Queens, including the brand-new Queen Elizabeth in January during the westbound tandem crossing with Queen Victoria; the maiden voyage of the Queen Victoria from Southampton on December 11, 2007, and ten voyages aboard Queen Mary 2, most recently January 4, 2010.

As the Ship Turns: Whatever Happened to Some Well Known LIners by William H. Miller
Friday, January 28, 2011, 6:00 PM
At the Community Church Assembly Room, 40 E. 35th Street, New York, NY

Bill Miller took us on a voyage of sorts, reviewing some noted and selected liners, reminding us of their lives and times. He discussed big super liners such as the United States, France and Queen Mary as well as others: Argentina, Lurline, Leonarda Vinci, Bergensjord, President Roosevelt, Olympia, Franca “C” and Stella Solaris. Some were noteworthy, innovative, important in the overall story of ocean liners; some were newly built, others greatly reconstructed and refitted; and, of course, their final fates were varied — the inevitable scrapyards, but others lost to fire, sinkings and explosions.

The Three Queens Royal Rendezvous
Pier 78, West 38th Street, NY WATERWAY TERMINAL
Thursday, January 13, 2011, 5:30 – 8:30pm
(click here for more info)

France/Norway: A book talk by John Maxtone-Graham at the South Street Seaport Museum
Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Our speaker John Maxtone-Graham discussed his new book – FRANCE/NORWAY – with a one-hour illustrated talk at the Seaport Museum New York in Lower Manhattan. It was a sell-out crowd with our PONY Branch drawing about 80 percent of the 90 people who attended, and the maximum number permitted in the tight space at 12 Fulton Street. Ted Scull, Program Chairman, introduced the speaker who he had known for about 35 years.

John then began with details about the French Line’s plan for a new superliner shortly after the war, its construction at St. Nazaire and then the SS FRANCE’S entry into service in February 1962 until its withdrawal following a crew strike in 1974.

The second part of the story began with Knut Kloster eyeing the ship and then hiring the designers to make her over into the highly successful cruise ship, the SS NORWAY. We saw the changes made and then her very sad ending after a boiler explosion and final berth on the beach at Alang, India.

A Ship Passenger Peeks Behind the Scenes – By Alan Borthwick
Thursday, November 18, 2010 at 6pm

Mary and Alan Borthwick have traveled on a wide variety of passenger vessels from canal barges and expedition ships to large cruise liners. On each vessel they try for new experiences not advertised in the sales brochures with a look behind the scenes.

On the barge “Caprice,” in southern France, Alan told us about bicycling into a village to buy bread for the ship in a boulangerie, and on the Adriatic coastal ship “Artemis,” he went produce shopping with the Hotel Manager and ran up the signal flags.

Aboard the m/s “Andrea,” they visited the crew’s very cramped operating areas, the engine room, the crew mess and the laundry.

While circumnavigating Australia on the “Volendam,” they were able to attend “First Call” ceremonies in the ports of Hobart and Fremantle where the ship’s captain and the port authorities exchange gifts such as plaques.

Alan, the PONY Branch Treasurer, bracketed each segment with illustrations of each vessel and for his efforts he received a copy of John Maxtone-Graham’s Normandie.

Friday, October 29, 2010 at 6pm
Introducing Cunard Line’s Brand-New Queen Elizabeth

(Photos & Copyright Theodore W. Scull)

On 12th October 2010, following a naming ceremony the previous day performed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Cunard’s 92,000-ton QUEEN ELIZABETH set out on her maiden voyage from Southampton to Iberia, Madeira and the Canary Islands. Slightly larger in gross tonnage than QUEEN VICTORIA, she qualifies as the second largest Cunard ever built, the third to carry the name Queen Elizabeth and the third QUEEN in the present fleet.

Our Program Chairman Theodore W. Scull presented a program based on a first-hand look at the new ship, drawing on a personal inspection in Southampton and on the generosity of others based in England who recorded her initial sailings to and from her homeport of Southampton. They are William Mayes, Ann & Don Eberle, Peter Knego, Ann Haynes and David Templar. A near record crowd of 92 attended.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23rd, 2010 at 6pm
Voyaging Across The Seas With P&O-Orient Lines by Theodore W. Scull

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and the Orient Line were two of the most storied steamship lines in British maritime history. While both lines originally focused on serving the British Empire and immigration to Australia and New Zealand,

their ships also started calling at North America ports by the mid-1950s as the now merged P&0-Orient Lines.

Our speaker, Ted Scull, made a first P&0 booking for ORIANA 40 years ago last month, and it turned out to be a bit of a non-starter and a near disaster when the ship caught fire. Two years later, he sailed from San Francisco to Sydney in P&0 ORSOVA, a three-week trans-Pacific voyage, and found Australia and Australians very much to his liking, eventually marrying an Aussie.

