Silver Shadow, Titanic Cargo, Marco Polo & the United States

ByBill Miller

Statues & Skyscrapers!

View from Silver Shadow's wheelhouse as the ship entered New York harbor in June. Photo courtesy of William H. Miller.
View from Silver Shadow‘s wheelhouse as the ship entered New York harbor in June. Photo courtesy of William H. Miller.

Tuesday, June 10, New York: Beginning at 10:30, I did the narration (from the wheelhouse of Silver Shadow) for our arrival in always impressive New York harbor. We were docked safely at Pier 90 by 1:00 pm and all ashore – well, if you wanted to go ashore. Many of us spent the night onboard – another fine meal!

Dinner companions (from right to left), Tony LaForgia, Miller and Donna LaForgia aboard Silver Shadow. Photo courtesy of William H. Miller.

Did You Know? 

On April 21, 1912, The New York Times reported the Titanic was carrying cargo worth $420,000 ($11 million today) on its ill-fated maiden voyage. The manifest included such items as 3,000 teacups, 40,000 eggs, five grand pianos and 36,000 oranges. It was also a mail ship (RMS stood for Royal Mail Steamer) and contained a post office with 3,364 mail bags aboard.

White Star Line's Titantic promotional poster. From the William H. Miller collection.
White Star Line’s Titantic promotional poster. From the William H. Miller collection.

In the Files!

Following our recent posting on the France/Norway conversion (1979-80), ocean liner expert and author Clive Harvey sent the photos below of the ship’s maiden call (as the Norway) at Southampton on May 8, 1980.

Norway make a maiden call at Southampton, UK, on May 8, 1908. Photo courtesy of Clive Harvey. From the William H. Miller collection.
Norway make a maiden call at Southampton, UK, on May 8, 1908. Photo courtesy of Clive Harvey. From the William H. Miller collection.

Norway make a maiden call at Southampton, UK, on May 8, 1908. Photo courtesy of Clive Harvey. From the William H. Miller collection.

And in long-ago days

Stephen Card shared this view of the outbound Rotterdam at Pier 40. To the right  is Pier 42, demolished in 1965.  Pre-war, it was used by North German Lloyd; from 1948, it was leased by Norwegian America Line & later shared with Incres Line.

Rotterdam casting off at Pier 40, New York. Courtesy of Stephen Card. From the William H. Miller collection.
Rotterdam casting off at Pier 40, New York. Courtesy of Stephen Card. From the William H. Miller collection.

Memories Soviet Style!

Carinthia entering Montreal. From the William H. Miller collection.
Carinthia entering Montreal. From the William H. Miller collection.

Back in the mid 1960s, Graham Lees served aboard Cunard’s Carinthia and on the Liverpool-Montreal route. Our recent posting on the Aleksandr Pushkin/Marco Polo prompted memories of that ship. “Whilst in Montreal on one of my scheduled 3 night stays each 3rd week of the Carinthia season, some of junior officers went on board the Pushkin to have a look around,” he wrote.

“It was very basic in most of the accommodation – a lot of cabins not having a bathroom, merely a sink which had to be filled and emptied using a supplied pitcher from somewhere along the alleyway. Posh cabins were more appropriately supplied with bathrooms which, I seem to remember, had a bath but no shower. Some vodka was consumed! We invited some of the Russian officers back on board the Carinthia and they were impressed with the passenger and especially the officer accommodations.” 

Aleksandr Pushkin, which was later relaunched as Marco Polo, calling at Sydney. From the William H. Miller collection.
Aleksandr Pushkin, which was later relaunched as Marco Polo, calling at Sydney. From the William H. Miller collection.

He added, “Some years later, a former student of mine served as electro-technical officer on board the Marco Polo and he was pleased to inform me that the ship was no longer in the condition it had formerly been. He enjoyed the years he spent there and I actually went to the pier head in Liverpool to see her. CMV used Liverpool as a turn-around port in those days.”

Chartered by CMV, Marco Polo turns at St. Petersburg, Russia. From the William H. Miller collection.
Chartered by CMV, Marco Polo turns at St. Petersburg, Russia. From the William H. Miller collection.

Chartered by CMV, Marco Polo turns at St. Petersburg, Russia. From the William H. Miller collection.

Red, White & Blue!

Richard Weiss wrote: “Sorting through some miscellaneous ship stuff the other day, I came across this issue of Science Illustrated from May 1949. It shows the unmistakable profile of the United States  and with a short article on the pros and cons of operating a big liner and comparing the statistics of passenger loads etc. of the new American liner vs the already successful Cunard Queens.

Magazine cover and early media coverage of SS United States. From the William H. Miller collection.
Magazine cover and early media coverage of SS United States. From the William H. Miller collection.

Magazine cover and early media coverage of SS United States. From the William H. Miller collection.

“The first page shows a picture of the new ship with William Francis Gibbs looking it over. What is odd is that in this model, as well as the cover picture, shows the funnels silver for the lower half and above that the traditional colors of United States Lines RW&B. Apparently a name for the new super liner had not been chosen at this time as the author suggested calling her the SS American Engineer due to Mr. Gibbs extraordinary record as a naval architect. This is the earliest publication I have ever seen on the ship and brings up the question of when exactly did she receive the name United States?”

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