Category Archives: Titanic II Blue Star Line updates

John Jacob Astor’s watch was being peddled to Titanic II partiers; was it a hoax like the violin?

Leave a reply
John Jacob Astor and his teenage bride in New York prior to their fateful voyage.

John Jacob Astor and his teenage bride in New York prior to their fateful voyage.

Another Titanic Hoax?
From the Gothamist
Convicted mother looter Anthony Marshall is still appealing his one-to-three year prison sentence. And in the meantime? He’s reportedly busy hawking family heirlooms of questionable provenance at parties for the greatest cruise ship of our time, the Titanic II. Brooke would not be amused!

It seems that Marshall and his wife Charlene attended a gala for the we-still-can’t-believe-this-is-really-happening Titanic II cruise ship last month and while there showed off some of the family jewels. Charlene reportedly wore some of Brooke’s baubles and Marshall, 88, was apparently flashing a watch he claims that John Jacob Astor IV wore when he died on the original Titanic in 1912. Only problem? Somebody else owns that particular watch! And he didn’t loan it to Tony.

John Miottel, “a real-estate magnate who collects luxury ocean-liner memorabilia,” says he bought the watch in 1997 and has all the documentation to prove it. “The watch was purchased in 1907 and carried by Mr. Astor, and we have an affidavit on its history. When the ship went down, Astor went into the water and two weeks later, they recovered his body and the personal effects were taken off the victims and put in canvas bags,” Miottel told the Post before showing documents confirming he bought the watch, which had previously left the Astor family, from Brunk Auctions in Asheville, NC.

Charlene Marshall, for her part, told the Post that Miottel is wrong and that the watch her hubby has is the real deal. And the story could end there, with a couple of old cons thinking they’ve got something they don’t. Except, according to reports Charlene and Anthony are said to be looking to sell the watch (as the real deal) for $1 million—which it certainly isn’t worth. Still, there is a way to make that watch really valuable! Just have it sink with the obviously doomed Titanic II and then fish it back up again.  …..MORE

[metaslider id=336]

Adriatic, Biggest Ship Yet Built, to Start It in May

Leave a reply

[metaslider id=286]

The Britannic was the third in the Olympic series, after the Titanic, and was appropriated by the British government as a hospital ship.

The Britannic was the third in the Olympic series, after the Titanic, and was appropriated by the British government as a hospital ship.

This press release was carried in newspapers to herald the launch of the new White Star liner Adriatic:
—
SHE WILL CARRY 3,000 SOULS
—
And Have a Turkish Bath, Plunge, and Orchestra Aboard—Line to
Liverpool to Stay.
—
With the putting in commission next May of its new steamship Adriatic, which will be not only the largest steamship in service anywhere in the world, but the finest product of marine architecture yet designed, the White Star Line announced yesterday the inauguration at that time of a new line between New York and ports in the English Channel. The line has
decided to improve its facilities by transferring the British terminal of its Wednesday mail service to Southampton, the eastbound steamers calling at Plymouth and Cherbourg, and westbound ships at Cherbourg and Queenstown. This new line will be known as the United States and Royal
Mail Service.

A Turkish bath

A Turkish bath on the proposed Titanic II

This does not mean that the regular Wednesday sailings between New York and Liverpool, via Queenstown, are to be discontinued. The sailing day for this route will be changed to Thursday and will be maintained by the steamers Baltic, Cedric, Celtic, and Arabic.

The Channel service will be opened by the new Adriatic, which is to sail from Liverpool on her maiden voyage an May 8 and will sail from this side on May 22. Besides the 25,000-ton Adriatic, the new service will include the steamers Oceanic, Teutonic, and Majestic. In establishing
the new route, the White Star Line was influenced not only by the growing popularity of the Channel ports as a convenient and comfortable route by which the traveler may reach London and Paris, the objective points of a large majority of transatlantic travelers, but also to a
great extent by recommendations from many thousands of its patrons in America who have come to look with favor on the Channel route.

The new line means that the steamers of the White Star Line will touch at nearly all of the great tourist ports of Europe. The New York-Mediterranean service will be kept up by the steamers Republic and Cretic, while the fortnightly service between Boston and Liverpool will
be maintained by the Cymric and the Republic. The International Mercantile Marine Company, of which the White Star Line is a subsidiary company, has materially strengthened its European connections by the new departure.

When the new Adriatic is turned over to the company by the builders, Harland & Wolff of Belfast, in April, she will mark a new epoch in transatlantic travel. Not only does she combine in hull and engines every improvement and every invention—with the exception of turbines—which have been devised for the safety of vessels and the comfort of the oceangoing traveler, but in every detail she is the combined result of the experience of the managers and the builders. For her interior decorations the line will employ the most famous decorators, outfitters, and upholsterers of Europe.

