ssMaritime for a world of Classic Passenger Liners, Passengers Cargo ships as well as humble Migrant Liners from countries worldwide!
Please Note: iPhones, iPads, Firefox & some other Search Engines may not be suitable
Use Google Chrome for this Web Page to load perfectly!
Please Note:
All ssMaritime and other related maritime/cruise sites are 100% non-commercial
and privately owned. Be assured that I am NOT associated with any shipping or
cruise companies or any travel/cruise agencies or any other organisations!
Although the author has been in the passenger shipping industry for over 60
years, but due to age and poor health, I was forced to retire. Yet, I have
completed well over 1,350 Classic Liner, Passenger-Cargo Liners as well as
countless humble converted C3 converted humble Migrant Liners, which brought
countless thousands of Europeans to the new world. I trust these features will
continue to provide Classic Ship enthusiasts not just the information they are
seeking, but more so provide a great deal of pleasure and memories!
Ships of the Month
“Société
Sold to
become the M/v Irpinia - 1955
to 1983
Go directly to “Company’s
/ Ships of the Month” or keep on reading
**********************
Introduction:
Welcome to ssMaritime.com. During 2019 I have managed to add a few Classic Liners to ssMaritime as I already had them in on file partially completed, in addition, I also slowly updated some of my earlier features, for believe me some of them really needed a good clean up, and sadly there are many more that need work. But as most of my readers will know, for a very long time I have been suffering from a variety of extreme health issues, as well as having poor eye sight these days, and all this is sadly slowing me down greatly, and continuing this site and adding new ships, which I love to do so much is now suffering greatly! Therefore, I only do a little work whenever I am able, and I will do my very best whenever possible to add a “Company” or a “Ship of the Month” but now this will only be done on a quarterly basis (give or take), but from now on ships will be from those I already have online, and there are so many wonderful and interesting ships, I am sure you would like to discover!
Please note,
due to the flood of emails that arrive each and every day, I no longer
personally reply to the vast majority of the emails received, as 99.9% of the
emails will be taken care of by my friend and carer
However, I do
have schedules for the three Dutch liners MS
Sibajak,
Looking Back:
It is hard to believe, that I have now written
on well over 1,350
ships, including so many of the great Passenger Liners, but also many
Passenger-Cargo Liners, and not to forget those Victory - C3 ships some that
became humble migrant liners, but others received amazing rebuilding programs
and became fine modern liners with excellent facilities. I have also covered a
good number of Classic Cruise Ships, some have now gone and have been broken
up, but there are some that still sailing, in fact there is one ship aged today
and amazing 72 years (2020) and she is in perfect condition in Class!
Below is a small view of some of the ships online, but the ssMaritime INDEX has a full listing of all the ships I have covered and so much more!
The
Great Trans-Atlantic Liner and Cruise Ship the
Of
course she was refitted a good number of times including having been given new
diesel engines
Please
Note; the QE2 is now open as a Luxury Hotel in
Visit
my comprehensive Hotel
Queen Elizabeth 2 feature
The
Dutch M.S. Randfontein sold in 1971 to become the
she was based in
In addition, there are also a good number of humble Migrant ships, many of these being converted War-Time C3 & C4 Class Vessels, and the two ships shown below, both were converted into fully operational aircraft carriers, The ship seen below received a more simple exterior refit like most in this class, but she did have some delightful and more traditional German style public venues.
Laid down as a C3 Class ship in 1941, and used as an aircraft carrier in WW2
Converted
into a migrant ship the
And received an extensive refit and renamed Seven Seas in 1953
Whilst other C-Class ships were rebuilt into
fine looking Migrant Liners, being delightfully modern and even glamorous
ships. Ships that come to mind are the Italian Flotta
Another 1941 C3 Class ship that served during WW2 but as an ugly escort aircraft carrier
She
was sold to Sitmar Line to become
In
the early 1970s she became a very popular Australian based cruise ship
The
wonderful M/v
to Portsmouth (UK), via Asia &
the
I
loved her when she was the
In Conclusion:
I must say a very special thank you, to all ship lovers from around the world, for I have been astounded that there have been so many of you reading this site, in fact friends ssMaritime.com has reached as of recently over 533.8 million readers, and that, dear friends simply blows my mind! And please remember, that all my maritime/cruise sites have always been and will remain 100% non-commercial, for my purpose has been to provide wonderful and hopefully joyful memories to past passengers from around the world, and those who really love passenger liners and older cruise ships! Be assured, it has been a great joy for me to present these many classic ships to, and it has been a joy to have been able to write for so many years, thus all I can say is; go and enjoy the well over 1,350 wonderful maritime memories, and I pray that after a lifetime of sharing my love of these fine ships with you, that they will live long after me to give knowledge to a new generation and wonderful memories to those who remain!
ssMaritime’s Main Index is located just Below & as well at
the Bottom of the Page, be assured that you will discover a “Ship
lover’s delight” with so many great ships, both Liners, humble
Migrant Ships as well as some wonderful Passenger-Cargo Liners from countless
countries around the globe, and all of these will have you reading and
returning for a long time to come!
