|
Merchant Ships of a Bygone Era The Post War Years by William H Miller Soft Cover
Merchant Ships of a Bygone Era The Post War Years by William H Miller
Soft Cover
136 pages
Copyright 2001 reprint
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements2
Foreword3
Chapter One Trans-Atlantic 4
Chapter Two Tropic Waters: The Caribbean & South America 40
Chapter Three The African Trades59
Chapter Four East of Suez72
Chapter Five Pacific Waters95
Chapter Six Oil 105
Chapter Seven Special Ships, Special Cargoes 112
Chapter Eight Shipbuilding 119
Chapter Nine The End of the Line 127
Bibliography 134
Index 135
FOREWORD
This is a book of pure nostalgia. It has been created as a pictorial parade of yesterday's shipping the liners, the passenger-cargo combinations, the freighters and tankers, and even some early specialist types. It all covers the two or so decades after the Second World War, when worldwide shipping was revived and rebuilt, re-emerging bigger and better than ever. Along with a vast supply of wartime-built tonnage which was now wearing commercial colors, brand new ships came out of shipyards at an unparalleled pace. If freighters grew somewhat, oil tankers rocketed to what would have been unimaginable proportions bigger and bigger still! European shipyards, in particular British yards, were dominant in the late 1940s and '50s. The great shipowners were back in business again: Cunard, the French Line, the Italian Line, United States Lines, Moore-McCormack, Grace, Royal Mail, Union-Castle, Farrell, P&O, British India, NYK to name but a starting dozen.
But tremendous changes were said to be ahead and all of them began in 1957. Two changes would affect the shipping business like nothing perhaps since the technological transition from sail to steam. In the business of running passenger ships, the airlines equalled for the first time the number of travellers who went by sea on the North Atlantic routes. It was the beginning of the end for those long-established trades between such ports as New York, Montreal and Halifax, and Southampton, Liverpool, Le Havre, Rotterdam, Lisbon and Naples. Then, in the Fall of '58, PanAm started the first commercial jet service across the Atlantic and the fate of passenger ships everywhere was sealed. Within six months on the Atlantic, the airlines had two-thirds of the clientele; by 1965, they had as much as 95%. The Cunard Queens, as major examples, sailed off into retirement in 1967 and '68. The airlines later dominated all other sea routes as well: trans-Pacific, South Atlantic and all those going east of Suez. Decolonization, spiralling operational costs and the shift of precious and very lucrative cargo from combination passenger-cargo liners to faster, more efficient containerships (some of them flying Third World colors) also contributed to what, looking back, seems to have been a quick demise. One of the last holdouts, Union-Castle Line's South African passenger and mail service, finally closed down in 1977. Thereafter, the passenger ship business primarily became the cruise ship business.
Secondly, in 1957, the converted Gateway City entered service. With a capacity of 226 35-foot containers, she was considered the World's first full containership. Proving efficient, she was placed, however, in short-sea service between US and Caribbean ports. But her practicality and profitability soon influenced others to build larger and larger ships. Nine years later was dubbed 'Year 1' of the international maritime transport of containers. Everyone was making the changeover even great traditionalists like Cunard and P&O. A year later, in 1967, the first full containership crossed the Atlantic. Almost immediately, `second generation' ships were ordered, for 1,000 and then 1,500 containers each. By 1969, the giant, powerful Sea-Land Galloway class were being built 33-knot, high-capacity containerships. That same year, the first barge-carrying ship, the Acadia Forest, went into service. Two years later, in 1971, the Paralla was commissioned. She was the first pure, deep-sea freight ro-ro (roll-on, roll-off) ship. Technologically, the revolution had come. Today, containerships, ro-ros and specialty freighters ply routes across the globe. And as the world population increases so does the need for maritime transport. As this book was in progress, the Japanese, namely the NYK and Mitsui-OSK lines, were taking delivery of the largest containerships to date, six ships with capacities of 4,800 `boxes' each. But Denmark's Maersk Line have since built a series of 6,000-capacity containerships. Old-style breakbulk freighters are rare sights these days.
1957 was also the year of the World's first nuclear-powered merchant ship, the Savannah. She was laid down at a shipyard near Philadelphia. Launched in 1960 and then completed two years later, the 14,000-ton, 60-passenger combination ship was said to be the beginning of whole nuclear fleets. Germany, Japan and others were making plans for ships of their own. Even the brand new Leonardo Da Vinci, a 33,000-ton luxury liner completed in the Spring of 1960, was said to be convertible from steam turbine to nuclear propulsion. Confident, her Italian owners predicted that the changeover would probably take place within five years. But nuclear power in the commercial shipping sector proved troublesome, costly, inefficient. Never pleasing to the accountants, the Savannah was decommissioned within eight years, by 1970, and later turned into a museum ship. More recently, in 1994, she joined the Government's 'mothball fleet' in Virginia's James River, a sad reminder of her great promise in the late 1950s.
But back to those golden days of the 1950s and my own weakness (and I think others' as well) for things past and some gone forever. I have divided this photographic collection into nine sections. The first five are themed geographically to ships and shipowners and some of the ports they served. The next two chapters, 6 and 7, deal with the transport of oil and special cargos. The final two sections examine the life cycle of the ship shipbuilding, ship repair and ship breaking.
These days, when I look out over New York harbor or visit such ports as London-Tilbury, Southampton, Le Havre, Lisbon, Genoa, Sydney and Yokohama, it is easy to see the great changes. Harbor waters are much quieter, sometimes quite empty. Many of the old docks and dockyards are gone, some replaced by marinas, waterside shops and fancy housing. Containerships come and go far less often and then to more distant facilities with vast spaces and served by those big, bird-like cranes. But sometimes, I dream. I can still see the Queen Mary or the Be De France, an American Export freighter, a United Fruit banana boat in drydock. I hope this book will be a small reminder of a fabulous era.
Bill Miller,Secaucus, New Jersey, Fall 1996
All pictures are of the actual item. There may be reflection from the lights in some photos. We try to take photos of any damage. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
Shipping charges
US Shipments: When you add multiple items to your cart, the reduced shipping charges will automatically be calculated. For direct postage rates to other countries, send me an email. Shipping varies by weight.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us before making a return. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding or buying.
Thanks for looking at our items.
|