Oriana 20 Nov 1981 Port Evergaldes

APL P&O Orsova 7-1-72

In the late 1970s, he became a lecturer for P&O aboard ORIANA, CANBERRA and SEA PRINCESS (ex-KUNGSHOLM) and in the next six years made 16 voyages, mostly segments of the long ocean voyage between Southampton and Sydney. This period represented the final days of true ocean travel other than on the short North Atlantic route. We heard about some of those experiences aboard former Orient Liner ships. Sometime in the near future, he will complete the story with CANBERRA and SEA PRINCESS

U-CL155 Canberra at Cape Town May 1968

U-CL155 Canberra at Cape Town from Windsor Castle May 1968

Thursday, June 24, 2010 at 6pm

Documentary Film – The Liners: Ships Of Destiny

Rob McAuley Production for Channel Four, the Australian Broadcasting Company

The film shown covered the period from the transition of sail to steam through to the sinking of the Lusitania during World War I. The footage contained historical films and stills intertwined with the then contemporary (1995) footage, Hollywood cameos, and talking heads, most familiar to us and a few not.

Segments showed SS Great Britain in Bristol; the Great Eastern, Isambard Kingdom Brunel‘s great failure; building of the Suez Canal and its importance to world trade, power and politics; rivalry between the British and Germans for supremacy at sea; race for the Blue Ribband; J. P. Morgan‘s expansion from railroads to buying the Red Star Line and the White Star Line; immigrant trade and profits; Titanic‘s construction and sinking; port of Hamburg scenes and Albert Ballin Village; World War I; sinking of Lusitania; and threading through it all P&O‘s then new ORIANA passing through Suez and into the Indian Ocean.

The program was introduced by Paul Immerman, who with his wife Ellen, purchased this film at a recent Ocean Liner Bazaar. Paul, a securities lawyer, is a long-time World Ship Society member and a former trustee of the Ocean Liner Museum. He pointed out some of the film‘s features and not quite accurate portrayals.

But she lives on. Mario Pulice, one of the greatest NORMANDIE collectors anywhere, has provided almost all of the collection for DECODENCE — an exhibit of furnishings, memorabilia & objects d’art, but not only on the ship itself but of design, decoration & maritime style — now staged at the South Street Seaport Museum. Bill Miller is curator of the exhibit and personally guided us through the exhibit.

France’s NORMANDIE, commissioned in 1935, is widely acknowledged as the most luxurious Atlantic super liner ever built. She was an Art Deco tour de force, a floating Waldorf Astoria, indeed from the era of Fred & Ginger dancing cheek-to-cheek.

Sadly, the ship sailed for only 4 1/2 years and then burned and capsized at her West 48th St. berth in February 1942.

Friday, March 26, 2010
Cruising to Exotic Destinations
By Dan Vaccaro (Photographs by Dan Vacarro)

As frequent cruisers crave new adventures, several lines have developed “exotic” itineraries, taking you to remote destinations around the globe. Voyages of Discovery and Holland America Line have two very different approaches. Our new Special Events Director, Dan Vaccaro, took us on several recent cruises to far flung ports, exploring the diverse cultures, ancient civilizations, natural splendors and fascinating wildlife that await. A fan of destination intense and expedition cruises, Dan favors a platform for exciting adventures ashore. A collection of voyages took us on shore excursions deep into the jungles of Central America and 15,000 feet high in the Andes, from Cambodia’s Angkor Wat to Mayan Tikal and from African Game Reserves to offshore bird sanctuaries to volcanic craters. Dan has been an avid cruiser since he was a teenager. Closing in on 600 nights at sea, he has sailed at least four times to all seven continents and is always looking for places to explore.

Thursday, February 25, 2010
RMS CARONIA — Cunard Line‘s Green Goddessa
World Cruise Film and Historical Background by Allan Jordan

Caronia docked at Circular Quay, Sydney Harbor during her annual Around the World Cruise Photograph supplied by Theodore W. Scull

The 28-minute film was a charmingly old-fashioned look at luxury cruising in the early 1960s aboard the Green Goddess RMS Caronia. The narrator was John Barnsby, a regular voice for the Cunard Line.

The 100-day cruise called at 23 ports in 17 countries and besides plentiful scenes aboard ship showing passengers, cabins, dining, deck games, and costume balls, we saw what the following ports looked like almost 50 years ago: Bahia (Salvador), Cape Town, Zanzibar, Colombo, Bangkok, Bali, Hong Kong, Hawaii, Acapulco, Panama City, the Canal, and return to New York after visiting what Barnsby calls “strange and foreign ports.”

To introduce the film and provide a thumbnail history of this innovative ship, we invited Allan Jordan, a lecturer aboard cruise ships and writer about the history and future of shipping. With illustrative material, he traced Caronia‘s illustrious history from entry into service in January 1949 until she was sold by Cunard in 1968 and then sadly wrecked off Guam in the South Pacific in 1974.

The Caronia World Cruise video was kindly supplied by Richard Faber.

