Europa: The Twice Lost Liner

The first major ship built for North German Lloyd after World War I was the 30,000 ton Columbus.  This ship was not a record breaker in any way but proved that the German company could still be competitive on the Atlantic.  Columbus made money for Lloyd and along with repayment by the United States for wartime losses, enabled NDL to build two new liners.  The plans evolved from modest sized vessels into large and powerful vessels.  On successive days in August 1928, the Bremen and Europa were launched.  For more about Bremen, see  my previous article, “Cathedrals of Steel: German Deco at Sea.”

Bremen with short stacks and Europa with lengthened ones.  1:1250 scale models by Carlo Marquardt and Mercator.

North German Lloyd planned for Europa to enter service alongside Bremen and for the ships to simultaneously capture the Blue Riband together.  While fitting out in Hamburg, Europa caught fire and suffered extensive damage.  Her debut was delayed and Bremen set out alone.   Packed with innovations:  bulbous bow, powerful turbines, streamlined exteriors, modern Bauhaus-style interiors, and even a sea plane launch, the ships proved immediately popular.

Ballroom circa 1930.  From German Federal Archives.

Both ships were initially design with low, squat funnels.  While this design fit the aesthetic, they proved less than ideal.  The funnels sent soot and smoke back toward the decks and dirtied passengers’ clothing.  The funnels were later heightened to prevent exhaust from reaching the decks.

Europa was a fast ship, breaking Bremen’s speed record, but over time, she proved to be not as fast as her sister.

1:1250 model with authentic Third Class Breakfast Menu, dated September, 1937.

At the outbreak of the war, Europa was moved to Kiel, Germany and used as an accommodation ship by the German navy, where she was docked throughout the war.  Plans to scuttle the ship never came through and she was captured in her dock by American forces.  She served briefly as a troop and repatriation ship for the U.S. Navy until allocated to the French in 1946 as reparations for the Normandie.  The French Line renamed her Liberte and set about updating her interiors for a new generation of travelers.


In 1947 she was nearly lost again when her mooring lines broke during a storm.  To prevent her from capsizing, Liberte was deliberately scuttled.  When calm seas returned, she was re-floated and restored to service.   She served the French Line until 1961.  Sold for scrap in 1962.

SS Europa (1930-1945, Liberte, 1946-1961) built for North German Lloyd by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg, Germany.  49,746 gross tons.  936 feet long, 102 feet wide.  Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw.  Service speed 27.5 knots.  Total Passengers: 2244 (723 first class, 616 tourist class, 905 third class).  

Leviathan: The World's Largest Ship?

The Leviathan began life as HAPAG’s Vaterland, the second in a trio of liners intended to be the largest and most luxurious in the world.  Beginning with Imperator (1912), HAPAG was competing directly with White Star’s Olympic-class (1911) and Cunard’s Aquitania (1913), but also a new French flagship, the France (1912).  These were ships competing to be the most luxurious—in all classes (compared to other ships).  Mauretania and Lusitania would be unchallenged for speed, but outdone in splendor.

Leviathan. 1:1250 model by Mercator.  1:1250 tugboat by Hansa.

Unlike Cunard, HAPAG had no subsidy to build or operate the vessels and paid for the ships from their own profits.  Each in turn would be the largest in the world when they debuted.  A few statistics are mindboggling:  14,000 napkins used on each crossing, 45,000 pounds of meat, 100,000 pounds of potatoes, and of course, 28,000 liters of German beer.  The similar-sized Aquitania had a crew of 970, but 1,234 men and women manned Vaterland.  Her eight kitchens employed 60 chefs, and as a coal burner, she needed 400 stokers and trimmers—the most on any liner.

 Vaterland was launched in April 1913 and entered service in May 1914.  She saw very little service and as war erupted in Europe, Vaterland was laid up in New Jersey. 

When the United States entered the war, the Vaterland was seized by the US Navy and converted to a troopship.  She was renamed U.S.S. Leviathan and was the largest troopship in the world. The doughboys referred to her “Levi Nathan” and she was special to them because she carried them safely.  Some would choose to sail on her again as civilians after the war.

USS Leviathan in a dazzle camouflage pattern, off New York City, 8 July, 1918. Original found at: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h51000/h51392.jpg

In 1919 the Allied reparations committee divided the German liners among the victors.  For the loss of Lusitania, Cunard received Imperator.  White Star received the unfinished Bismarck (the third of the HAPAG trio) for the loss of Britannic.  The United States did not have a “super liner” lost to the war, but did lose many merchant vessels.  Since the Navy operated Leviathan as a troopship, she remained with the U.S. 

