Guarantees of success - Cunards Queens
From 2024, four Queens are in operation for Cunard for the first time. QUEEN ANNE is the 7th ship to be launched with the title of monarch for the shipping company. Since 1936 with the first of their kind (QUEEN MARY and QUEEN ELIZABETH) it has stood for great reliability, comfort and special stories in the service of the English nation.
Elegance and tragedy - NORMANDY
She was and is still considered the perfect passenger ship and the NORMANDY was the only ocean liner that actually wore the Blue Ribbon after the fastest crossing with a 30 m long pennant on the mast aft. As legendary as her competition with QUEEN MARY for the trophy was, her end was just as tragic.
One ship – 2 nations - FRANCE/NORWAY
France's renewed attempt to bring the pride of the Grande Nation to the world with a new ship came a decade too late and lasted only 12 years. The FRANCE was replaced by the Concord as the national symbol of the very means of transport that caused the death of the regular service. As NORWAY, she then made another country proud.
Course into the unknown - The disappearance of the NDL steamer “ERLANGEN”
At the end of August 1939, the NDL steamer “ERLANGEN” was in New Zealand. But the disaster of the Second World War is also looming on the other side of the world. For the crew and especially the captain, the question arose just a few days before the war: How and where is escape possible? Leaving Dunedin harbor begins a daring and uncertain adventure.
An abundance of lack - the daring journey of the “ERLANGEN” to Chile
Almost discovered, Captain Grams and the crew of the steamer “ERLANGEN” set off across the Pacific. But neutral Chile is on the other side of the Pacific and there is neither enough fuel nor enough provisions on board. After a spectacular drive, Puerto Montt is reached. But that doesn't mean the end of the journey.
In service since 1946 – the ASTORIA
The oldest cruise ship was commissioned as STOCKHOLM. It gained notoriety when it sank the ANDREA DORIA in a fog bank after an unsuccessful evasive maneuver. It became famous in the GDR as VÖLKERFREUNDSCHAFT. After many changes of ownership, the ship was allowed to retire in 2020 and many feared the need for a welding torch due to the pandemic. But the ASTORIA is still there.
Sisters at sea – the two ASTORs
Built by the Howaldtswerke in Hamburg and Kiel, both sisters were named ASTOR. The older one is known as ARKONA in the GDR. As ASTORIA and ASTOR, both ships sail together for Transocean for a while before parting ways again. The pandemic seals the fate of the two ships and both are put ashore in Aliaga.
Literature on the oceans - the IVAN FRANCO class
The 5 cruise ships were the miracle of Wismar and cruise the world's oceans for the Soviet Union as the Ivan Franko Class, better known as the Writers' Class. The youngest of the ships was doomed by a reef and only one ship managed a successful second career after the collapse of the Eastern Bloc. The end of the Transocean shipping company in 2020 also brought the end of the MARCO POLO.
The white swans of the South Atlantic – the CAP SAN class
The Hamburg Süd shipping company put six identical general cargo fast freighters into service in the early 1960s. The slender shape of the freighters and their white color gave them “the white swans of the South Atlantic.” With the CAP SAN DIEGO, a ship was preserved and is the world's largest still seaworthy museum ship in the port of Hamburg not far from the PEKING, one of the last four “Flying P-Liners”.
Love Boat German Style
When the “Love Boat” set sail in 1977, no one knew how successful the stories would be with viewers. As a result of its success, there were several national offshoots, including in Germany. But which are or were the Germans' dream ships?