A Ship on the Hudson River

Sandra sent me this nice card showing a Cunnard Passenger ship on the Hudson River.

SS Prince August Wilhelm

A card from the Postcard book of "Steamboats" showing a poster advertising the passenger steamer "Prince August Wilhelm" of the Hamburg-America Line (4733 GRT, 856 passengers, 116 crew). 

The ship’s maiden trip was to Mexico in 1903. Interned in Colombia in 1914, she was destroyed in a fire, mainly due to the effects of war in Colombia in 1918. 

The artist has tried to give the painting a pleasing tropical flavour with sugar cane plants.

Thank you Klaus for this nice card.

SS Suomi

The SS Suomi is a steamship that has been plying the waters of Lake Päijänne since 1906. Lake Päijänne is near Jyväskylä-located in the heart of Central Finland.

A little bit about Jyväskylä. It is a city and municipality in Central Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is the largest city in Central Finland and on the Finnish Lakeland. Jyväskylä is located on the northern coast of Lake Päijänne, 147 kilometres (91 mi) north-east of Tampere and 270 kilometres (170 mi) north of Helsinki. The hilly and forested terrain in Jyväskylä is surrounded by hundreds of lakes. Summers in Jyväskylä are warm and winters cold and snowy. As of 28 February 2013, Jyväskylä had a population of 133,687. The city has been one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. In 1940 there were only 8000 inhabitants in Jyväskylä. The Jyväskylä sub-region includes Jyväskylä, Hankasalmi, Laukaa, Muurame, Petäjävesi, Toivakka and Uurainen.

Elias Lönnrot, the compiler of the Finnish national epic Kalevala, gave the city a nickname "Athens of Finland". This nickname is used to describe the major role of Jyväskylä as an education centre and the first place in the world to provide education in Finnish. The works of the most famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto can be seen throughout the city. The city hosts Neste Oil Rally Finland, which is part of the World Rally Championship. It is also home of the annual Jyväskylä Arts Festival.

Thank you dear Merja for this nice card.

Titanic

Thank you Nora for this nice card.

MV Kronprins Carl Gustaf (1966-1975)

Kronprins Carl Gustaf was built in 1966 by Werft Nobiskrug, Rendsburg for Lion Ferry Ab of Halmstad. Her sisterships were Prins Bertl andGustav Vasa, and B&I Line ferries Munster, Leinster and Innisfallen were developments of the design. Kronprins Carl Gustaf entered service for Lion Ferry between Halmstad-Copenhagen-Travemünde. In 1967 she was transferred to the Trave Line service Helsingborg-Copenhagen-Travemünde. Kronprins Carl Gustaf was chartered to SJ (Statens Järnvägar - Swedish State Railways) in 1969 for their Malmö-Travemünde route. From 1972 this service was run by Rederi Ab Öresund. In 1975, Kronprins Carl Gustaf was sold to Polskie Linijskie Oceanica and renamed Wilanow, for service between Ystad-Swinoujscie. Ownership of Wilanow was transferred to Polska Zeluga Baltycka in 1977 for Swinoujscie-Rønne/ Ystad/ Copenhagen service, marketed as Polferries. In 1991 Wilanow was rebuilt in Gdansk with more berths. She was sold in 1997 to SEM Maritime, and renamed Split 1700 for eastern Mediterranean service. Thank you Merja fgor this nice card.

The Bore Star of the Silja Line

The history of Silja Line can be traced back to 1904 when two Finnish shipping companies, Finland Steamship Company (Finska Ångfartygs Aktiebolaget, FÅA for short) and Steamship Company Bore, started collaborating on Finland–Sweden traffic. The initial collaboration agreement was terminated in 1909, but re-established in 1910. After World War I in 1918 a new agreement was made that also included the Swedish Rederi AB Svea. Originally the collaboration agreement applied only on service between Turku and Stockholm, but was also applied to the Helsinki–Stockholm in 1928. As a precursor to the policies later adopted by Silja Line, each of the three companies ordered a near-identical ship for Helsinki–Stockholm service to coincide with the 1952 Summer Olympics, held in Helsinki. Eventually only Finland SS Co.'s SS Aallotar was ready in time for the olympics. At this time the city of Helsinki constructed the Olympia Terminal in Helsinki's South Harbour, that Silja Line's ships still use

Bore Star was built in 1975 by Dubigeon-Normandie SA, Nantes. She was one of three sisters built for Silja Line services, being owned by Silja Line consortium member Bore. During the winters of 1975/76 and 1976/77 she was chartered to Finnlines for cruises around the Canary Islands and African coast. These were marketed as the Finnpartner, although her official name was unchanged.

In 1980 Bore Star was sold to Silja Line consortium member Finska Ångfartygs Ab, and renamed Silja Star. She remaining with them until replaced by larger tonnage in 1986, when she was sold to Sea Containers for use as the cruise ferry Orient Express, on a service between Venice-Piraeus-Istanbul. She operated under charter as the cruise ship Club Sea in the winter of 1986-87 and then became Eurosun under charter and then sale to an Effjohn subsidiary in November 1989. She ran as Orient Express again during the summer of 1990 under charter, before transfer to another Effjohn subsidiary as Orient Sun for cruises out of Singapore. In 1992 she was sold to a further Effjohn company for use as the Wasa Queen between Sundsvall-Vasa and Umeå-Vasa.