USS Imperator (later Cunard's Berengaria) at left, and USS Leviathan at Hoboken, New Jersey, probably after Imperator's first trans-Atlantic voyage as a U.S. Navy ship Source=http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/174080.htm

William Gibbs, the naval architect who later designed the United States was in charge of the massive project to refurbish Leviathan for a newly re-organized United States Lines.  HAPAG and Blohm & Voss refused to provide Gibbs with the builders plans without paying the hefty fee of $1,000,000 (hurt pride, no doubt).   Unwilling or unable to pay, Gibbs and his team study the ship in detail and figure out the arrangements themselves. 

The fine lines of Leviathan.

When she is ready for passenger service in 1923, she was truly a different ship.  USL marketed Leviathan as "the world's largest ship" for a time and supported this boast with US tonnage measurements of 59,000 tons.  By European measurements, she was closer to 54,000 gross tons, and therefore she was smaller than White Star Line's Majestic, also advertised as the world's largest.  Competition was one key to success along with innovation.  She was among the first major liners converted to oil and outfitted with up-to-date tourist class cabins.   Some of her German features remained, such as the Pompeian style swimming pool, and the Ritz-Carlton managed restaurant, but most of her public rooms were restyled to match the jazz age and American tastes: such as cinemas, dance floors, and soda fountains.  She had a magnificent winter garden, shopping arcade, and immense dining saloons in each class.   But what was most obviously missing was a bar.  Prohibition was law of the land and Leviathan was an extension of the United States.

The Ritz-Carlton restaurant, circa 1923.

As a “dry” ship, many passengers were turned off.  Leviathan was plagued throughout her life with low passenger numbers, financial trouble, and no comparable vessel to pair with her sailing schedule.  She was one of a kind in the USL fleet.

Three of the largest vessels in port.  Leviathan in Southampton with Olympic (ahead) and Aquitania (left).
Photo inspired by an archival image, taken from the forecastle of Leviathan in 1924.

Leviathan fell victim to the Great Depression and was removed from service in 1934.  She was laid up in Hoboken, New Jersey until sold for scrap in 1938.  At the time, few foresaw that war was coming and she would have been a valuable troop or hospital ship.

 

SS. Leviathan Built by Blohm & Voss Shipbuilders, Hamburgm Germany for HAPAG as Vaterland (1913-1914).  For United States Lines, Leviathan (1918-1938): 59,956 Gross Tons (48,932 by British measurements), 950 feet long, 100 feet wide.  Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw.  Service speed 23 knots.  3,008 total passengers (940 first class, 666 tourist class, 1,402 third class).

Scythia-Class Liners

To replace the merchant vessels lost during the Great War, Cunard began an ambitious building program in 1919.  Rather than construct another superliner, Cunard built a series of “intermediate” vessels to assist the premier vessels on the New York run but primarily to secondary ports such as Halifax or Boston.  These vessels were designed to carry much more cargo than the express liners and were suited to cruising, The new ships were given a simple, balanced profile of two tall masts and a single slender stack.

R.M.S. Scythia the first of the new intermediate ships built in the 1920s.  1:1250 Scale model by Albatross.

The first of the series was Scythia, laid down in 1919 in Barrow-in Furness, England but completed in Rotterdam, Holland due to strikes.  She offered three classes of accommodation (later changed to two) on the run from Liverpool to Boston.

Stylized postcard view of Scythia in Liverpool.

Her cabin-class interiors were splendid, especially for a smaller ship.  The garden lounge was filled with potted plants and private baths in most cabin-class staterooms (a true novelty at the time).  She also had a walk-up “American Bar” to serve thirsty passengers, rather than the English method of stewards serving drinks made by a bartender behind a pass through window.

Scythia in port.

Scythia had a long and eventful career.  She weathered the Depression on the secondary service and cruises.  She served as a troopship during World War II and survived an air attack whilst full of troops.  After the war, Scythia brought immigrants and refugees away from ravaged Europe to new homes in the Americas.

For most of the 1950s, Scythia sailed between Liverpool and Quebec until withdrawn from service in 1957. She was scrapped in Inverkeithing, Scotland in 1958.

R.M.S. Scythia (1920-1957). Built for Cunard Line by Vickers-Armstrong Shipbuilders, Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness, England.  19,730GRT, 624 feet long, 74 feet wide.  Steam turbines geared to twin screw.  Service speed 16 knots.  As built, 2,206 total passengers (337 cabin class, 331 tourist class, 1,538 third class).  Later reconfigured to 248 first class and 630 tourist class.

