Links to other sites
on the Web
Links to other sites
on the Web
My first interest in ocean
liners started as a young
boy, when we
crossed the Atlantic on the SS United States. My
father had accepted a job,
teaching in Turkey, in 1967. We were there 3 years,
and spent our summers touring Europe.It was a
great experience!
We returned to the U.S. on the Italian liner,
Michelangelo. We boarded the ship in Lisbon,
Portugal, headed for New York. Our favorite
memories on board,included the movies,and the swimming
pool.I remember one stormy day, just watching the big waves while I was out on deck. Our dog was kept in a kennel on board, but
they'd let us walk him every day.
Our friendly Italian waiter, couldn't speak good English. My sister, who
suffered a little from sea sickness, didn't have much
of an
appetite.The waiter would ask her,"Like-a-de-no? No
like-a-de ice
cream?"He spoke Itanglish to us. When we got off in
New York, we waited for
our car to be unloaded off the ship. The waiter had
gotten off too, and came up to us to wish us
farewell. So, whenever we remember the Michelangelo, our waiter comes to mind first.
Many years have gone by, and after watching
the movie "Titanic", I have a renewed
interest in former ocean liners. After looking
through a crowded ocean of Titanic web sites, I
decided to create a page on the former Italian ocean
liners, Michelangelo and Raffaello.
The Michelangelo and the Raffaello were
identical, and built in Genoa, Italy, in 1965.
They were 902 ft. long, 102 ft. wide, and 45,911
gross tons.(Close to Titanic's 882 ft. length, and
92ft. width.)They held 1775 passengers. Steam turbine
engines provided a 26 knott
service speed. Each
ship had two very distinctive caged funnels,
with fins on top.They would look good on any new
cruise ship.When I was a kid, I remember
thinking that they looked unfinished.What looked like
cages, were actually supports for the fins on top.The funnel design was functional as well.On many ships,a big funnel design creates a vacuum, which sometimes pulls exhaust onto the deck.The funnels on these Italian ships were slender,and aerodynamic, allowing air to pass through the cages that surrounded them. The fins on top would help lift the exhaust up and away.
One
could easily recognize these ships in a crowd of
other ships .They were named after famous
Italian
artists,and would have to look like
interesting works of art! These ships also faced some frightening times at sea, nothing like Titanic or Andrea Doria though.In April of 66, the Michelangelo experienced a fierce storm, while crossing the Atlantic to New York.A huge wave about 70 ft.,crashed into the front, tore 30 ft. of bulwark off,(solid protective railing) smashing it into the bridge ,and into first class rooms.It unfortunately killed two passengers, one crew man, and twelve others were injured.Luckily the storm eased, and the ship made it to New York for temporary repairs. It was returned to Italy for repairs and strengthening, which was well done, because later the ship experienced another very similar storm with no damage.In May of 70 the Raffaello collided with a Norwegian ship, Cuyahoga, on the southern coast of Spain. There were no casualties, but the trip was cancelled, and the bow was repaired in Gibralter. Through the rest of their years, all voyages seemed to go well without major mishaps.
Unfortunately the ships were built at the
wrong
time,
as most people preferred
faster air travel. Business
on trans Atlantic ocean liners suffered. Most had
been taken out of service by the late 60s and early
1970s.The S.S. France was sold to Norway for cruise
service.The Queen Mary is now a hotel and museum in
Long Beach, California.The original Queen Elizabeth
was to become the Seawise University, but caught fire
in Hong Kong Harbor, and was later scrapped.The Queen
Elizabeth 2nd. is the last of the huge ocean liners
that crosses the Atlantic .She spends half the time
as a cruise ship. The
Michelangelo and the Raffaello were used as cruise
ships for a while, after their trans Atlantic service
ended. They
were sold to the
Iranian government in 1977, to be used as barrack
ships. The
Raffaello was sunk by an Iraqi missile in 1983.
And the Michelangelo was later sold to Pakistan, to
be
scrapped in 1992. Sad ending. There is a ship that
can hopefully be
saved, the S.S. United States. She was taken out of
service in 1969, just 2 years after I was on it.
There's a link at the top of the page.
The 2 photos are from an old Italian Line
Caribbean cruise brochure from 1970-71.Thanks to New
Steamship Consultants, they specialize in ocean liner
memorabilia.I have a link at the top of the
page. Thanks to my brother David, for
putting the photos on my page. The first photo
is either
the Michelangelo or the Raffaello.Since they're
identical, it's hard to tell. The red in the upper
right corner is part of an Italian flag, that was
probably on one of the other Italian Line ships. The
deck photo with the swimming pool was taken on the
Raffaello.
It shows the unusual looking caged funnel design,
that made these ships so recognizable.
Oceanliner
memorabilia
Save the SS
United States
More
Michelangelo photos, including many other ships
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Great Cruise Ships and Ocean Liners
from 1954 to 1986. By William Miller Jr. and his
Pictorial Encylopedia of Ocean Liners 1860-1994.The Lido Fleet, by Peter Kohler. All
great books !