In 2001 she was sold to India and became the MV AMET Majesty, India’s first cruise liner. The ship is also a training ship. The acronym AMET stands for “Academy of Maritime Education and Training.” AMET University is operating the ship as both a cruise ship for 1,150 passengers and a training ship for 90 nautical cadets and 120 engineering cadets. How this hybrid operation will function remains to be seen, but one has to admire the evident enthusiasm. The cruise marketing site promises “a total royal treat on a seven star category cruise liner.” I have never seen a crusie ship rating higher than five stars, so seven stars sounds very impressive. Thank you Pia for this pretty card.

Germany – SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

There is no doubt that the Kaiser realised what great national symbols large ships would be for his empire. He returned to Germany with the intention of building German liners to show the world the capability of the German Empire. And what would be a better way to do this, than to capture the famous Blue Riband into German hands? But it would take them some years to do so.
In Germany, there were two major transatlantic shipping companies: The Hamburg-Amerika Line and the Norddeutscher Lloyd (North German Lloyd). Neither of these lines had up until now shown any interest in operating large liners. But the steadily growing immigration traffic and the wishes of the Kaiser soon changed their minds.
Norddeutscher Lloyd was the company that took the first step. The Kaiser wanted Germany's ships to be the greatest ever, and he wanted German shipbuilders to build them. Norddeutscher Lloyd therefore approached the Vulcan Shipyards at Stettin. With them they placed the order for what would become the very first German superliner.
On May 4^th 1897, the new ship was ready for its launch. The Kaiser himself was present, and the ship was named Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse after his grandfather. The new ship would set a new style for ocean liners. She was the largest and longest liner afloat. She would have been the biggest ever had it not been for the Great Eastern of 1860. The most striking feature of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was her four funnels, the first ship ever to sport such a quartet that for the next decade would be the symbol of size and safety. To give her record-breaking speed, the ship was fitted with reciprocating engines capable of developing some 31,000 horsepower.
But the thing that was really ground-breaking was the fashion of her interior design. For the first time in history, one single designer was responsible for the decorating of an entire ship. On the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, as well as on her three subsequent sisters, the designer's name was Johannes Poppe. His style of interiors was of a new kind, and it would be reflected in many German liners to come. Favouring baroque revival, Poppe created an atmosphere that had no match in decoration. Public rooms were given high ceilings and rich ornate carvings. His taste for grandiosity seemed to know no limits, and it was almost as if he had tried to gild the whole ship. Nevertheless, the travelling public enjoyed the new Kaiser, and she quickly became a very popular ship.
As with the Kaiser's ideal Teutonic, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had been built with a possible war in mind. Should it ever be necessary, the ship could be fitted with guns to serve as an auxiliary cruiser.

France – Paddle Steamer SS Cobra

Cobra was built for G & J Burns daylight Royal Mail service from Gourock to Belfast. She was not found acceptable by Burns and was sold back to Fairfields, who renamed her St Tudno and registered in the name of their managing director Richard Barnwell. She was run for excursion work in North Wales, in competition with the ships of The Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Co Ltd. Evidently she was not profitable in this guise for she was sold again, in the same year, for use between Hamburg and Heligoland, where she regained her original name. She was comandeered by the French after the Great War and was sold to German breakers in 1922. In this splendid picture, she is shown in service at Nice, towards the end of her career. As can be seen, Cobra was a good looking steamer with a full length promenade deck and elegant lines. The picture below shows a lively scene of her whilst in service for the Hamburg-America line in 1909. Thank you Maria for this nice old ship card.

Finland - MS Independence of the Seas

MS Independence of the Seas is a Freedom-class cruise ship operated by the Royal Caribbean cruise line that entered service in April 2008. The 15-deck ship can accommodate 4,370 passengers served by 1,360 crew. She was built in the Aker Finnyards drydock in Turku, Finland, builder of Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas, her sister ships of the Freedom class. At 154,407 gross tons, she joined Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels ever built (at the time of construction). She is 1,112 feet (339 m) long, and typically cruises at 21.6 knots (40.0 km/h; 24.9 mph). The vessel operates from Southampton, England sailing year round European itineraries.

Independence of the Seas is the third of the Freedom-class vessel. In October 2009, Oasis of the Seas, the first ship in the Oasis-class displaced the Freedom-class as the world's largest passenger ships. This lovely card was sent to me by my dear friend Pia.

Finland - MS Bore

MS Bore is a combination museum and hotel ship docked permanently Turku, Finland. She was originally built in 1960 by Oskarshamn shipyard, Oskarshamn, Sweden as the car/passenger ferry SS Bore for Steamship Company Bore, Finland, then the last commercial steam ship built in Scandinavia and the first ferry on the route between Finland and Sweden where cars could drive aboard. She was later known as SS Borea, before being rebuilt as cruiseship in 1988. 1988 to 2010 she was owned by the Finnish shipping company Kristina Cruises and known as MS Kristina Regina until she was retired. Sointu sent me this card amongst others.

Finland - Tammio

This is a painting of a model of a fishing vessel from Tammio off the South Coast of Finland. The artist Erkki Sandberg is an old friend of My friend Merja who sent me this card.

Finland – Icebreaker Tarmo

The Tarmo is an icebreaker that served Finland for many decades. The Tarmo was built in 1907. She was armed and served in World War II. She is currently moored at a nautical museum in Kotka, Finland. She is often reported to be the world's oldest surviving icebreaker, although Russian Angara icebreaker predates Tarmo by at least 7 years and also survives to this day as a floating museum. Another Finnish icebreaker, built in 1963, was named after the original Tarmo. This card was sent to me by Merja My Friend.