The Riviera Afloat

In 1932, Italy’s premier shipping lines were merged, at the urging of the fascist regime, into a unified Italian Line.  At the time of the merger, the Navigazione Generale Italiana was building a new vessel to be named Guglielmo Marconi.  Mussolini wanted Italy to make a bold statement and challenge British and German shipping on the Atlantic run.  The Italian Line would counter with two magnificent new vessels that would be the fastest and most luxurious to-date.  They also would be the first superliners to sail on a warmer southern route, departing from the Mediterranean.  

The first of the ships would be larger and faster to compete directly with Bremen and Europa for speed whilst the second, smaller vessel (no slouch in the speed department either) would be a palazzo at sea.  Completed in September 1932, the Rex would challenge the Germans for the Blue Ribband (Hale’s Trophy).  With much fanfare the Rex prepared for her maiden voyage.  However, Mussolini ordered the construction completed ahead of schedule and the ship was not completely ready.  But, he made the railroads run on time and so the ship would run on time as well.

The elegant Rex.  1:1250 model by Mercator.

One September 27, 1932 Rex departed Genoa for New York with a full compliment of passengers, mostly in first class, excited to be on a ship making a record breaking maiden voyage.  Poised to enter the Atlantic near Gibraltar, mechanical problems hindered proper operation of her engines and she had to stop for three days of repairs.  Most of the passengers requested to leave rather than wait.  Rex arrived in New York underpowered and embarrassed.

In November, Rex was joined be her companion ship, Conte di Savoia.  The two ships were the first to feature both indoor and outdoor swimming pools (Conte di Savoia had two outdoor pools).  Surrounding the pools were striped umbrellas and sand to mimic the Riviera.  Indeed, the line promoted the vessels as “the Riviera afloat.” The warmer southern route offered, for part of the voyage at least, an opportunity to use an outdoor pool.  This relaxation area joined space for tennis and traditional deck games on the Lido Deck, a term coined by the Italian Line.

A nice view of Conte di Savoia lying at anchor at Genoa.
Unknown photographer, image in the public domain.

The Italian interiors were a careful blend of exquisite old world luxury and art deco styling.  The public rooms featured soaring ceilings and large windows to let in a flood of sunlight.  The ships featured every amenity imaginable and were designed with an eye toward cruising as well.  They were the embodiment of the finest artistry of Italy.

Conte di Savoia entered service in November 1932 and like Rex, experienced a troublesome maiden voyage.  En route to New York, an outlet valve broke and she began to flood.  If it were not for the strenuous efforts of the crew to patch the hole with cement, the ship would have sunk in a few hours.  Once again, the fascists insisted on pressing the vessel into service before she was ready.

In August 1933, Rex showed what she could do.  Measured from a Mediterranean starting point, she reached the Ambrose Lightship in 4 days, 13 hours, and 58 minutes with an average speed of 28.92 knots.  She won the westbound record from Bremen and was the only Italian vessel to win the Blue Ribband. Despite efforts by the Germans to win in back, she held the honor until 1935 when she lost her record to CGT’s Normandie.

Boeing Y1B-17 fly-by near the Italian liner "Rex," about 800 miles east of New York City. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Despite the opulence of Rex and Conte di Savoia, the southern route did not catch on.  The Italian Line suffered with low passenger numbers and a failing global economy as much as the other shipping lines.  The ships were in service less than a decade when war erupted.  The ships were among the last making regular sailings into 1940, when they were finally brought to Italy for safekeeping.

Sadly, neither vessel survived the war.  Conte di Savoia was sunk in 1943 at Malamocco, Venice where she was disguised as an island.  In 1944, Rex was moored in Capo d’Istria Bay in an attempt to block Trieste harbor.  In preparation for an Allied assault in the region, the RAF sent a dozen Beaufighters to attack the vessel and prompt either her removal or destruction.  Rex suffered 123 direct hits during two separate attacks and capsized in shallow water.

A British Beaufighter aircraft pulls up after attacking the Italian ocean liner Rex with cannon fire and rockets.  Photograph taken by an aircrew member of RAF number 272 Squadron, 7 September 1944.
This is photograph C 4622 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

The hull was refloated in 1947 with plans to refurbish the vessel.  However, the part of the harbor where she sank belonged to Yugoslavia and they decided to salvage and sell the vessel for scrap.  She was scrapped on the spot in 1947.

S.S. Rex (1932-1944) built by Ansaldo Shipyards, Genoa, Italy for Italian Line.  51,062 GRT; 880 feet long, 96 feet wide. Steam turbines geared toward quadruple screw.  Service speed 28 knots.  2,258 passengers total (604 first class, 378 second class, 410 tourist class, 866 third class).