The newest of all new features to be introduced in other respects is well-equipped Turkish baths. which will vie with the finest establishments of the kind ashore. There will be, in addition to the hot, temperate. and cooling rooms, a large plunge bath and an electric bath. Another innovation is the introduction of an orchestra, the first ever placed on an Atlantic British passenger-carrying steamer.

The German lines were the first to furnish music for the entertainment of their passengers. The Red Star Line to Antwerp followed suit. and then the French Line. The French Line, however, made a step in advance, for, while the other lines selected a band from among their own
stewards, the French line placed on its vessels orchestras from the hotels of Paris.

The Adriatic is 725 feet long, 75 feet 6 inches beam, and about 50 feet deep. Her gross tonnage is 25,000 and her displacement over 40,000 tons She has nine steel decks, and is divided into twelve watertight compartments. The total number of. steel plates used in her hull is
about 20,000 and the rivets are estimated at nearly two million and a half. Her cables are three and three-eighths inches in diameter, and weigh nearly ninety tons, and her anchors weigh about eight tons each.

The general arrangements of the ship are similar to those of the Baltic and other vessels of that type. The first-class dining room will seat 370 persons. It is to be paneled in the fashion of Charles II and painted in ivory white and gold. Over the middle of the room will be a dome made with leaded glass of white and yellow, and under the dome will be paintings of scenes in Switzerland, Italy, Yellowstone Park, and the Rhine country. The same scheme of decoration has been carried out in the second-cabin saloon, though less elaborately.

When filled the Adriatic will have on board 3,000 souls. She will be fitted with Marconi wireless and a submarine signaling apparatus.

[metaslider id=336]

Model test of Titanic II held in Germany

Leave a reply

TITANIC II MODEL TEST HELD IN GERMANY

November 25, 2013  — Blue Star Line Chairman Clive Palmer said the company in conjunction with German hydrodynamic service and consulting group the Hamburg Ship Model Basin (HSVA) has conducted the first model testing of the proposed Titanic II in Germany.

Grand staircase on Titanic II Blue Star Line

Mr Palmer said in what was HSVA’s 5000th model test in the company’s centenary year, a 9.3m wooden model of Titanic II was put through propulsion and power testing in a 300m long tank at HSVA’s Hamburg facilities over four days from September 9-12.

Titanic II is scheduled to be launched from its construction base in China in 2016, before her maiden passenger voyage retracing its original journey from Southampton to New York.

“The model testing by HSVA, including resistance and open water tests, is an important part of the process in the Titanic II project,” Mr Palmer said.

“The Titanic II model was tested by HSVA at speeds of up to 23 knots and this testing is crucial for assessing the speed and power performance of this prototype vessel design.

“Blue Star Line was represented at the tests by the World Project Director of Titanic II, Baljeet Singh.  We look forward to receiving the results later this year.”

HSVA Director of Resistance and Propulsion, Dr Uwe Hollenbach, said HSVA was delighted to be part of the historic Titanic II project.

“The Titanic II model was given the HSVA model number 5000,” Dr Hollenbach said.

“In honour of Titanic II and Blue Star Line, we also held a naming ceremony and launched the model on a traditional slipway.”

Dr Hollenbach said model testing was the only accurate and reliable method for a passenger vessel prototype such as Titanic II.

“Titanic II is a prototype as present day passenger vessels have a completely different type of main hull parameters and therefore are unsuitable as references,” Dr Hollenbach said.

“The speed and power performance model testing is one of the critical aspects for a prototype vessel and needs to be verified before a construction contract is completed.

“Self propulsion tests determine the optimal sense of wing propeller rotation, the neutral wing thruster angle and optimal load distribution between wing and centre units.”

On April 30, 2012, Mr Palmer announced to the world his intention to build and launch Titanic II. The announcement came 100 years after the original vessel last sailed.

The RMS Titanic was commissioned by White Star Line and was the largest liner in the world at just under 270m long, 53m high and weighing approximately 40,000 tonnes.

Mr Palmer said Titanic II would have similar dimensions as its predecessor, with 840 rooms and nine decks. The only changes to the original Titanic would be below the water line including welding and not riveting, a bulbous bow for greater fuel efficiency, diesel generation and enlarged rudder and bow thrusters for increased manoeuvrability.

Link to Video:  Titanic II Model Test

Clive Palmer, Chairman of Blue Star Line on 60 Minutes