#fridaycrossing

This week, we’re traveling the waters of the Baltic to one of best preserved warships from the Renaissance period. 

This week brings us onto the Canadian route, on the anniversary of one of the worst disasters in a conglomerates history

This week, we'll be crossing the Atlantic on a ship that was part of a class that revolutionized its shipping line. The RMS Baltic was launched from Harland & Wolff on 21 November 1903. She was the third of White Star Lines "Big four" Liners from the turn of the century, which revolutionized the lines design and style for comfort. She was larger than her sisters, being the last of the ships to be considered the largest ship in the world until the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria in 1906. Baltic's maiden voyage was captained by Edward Smith of titanic fame. A brief oversight during the voyage was that her machinery had not been upgraded. Baltic supposedly struggled to maintain the service speed designated by the other ships in her class. In 1909, Baltic saved several passengers from the fellow White Star Liner RMS Republic in a thick fog after being rammed by the SS Florida. Ironically, Republic's sinking would prove the current safety measures at sea but would prove inefficient for the RMS Titanic. Strangely enough, Baltic would play a role in the sinking. She sent iceberg warnings to the liner, and when she heard the distress signal via the RMS Caronia, she diverted her course for 9 hours trying to reach the ship, but she was too far from the sinking to be of any use. In WWI, Baltic initially still was making transatlantic journeys until 1915 when she became a troop transport ship. In 1917, she fled in a two day pursuit with a U-boat failing to sink her. she even transported Major General John J. Pershing to England, an military legend in America. In total she transported over 35000 troops across the Atlantic. After the war, Baltic was converted into a cabin-class ship. She eventually found a place in Canada's immigration pier 21, and made journeys from 1928-1932. With the introduction of the MV Georgic, Baltic made her last crossing in 1932, and was sold for scrap. While briefly the largest liner in the world, Baltic made her way being a supporting member of mercantile fleet.

This weeks crossing takes us to Italy, on a ship that never actually made it out to sea. Moreover, she never even got to leave her builders. The S.S. Principessa Jolanda was built for the Navigazione Generale Italiana (NGI) and was constructed on the Riva Trigoso and had a set launch data of September 22, 1907. The builders on the Riva, Cantiere Navale, had taken a severe gamble when producing the Jolanda. Normally, the hull would be constructed and then launched. Only afterwords would the superstructure (building atop the hull), funnels, and interiors would be constructed. The Cantiere Navale decided to instead launch her fully constructed, which would lead to her swift demise. The Principessa Jolanda was Italy's first luxury liner, and one of the first few to have a Marconi Wireless System and fully electrical lighting installed for comfort and safety at sea. At approximately 9200 Gross registered Tons, she was the largest liner built in Italy at the time, despite how the liners GRT paled in comparison to the largest liner in the world, like Cunards RMS Mauretania, who was at almost 32000 GRT. Around 12:30 on that September day, Principessa Jolanda was launched to a fanfare of officials and eager onlookers; however the celebration wasn't to last long, as she started to develop a heavy list to port. By 1:00 that same day, she completely capsized, now a complete loss for NGI, after expensing over 30 Million dollars in today's money. The Principessa Jolanda is a stellar example of one small idea turning into a disaster. It turns out there's a reason why ships aren't launched fully completed. This is because with all the interior and infrastructure in place, without and fuel or ballast like the Jolanda, the center of mass is so high up that ever a small wave can obliterate Italy's first luxury liner. So while she makes the Titanic's career look geriatric in comparison, she was a vessel still at the cutting edge of shipbuilding, even when she sank.

In observance of Americas 250th anniversary, this weeks ship is one of America's first liners to rival the queens of the Atlantic. The SS America was built by brilliant naval architect William Francis Gibbs, and her interiors were one of the handful of liners designed by women at the firm Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald. She was launched by then first lady Eleanor Roosevelt on August 31, 1939. Smooth sailing was not quite America's experience. the day after her launch, WWII broke out, and she was fitted with garish flags painted on her side to show her neutrality. Instead of her north Atlantic run, as the U.S. was neutral at the time, she instead took her maiden voyage to San Juan as a cruise. She served until late May of 1941 to be handed over to the navy. It was also discovered, in 1941, that America had two German spies from the Duquesne Spy Ring amongst its crew members, leaking information about the military defenses and movements of the Panama Canal. In June, she was renamed to USS West point and painted camouflage grey. Her first task was taking Italian and German citizens and dignitaries to Portugal, in exchange for American ones to be brought home. After hearing of Pearl Harbor en route to cape town, South Africa, she started wartime in the pacific theater transporting cargo to Singapore and dodging Japanese bombers, and mainly serving alongside other convoys, not really being a troop transport ship like other liners of her era. After the war, she served comfortably on the Atlantic route, becoming a favorite in the American line for her elegance and grace, even more popular than the later flagship the SS United States. In 1964 she was sold over to the Greek Chandris line, known for taking older ocean liners and reusing them, and renamed Australis. She served the Australian route for a while before being sold to Venture Cruise Lines, which took such little care of her, that her first and only cruise ended in mutiny, and sold back to Chandris for a loss. She was then sold to be a hotel ship in Thailand in the 90's. On her journey to Thailand, she ran aground in a sandbar and was considered a total loss, being broken up by the waves over the years.

This week, we return to the Atlantic to learn one of the first built dual purpose ship, and the first passenger vessel christened by a famed monarch. The RMS Caronia was built launched 30 October 1947. Christened by Queen Elizabeth II, then a princess, her career was bound to be luxurious and storied. She was built for two different services, one a transatlantic crossing with 2 classes, and cruising which consisted of only 1 class. Cunard White Star, her owner, intended her to be a running mate for the RMS Mauretania II, but sentiments had changed post ww2, and cruising became far more popular. She had her maiden voyage in January of 1949, one of only three transatlantic crossings before cruising in the Caribbean. In 1951, she sailed her first word cruise. In 1953, Caronia would serve as a hotel ship for Elizabeth's Coronation, and was understandably quite popular. Caronia was accident prone, once going the way of the Evergiven and getting stuck in the Suez as well as Italy, as well as colliding with a harbors breakwater. 1959 would see her stop making transatlantic crossing as the jet age was upon the liner industry. Many liners were painted in Caronia's livery, a minty green, earning her the title "green goddess" and sent onto cruising. In 1965, Cunard would sell Caronia to Star Shipping because of increased competition and renamed Caribia. She fought this change a lot, having some malfunction on each of her cruises under the new line. After financial troubles, she was sold for scrap; however, near Guam, she had to be cut loose and wrecked against Apra's breakwater. the wreck was cut up quickly, and as she wrecked near a Korean war landing craft wreck, chalk full of explosives, carefully as well. By 1975, she had been fully scrapped from her wreck site. Caronia was a revolutionary liner, as part of the most successful shipping lines, yet she could not escape progress. Cruise ships had evolved since when she was built, and she will be remembered for her name, having heiress Clara MacBeth live on her for 14 years, and her near explosive revolt against being sold for scrap.