Friday, January 29, 2010 at 6pm
In Pursuit of the Vanishing Liners
By Karl Zimmermann

Karl Zimmermann was given his first taste of ocean travel as a boy when he sailed to Europe with his parents aboard such classic liners as the Ile de France, Nieuw Amsterdam, and Bremen. Then, with multiple crossings aboard the Stefan Batory in the mid 1980s, his interest in shipping was rekindled and, over the next decades, he and his wife, Laurel, sought out the liners that had survived in a new role, as cruise ships: The Victoria, the Britanis, Amerikanis, Regent Sea, Regent Star, Regent Sun, Regent Rainbow, Canada Star, Enchanted Isle, Independence, IslandBreeze, OceanBreeze, Regal Empress, Norway, Sagafjord/Saga Rose, Marco Polo, Rotterdam, and QE2. Virtually all of these ships are now gone, but they live in our collective memory, and in pictures such as those Zimmermann shared with us. Karl is a writer and among his numerous books are two recent ones for younger readers: Steamboats: The Story of Lakers, Ferries, and Majestic Paddle-Wheelers and Ocean Liners: Crossing and Cruising the Seven Seas.

All photographs courtesy Theodore W. Scull

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
SS Oceanic: From Ship of Tomorrow In 1965 to Proud Survivor In 2009
by Rob O’Brien

SS Oceanic at Civitavecchia, Italy in November 2008 by Rob O’Brien

For nearly 45 years, the SS OCEANIC has managed to outlive most of her contemporaries dating from the 1960s. Her profile has largely gone unchanged and she remains one of the last steamships in service. When arriving on the scene in 1965, OCEANIC, “Ship of Tomorrow”, was greeted with admiration on account of her innovations and splendid cuisine.

Following her 20-year career for Home Lines, she became the “Big Red Boat” for Premier Cruise Line. When that era came to a close in 2000, she saw further work in the Spanish market with Pullmantur beginning in 2001. Her current assignment, beginning in April 2009, carries out a worldwide mission for the Japanese Peace Boat organization.

Rob O’Brien, ocean liner historian, cruise ship photographer, and webmaster for the classicliners.net site presented a photographic journey of this remarkable steamship survivor, covering her long history and a cruise he made in the Mediterranean under the Spanish flag.

Friday, October 30, 2009
Stars And Stripes At Sea: American Passenger Liners of the 1950’s and 1960’s
by William H. Miller

The golden age of American passenger ships was the twenty years following World War II, when our great ocean liners circled the globe on diverse and exotic routes. Bill Miller, internationally renowned maritime lecturer, historian and author of more than 70 titles, took us back to these glorious days of the American Merchant Marine. He presented an amazing array of that era’s passenger services: Transatlantic crossings from New York to England, France and Germany on the United States Lines; “Sunlane” voyages from New York to Mediterranean ports on American Export Lines; leisurely, cruise-like voyages to the Caribbean and the east and west coasts of South America on Grace Lines; express sailings from New York to Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires on Moore-McCormack LInes; exotic Transpacific crossings from San Francisco and Los Angeles to Hawaii and the South Pacific on Matson Lines; service to Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Around-the-World on American President Lines, and many others. It was a thrilling and nostalgic talk by one of the world’s greatest maritime lecturers!

All photographs courtesy Theodore W. Scull

Friday, September 25, 2009
Linblad Expeditions: Pioneer In Adventure Style Cruising
by Ben Lyons

Lindblad is virtually a household name in expedition-style cruising. Lars Erik Lindblad began offering small ship adventure cruises nearly 50 years ago, and his son, Sven Olaf Lindblad, carries on the family tradition with worldwide itineraries.

The firm, based on Morton Street in Manhattan’s West Village, operates a fleet of ships in partnership with National Geographic Society such as the National Geographic Explorer in Northern Europe, the Arctic and Antarctica; National Geographic Endeavour and National Geographic Islander in the Galapagos Islands; and National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion in Alaska, Baja California and along the Columbia-Snake Rivers. The firm also charters additional vessels.

Introducing Lindblad Expeditions was Benjamin Lyons, formerly with Cunard Line and now Chief Officer aboard the National Geographic Explorer. He traced the origins of the firm, described the fleet and the itineraries. Ben also related many of the differences between conventional and expedition cruising, explaining the considerable differences between navigating the Queen Mary 2 across the Atlantic and the National Geographic Explorer in pack ice.

Monday, June 29, 2009
New York Harbor Operation — A Program Presented by the U.S. Coast Guard
Amver: The U.S. Coast Guard’s Automated Vessel Report System
Presented by Benjamin Strong, Director, Amver’s Maritime Relations, New York City

Prior to heading the AMVER office, Mr. Strong was project manager for the U.S. Coast Guard’s Mass Rescue Operation program in the Office of Search and Rescue. This presentation provided a good look into a very important but little known segment of maritime operations

AMVER is a voluntary search and rescue system that has been sponsored by the United States Coast Guard ever since its inception in 1958. It provides a worldwide blanket of protection for all types of merchant shipping on the high seas including passenger cruise ships with the participation of tens of thousands of vessels from 140 nations. Countless lives have been saved during AMVER’s 51 years. Benjamin Strong’s office is responsible for marketing and recruitment and retention of commercial ships in the AMVER system.