Comments by "Andrew Brendan" (@andrewbrendan1579) on "Big Old Boats" channel.

Ile de France: my favorite ocean liner and especially in her post-war arrangement. It's never been officially confirmed, but the plot of "The Last Voyage" (a man trying to get help for his wife trapped in wreckage) is clearly based on real-life couple who were aboard the sinking Andrea Doria. Sadly the lady on the Andrea Doria did not survive; she went into shock and died. What a strange mix of fact and fiction: a story heavily based on real people on the Andrea Doria filmed on the liner that came to the resuce of the people aboard the sinking Italian liner.
58
Thank you, Big Old Boats! A great production about a ship that has become obscured in history. The Bremen deserves much more recognition. She had terrific interiors. It's sad that there are so few good-quality pictures of the inside of the liner and that there are even fewer in color. I'm glad you were able to use the motion picture footage of the interior. Do you know if that was filmed on board or was a studio re-creation? Either way it's still valuable in giving us a sense of the Bremen's interior.
35
Thank you, Big Old Boats! This is the first time I've seen an in-depth study about the Michelangelo and Rafaello. Very informative and enjoyable video. I was told that another factor working against the two liners was not only being divided into three classes but that the floor plans were complicated and have been desribed as "rabbit warrens". By the time the "twin fliers" debuted their class division was already anachronisitc as other liners had much less class distinction and passenger of all classes could move about the ships more freely. On other liners class divisions might be only opening or closing a sliding panel. The Michelangelo and Rafaello could have been hugely successful, long-lived cruise ships. Also I wanted to mention I've seen a drawing or painting from early on that showed the two sisters with black hulls and conventional funnels. It would be fascinating to see how the Mike and Ralph (as tugboat people called them) would have looked inside and out had they had more years of service. Some of those interiors soon came to look dated.
35
Another fascinating liner video! Thank you! The deterioration of then explosion on the Norway makes me think of the movie "The Last Voyage" in which a boiler explodes aboard an aged and worn out ocean liner. The movie was filmed aboard the France/Norway's predecessor Ile de France. interesting how art and life have so much in common.
8
Yes! Another winner from Big Old Boats! Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these excellent documentaries. I've loved ocean liners for decades but a lot of the footage here was new to me. --- Something that viewers may find of interest is that the Berengaria was to have remained in service until 1940 then be replaced by the Queen Elizabeth. In 1938 a fire broke out aboard the Berengaria while she was docked in New York. Her certification to carry passengers was revoked and the Berengaria returned to England without passengers, never to serve again as a passenger liner but was scrapped. --- Someone else may know more about this and can add a comment, but I believe Winston Churchill tried to prevent the scrapping of the Berengaria and maybe the Olympic also, knowing that the two liners would be of great value in the event of a war that appeared to be and actually was not far off.
6
Thank you for this excellent video! High quality production about an ocean liner about which so little is known --- and what a beauty she was. The Belgenland was called "the little Olympic", but she had her own identity.
6
I believe the Aquitania was in the Pacific during World War II. She was scrapped in the U.K.
6
Both of the Queens had their advantages and strong points. The Queen Elizabeth was an improvement on the Queen Mary in terms of technology and design but I lean more to the Queen Mary's interiors when it comes to the asthetics of the two liners. Still the First Class Lounge of the Queen Elizabeth is even more beautiful than that of the Queen Mary and I find the Third Class dining room of the Queen Elizabeth to be exceptionally attractive.
5
Big Old Boats, this might the topic for another video: I read once that the 1972 disaster movie "The Poseidon Adventure" hurt the cruise business which was nowhere near as extensive as it is today. Too it would be interesting to know how much of today's popularity of cruising is because of the television series "The Love Boat".
5
Thank you for all the time and work that went into this production. I had a great time watching this. This may be open to debate but I've read that the Queen Mary was an updated version of the Berengaria with a deck plan similar to that of the Aquitania. Had the Elizabeth entered service as planned maybe she would have become the better-known of the almost-sister ships. I've read that thought the first Mauretania was very popular it was actually the Lusitania that had been more popular up to the time of her sinking in 1915. I knew a man, now deceased, who was on the Queen Mary when she was a transport. He thought that it would be a good idea to get the lowest bunk to the floor because there was less motion lower down and less chance of being seasick. The drawback was that when someone above him was throwing up....well, you know where it went. Yech. When they arrived in England those men must have been in a state of sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Just speculation but even though the Seawise University may have been in excellent shape with up-to-date safety features when ready for service, I question how successful she would have been: would enough people be interested in an educational cruise ship to make it profitable? Still many might have gone just for the cruise part. Then there's the cost of maintaining a very large liner that was already well along in years. Then there was the huge increase in fuel costs in the 1970's and increasingly high safety standards. Also how many ports could accommodate a liner nearly the size of the Empire State Building? I wonder if the Seawise University would have been in service for more than a few years.