Dear Mr.
Goossens … just some of the emails of
thanks received over the years.
It is my greatest desire that the ships I have
covered will provide many memories of their days now mostly long gone, but for
those who were fortunate to have sailed on some or more of the ships I have
covered I pray will have brought some joy to your heart!
Maritime
Historian; Working and involved in the Passenger Shipping & Cruise Industry
for over 60 years.
Or ENTER HERE
Or Continue to
Read the “Company
- Ships of the Month”
Company’s of the Month
Société Générale de Transport Maritimes
Sold
to the Siosa Lines - T/v - M/v Irpinia - 1955 to 1983
The truth is that I personally fell in love with this ship in 1962 when she was had been sold and the new owners (although haven given her a refit many years earlier), they had just given her a complete rebuild, with new engines and so much more, and her details arrived on my desk at the office. But this is her story from her early days:
The 10,816 GRT - Three Class,
Then in 1951 the Campana was chartered to a
French company
A
postcard released by
As the company decided to conclude passenger services, the Campana was returned to SGTM early in 1955, and although being already 26 years old, she remained in perfect condition, but as SGTM had no further use for her she was placed on the market.
The S.S. Campana was indeed a fine liner and Page One will cover all her details, photographs and history from construction to her being sold in 1955 to an Italian Company owned by the famed Grimaldi brothers who took the ship and had a shipyard give her a comprehensive refurbishment and when she completed she was renamed “Irpinia| and placed under the management of the “Grimaldi Siosa Lines”, which later was shortened to just the “Siosa Lines”.
The Turbine vessel - T/v Irpinia is seen in 1956 during a cruise
She had been modernised, but in 1962 she received a massive
transformation and had became a Motor
vessel - M/v in 1962
She became a greatly loved ship, with her beautiful and modern interiors, swimming pools and excellent service and entertainment, etc. But after seven years her owners decided to give her a massive makeover!
Thus in 1962 the Irpinia was taken to the
“Adriatico” Shipyard at
Externally she was rebuilt with her two old funnels removed, with a single shapely modern style funnel installed. Her two tall mainmasts were removed and once again a shapely tall signal, radar mast was placed atop her Bridge, whilst her forward kingposts were modernised, and the aft section of Lido Deck was enclosed as a brand new full width Lounge had been installed. Upon completion the amazing transformation of this fine cruise ship had turned her into a modern ship, and it was very difficult to see the original 1929 built French liner in this more modern looking cruise ship. She was now registered at 13,204 GRT.
I trust that you will enjoy this three page feature full of Information, as well as Photographs, Brochures, Deck Plans and other items from the ship.
Here we see the beautiful Motor Vessel the M/v Irpinia arriving at another cruise destination
In conclusion; In the late 1970’s the then managing company, “Grimaldi Sicula Oceanica” was contacted by “Associated General Films” who intended to make a ‘Lew Grade’ movie entitled the ‘Voyage of the Damned,” as they required a suitable older style liner and the 1929 built M/v Irpinia was perfect. They chartered her for the making of this major movie event, which had a massive cast of some of the finest and best-known actors of that time! “Voyage of the Damned” won Golden Globe Awards for being the Best Motion Picture and Supporting Actress. It was without a doubt an amazing movie’
The Movie Company added a dummy funnel just forward of her actual funnel and
encased the real funnel with an old
style one thus they both looked the same
After the movie she cruised on until the
1980s, but then came the time she was due for her next major seaworthiness
certification inspection by “
Visit my 3 Page SS Campana & the T/v-M/v Irpinia Feature
“Blue Water Liners sailing to the
distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them
die.”
*************************
PLEASE SUPPORT … “Mercy Ships”
This is a Work I
Personally Support,
Please Join me and
Support this Most Worthwhile Cause!
Everyone on the ship, crew, nurses, doctors,
surgeons, etc, is a volunteer, and Mercy Ships
completely rely on our donations
Thus your contribution really counts, and be
assured it will not be wasted on any on-board wages, as the vast majority of
funds received will actually be spent on surgeries and healing children and all
those who are in such urgent need of our help!
Enter
my Mercy Ships
To Donate Click … https://mercyships.org.au/donate/
Thank you for your help -
**************************
“Blue
Water Liners sailing to the distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them
die.”
Over
the years, I have received many Dear Mr. Goossens emails of thanks & here are just some of them
Or ENTER HERE
Featuring over 1,300
Classic Passenger Liners, Passenger-Cargo Liners & Classic Cruise Ships!
**************************
ssMaritime.com & ssMaritime.net
Where you will discover Classic Liners & the
1914 built MV
& founder of “Save the Classic
Liners Campaign" in 1990.
Please Note: ssmaritime and associated sites are 100% non-commercial and the author seeks no funding or favours of any shape or form, never have and never will!
Photographs on ssmaritime and associate pages are by; the author or from the author’s private collection. In addition there are some images that have been provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding the photographer/owner concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images would be so kind to make them-selves known to me per email address, which is located above in order that due credit may be given.
ssMaritime is owned & © Copyright by