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A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
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A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
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Gripsholm Lost at Sea |
| The SEA, ex GRIPSHOLM, under tow to India, sank at 05h00 local (South African) time, on July 12, 2001, 83 miles SSE of Cape Recife on the Cape south coast. |
Gripsholm 1975 Photo contributed by crew member Lars Warlin
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The Gripsholm's Final Voyage (Please forgive us for not using the correct name "Sea". To the Swedes, she will always be remembered as the Gripsholm.)
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| The Gripsholm was laid up in Tampa Bay for nearly four years. Gripsholm was also known for her service as Karageorgis' Navarino and Regency Cruise Line's Regent Sea. An aborted rebuilding into the casino ship Splash during 1997 had left the old liner stripped and partially gutted (see below). In April 2000, the ship was inspected by Seapartner, Sweden, on an assignment for Swedish investors. The inspector recommended that the ship should not be towed across the ocean. Gripsholm was sold to the German company Eckhardt Marine, to be scrapped during the spring of 2001. The price was $1.08M. The ship departed on April 17, 2001, towed by the Dutch tug Solano. Her destination was yet to be confirmed. On May 17, plans to moor Gripsholm in the Stockholm harbor as a floating cruise terminal and hotel were made public. A new group of investors had an option to purchase the ship for approximately $2.5M. The plan was to tow her to drydock in Finland to paint the hull, and then to Estonia for refurbishing. However, no money changed hands, and Gripsholm continued towards India to be scrapped. On June 7, the Stockholm City Planning Board postponed its decision regarding granting the Gripsholm a permit as a floating hotel until the next meeting in August. People who lived on the hill above the intented docking site were protesting that the ship would block the view of the Stockholm waterways. Two Senegalese newspapers, Le Populaire, and Le Soleil, reported that the Gripsholm had been boarded and looted by fishermen turned pirates, while anchored off Dakar. Computers and other electronic equipment were among the stolen items. The police apprehended many persons and found some of the loot, among it 167 armchairs, refrigerators, linen and a cabin door! The Gripsholm left Dakar and was expected to arrive in Cape Town for bunkering around June 25. Somewhere in the South Atlantic, the tug Simoon replaced Solano. Both tugs are owned by the Dutch company ITC. The southern Cape coast was at this time battered by a series of massive winter gales. The liner was refused to enter Algoa Bay as a place of refuge by the South African authorities. Reasons for refusing entry into the calmer waters of Algoa Bay were given as a concern over the 30 degree list of the vessel, plus the presence of 60 tons of fuel aboard. These were deemed to be a threat to the pristine beaches of the area.
On July 11, at 05h00 local (South African) time, the Gripsholm sank in 4,200 metres of water at a position 83 miles SSE of Cape Recife on the Cape south coast.
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När hotellplanerna för Gripsholm grusades Resebyråmannen Tommy Asklund har skrivit ett brev om hur det gick till när planerna att göra Gripsholm till hotell i Stockholm stoppades av en liten grupp motståndare år 2001. |
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GRIPSHOLM in Cape Town. Photo by
Ian Shiffman, Table Bay Underway Shipping.
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The Sea, ex Gripsholm, in Tampa, February 2001. Photo contributed by Peter Knego.
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The Sea/Gripsholm 2000
This is what the upper decks of the ship looked
like after attempts to convert her into a casino
ship in 1997.
Read more about Peter Knego's work at
www.maritimematters.com
 Lido Disco Verandah Deck |
 Sun Deck |
 Sun Deck |
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Back to the Gripsholm page
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Regardless of which ship we sailed on or which year - the memories we share are the same!
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Recommended Books |
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Updated Sep 7, 2009 Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising John Graves
Örjan Slätte, ex Information Officer on the Gripsholm, recommends Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising by John Graves, published by the National Maritime Museum in London in 2004. It is based on photos by Marine Photo Service, which were acquired by the museum in 1996 The book features many photos from SAL cruises.
