TwentiesCentury

Two picture showing the french Champollion (1924) after she ran aground 600 metres off the lebanese shore in 1952. After three weeks of navegation through stormy weather in the Mediterranean, the Champollion was nearing Beirut, her destination. In the early hours of December 22nd, her crew saw what they believed was the lighthouse signaling the entrance to the port of Beirut. Unbeknownst to them the light they were seeing was, in fact, the signaling light of the airport of a village located a few kilometres south of Beirut. Once the crew noticed their mistake it was already too late: the Champollion ran aground on the shallow lebanese shore. The heavy weather and strong tilt of the wreck meant that the lifeboats couldn’t be lowered. This made the evacuation extremely difficult. The Lebanese Army and the RAF participated in the efforts of saving all passengers and crew. As one can see in the picture above, the passengers had to swim through the water, grabbing a rope which was laid between the Champollion and the shore. 15 died whilst doing this. In the next few days the Champollion broke in many parts and was scrapped soon after.

The Kronprinzessin Cecilie (1905) and the Kaiser Wilhelm II (1903), laid up with smaller steamers in the Chesapeake Bay, sometime between the wars. Both liners were part of a quartet built for the Norddeutscher Lloyd at the turn of the century. They had lavish interiors and, when they were completed, were the fastest liners afloat. At the beginning of WW1 both ships, for one reason or another, found themselves in ports in the United States. Since it wasn’t only until 1917 that the US would declare war on Germany, the NDL considered that it was safer for its flagships to remain where they were. However, when the USA did enter the war, both ships were requisitioned by the US Navy and used as troop ships. They served in that role until 1920, transporting first american soldiers to Europe and then bringing the victorious troops back to the US. By the time the war was over, both ships were already considered outdated which is why no civilian user was found for them. They remained in the reserve fleet and where laid up in the Chesapeake Bay for the next 20 years. At the outbreak of WW2, the american government offered both ships to the british to serve as troop ships, but they declined, considering that their age would make any service problematic. In 1940, the US Navy decided to finally scrap them.

Let’s go and see how does Bora feel like! #Trieste