5
Wonderful video! As always! I see the Canberra's design as as further development of the design for the Northern Star and the Southern Cross. I think she was an unusual, but attractive ship. The Canberra is special for me because her sea trials took place on the day I was born. I remember reading back in the 90's about how it looked like the Canberra's career would be coming to an end. I didn't think it would happen, but it did. I'm glad she didn't became one of the Premier ships because a red hull, had that paint scheme been used, would have looked awful on the Canberra.
4
An outstanding video! Very well researched and produced. Such a terrible event, a terrible story yet engrossing. I've read that after the horror on the Morro Castle no changes were made to her sister ship Oriente. My reaction or impression is that the Ward Line and the Morro Castle, and maybe the Oriente and other ships of the line, were permeated with evil. Something to learn from this catastrophe is to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings and know how to get out and without necessarily waiting for direction to do so. I would suggest to people to make it a habit to have a small flashlight with your or near you. Also it appears very possible to me that the George Rogers started the fire. I'd be surprised he did not do so. I know that the evidence is circumstantial but there's so much of that evidence. Arson mixed with a highly flammable ship that was poorly maintained and operated is a combination for catastrophe, maybe even more than was anticipated by a possible arsonist. I'd like to recommend the book "When the Dancing Stopped---The Real Story of the Morro Castle and Its Deadly Wake" by Brian Hicks. This also presents evidence that George Rogers was responsible. The book is fascinating but does not dwell on the gruesome deaths of those who perished and is also a book about the treatment of American workers during the Depression.
4
Wonderful video -- as always! I read "Captain of the Queens" by Commodore Sir Harry Grattidge and he wrote about people enjoying and maybe even preferring the smaller, "club-like" atmosphere of the second Mauretania. One of those people was movie actress Lana Turner. It may have been on the Mauretania that women passengers would copy the hairstyles Miss Turner had during the crossing. One time the Commodore asked the actress to change her hair-do for when she went to dinner. Lana Turner arrived for dinner with a new "do" and other women had their hair done as the actress had worn it earlier in the day. The Commodore thought it was a good joke. Some of the lady passengers did not share in his amusement... Off-topic, but I like pens as well as liners. At 9:40 during the segment about Lord Haha we see a young woman writing with what appears to be a fancy fountain pen. I'd like to have a good look at that pen and I wonder if it still exists somewhere. Too, if my memory is right, Lord Haha was later hanged for treason. Maybe someone else can add a comments. P.S. --- I enjoyed seeing a clip at 15:10 from "The Last Voyage".
3
The Liberte makes a brief appearance in the Jane Russell movie "The French Line". Much of the movie takes place aboard the Liberte, but the studio sets were used instead, but early in the film there's a view of the Liberte at the pier in New York.
2
I second the motion! I love ocean liners, but I would have avoided the Imperator. I wonder how many people who might have known a little more about ships and stability than other people or who just gave the matter a little more consideration actually did stay away from the Imperator. I wish I could remember it better or find it elsewhere, but I've read that Albert Ballin said something about the Imperator being a good hotel in a bad ship.
2
That's a great idea of a Mauretania/Britanis. This is just a guess on my part, but I'm wondering if Chandris chose the smaller liner that had been the Monterey because the Cunard liner would have proven to eventually be too large of a ship for the immigrant service that would eventually taper off and end and with a future in cruising being unsure at that time. Maybe the Mauretania was just more ship than Chandris wanted to take on; one big (and really not that big) liner being enough for them. I've also wondered about the Dominion Monarch going to Chandris, but again the D.M. might have been a little too large and then there would be the cost and trouble of turning a lot of cargo space into passenger accommodation. It's fun to speculate on what might have been. I like to say that one of my favorite games is Ocean Liner What-If!
1
Same here: The Bremen and Europa were both sensation liners but I find the Europa to be a little bit more attractive. When you look at the forward superstructure, the bridge front, of both liners you can seem some resemblance to those of the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary. The Bremen and Queen Elizabeth had more vertical bridge front while those of the Europa and Queen Mary had a more stepped appearance. The forward superstructures of the Europa and Queen Mary are so alike that I think of them as ocean liner cousins!
1
I've read that about the Queen Elizabeth, that she could acheive 34 knots, but that it was simply too expensive to operate her at such speed.
1
John Maxtone-Graham in his book "Crossing to Cruising" has a fascinating fictional section in the chapter called "The Once and Future Normandie" about the Normandie's wartime service as the Lafayette then her return to peacetime service. Mr. Maxtone-Graham's fictional account take the Normandie into the 1960's when she is replaced by the France. Fiction but great fun to read and it's a good account of what could have happened.
1