Please note that the book's edition at Amazon.co.uk may not have the Kungsholm on the cover. Örjan Slätte, Informationsofficer på Gripsholm, rekommenderar boken Waterline - Images from the Golden Ages of Cruising. Boken är utgiven år 2004 av National Maritime Museum i London som 1996 förvärvat Marine Photo Service (MPS) samlingar. Redan omslagsbilden föreställer Kungsholm 1953 med två vattenskidåkande ynglingar i fronten. MPS fanns i många rederier och där finns många mycket bra foton från SAL:s kryssningar. Våra fotografer var mycket yrkesskickliga med konstnärlig talang. Man kan förmoda att de tidvis kände för att fotografera annat än leende, välklädda pax med cocktailglas i hand. Fina miljöer från fartygens "omvärld". |
Updated July7, 2008 MERCY SHIPS
During World War 2 the Drottningholm and the Gripsholm were used as repatriation ships and made 33 voyages to exchange prisoners of war, diplomats, women and children, between the warfaring nations. David Miller has written a book about the exchange and repatriation voyages,with an emphasis on the British experience. It is loaded with facts about these voyages of mercy. Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here. |
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M/S Kungsholms inredning Första M/S Kungsholm, Amerikalinjens stora passagerarfartyg, byggdes på 1920-talet. Det gick mellan Göteborg och New York. Arkitekten Carl Bergsten fick uppdraget att hålla i den påkostade inredningen som skulle visa för världen vad svenska konstnärer kunde åstadkomma. Under andra världskriget togs fartyget i beslag av amerikanarna för att användas i trupptransporten till Europa. Inredningen revs då ner och förstördes. Anne-Marie Ericsson har letat i arkiv och museer efter beskrivningar, ritningar och gamla fotografier för att försöka rekonstruera denna makalösa uppvisning i svensk inredningskonst. |
Amerikabåtarna Christer Winberg, professor i historia vid Göteborgs universitet, har skrivit en bok om SAL som bygger på bevarat samtida material från Svenska Amerika Linien på Landsarkivet och Sjöfartsmuseet i Göteborg. Det omfattar exempelvis reserapporter, minnesberättelser och personligt färgade reseskildringar. Författaren har också samlat in eget material genom intervjuer med f.d. anställda.
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Andrea Dorias undergång I Andrea Dorias undergång berättar Britt-Marie Mattsson den fascinerande berättelsen om kollisionen, den heroiska räddningsaktionen och det rättsliga efterspelet till den mycket uppmärksammade olyckan - sin tids Titanic. Mattssons far var vid tiden för olyckan informationschef vid Svenska Amerika Linien. Britt-Marie Mattsson har träffat flera av de överlevande och intervjuat dem för denna bok. Hon har bland annat talat med vittnen som ger information som kan kasta nytt ljus över vad som egentligen orsakade den fruktansvärda kollisionen. Boken är rikligt illustrerad i svartvitt. |
A book about the Kungsholm of 1953. |
Journalist Per Fält has recommended |
"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna SAL har skildrats i böcker, dokumentär-filmer, journalfilmer och tidningsartiklar. Oftast är det glamouren som uppmärk-sammats men en grupp har alltid saknats i beskrivningarna: homosexuella män. Såna på Amerikabåtarna är en välskriven, lättläst och underhållande studie av en värld som gått i glömska. | |
De Flytande Palatsen From the very inception of the line in 1915, the ships of the Line attracted much attention on both sidesof the Atlantic. Not only did they represent the bonds between the old country and the new, they also represented new concepts in service, decor, and furnishings as well as in art and handicraft. Published in 1987. This book can be found on Amazon.
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Huset Broström Huset Broström för tankarna till Forsythesagan och Onedinlinjen. Inget svenskt företag har upplevt så stor dramatik som just Broströms. Detta är den dramtiska berättelsen "inifrån Huset", om det som skedde i det som syntes ske. Utgiven 1980. | ||
Out of the Fog is an American edition of a Swedish book by Algot Mattsson, who was the information officer for SAL, the owner of Stockholm, the ship that collided with Andrea Doria in 1956. The book describes the collision from the perspectives of both ships as well as the heroic rescue of hundreds. Testimony given at the hearing is also included as is a legal opinion by the American editors, one of whom was directly involved with the case. |
Detta är en berättelse om den dramatiska färden över Atlanten, från de hårda och riskfyllda överfarten med små lastskutor i mitten av 1800-talet, till lyxresorna med Amerikalinjens sista skepp. Utgiven 1982 | ||
