Passenger ships exhibit 1
all spoons are sterling unless otherwise noted
left:
1. RMS Lusitania
2. SS Laurentic
3. SS Noordam
right column:
1. Pioneer SS Beaver
2. D. Columbus, spoon is unmarked and may be gold plated over
base metal
3. TSS Assyria, Rd number on back, but no silver marking -- may be
silverplated
4. Princess Victoria
5. Princess Victoria
Launched in 1907 by the British Cunard Line the Lusitania was for a
time the largest passenger ship afloat.
It was torpedoed by a German U-boat in 1915 with a tremendous loss of
life.
This major violation of international laws known as the 'Cruiser
Rules' changed the American public's
attitudes towards the 'Great War' (WW1) in Europe and was a major
factor in
the US decision to declare war against the Axis.
SS Laurentic was a British ocean liner launched in 1908 by the
White Star Line for use on the Liverpool to Quebec City route.
This was a full scale experiment for the new class of passenger cruise
ships which would include the Megantic and the Titanic.
The Laurentic had a three screw configuration which proved to be a
significant improvement in efficiency and economy.
At the outbreak of the Great War (WW1), the Laurentic was in Montreal
and was changed to a troop carrier.
In 1915, she struck land mines just north of Ireland and sank with a
loss of 350 people.
In addition she was carrying 43 tons of gold ingots at the time. Most
of the gold has been recovered, but 22 gold bars remain in the sea.
s/s Noordland was a steam ship built in 1883 for the Red Star Line
The ship regularly sailed between Antwerp and New York and brought
thousands of immigrants to the USA
This spoon shows a generic ship and the word "Noordland" was a
customization
probably by an immigrant or a relative of one of the immigrants
Launched in 1836, the SS Pioneer Beaver was the first steamship in the
Puget Sound area.
this 100 foot long vessel was built in London and rigged with sails.
The steam fueled engines
were installed in Canada and burned 40 cords of wood every day (for a
30 mile journey)
The ship ran into rocks in the Vancouver BC harbor in 1888
Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL), a German shipping company, was the
second largest Passenger Cruise company in the world and
was the major transporter of European immigrants from Europe into
the United States during the era of the great migration..
In 1914, NDL started to build two 33,000 GRT liners of the new
Columbus class vessel.
However, the outbreak of the Great War in Europe stopped
construction.
The original name of this ship was to be the Hindenburg, but her sister
ship the Columbus (renamed Homeric)
was handed over to the White Star Line as reparations after the war in
1920.
This popular 1650 Passenger ship (400 in first class) was the
first to have an outside swimming pool on her top deck
and was the queen of the NDL fleet until 1929
Launched in 1908 as the Ypiranga by the Hamburg American Line, she made
her maiden voyage from Hamburg to Philadelphia.
At the end of the Great War she was part of the reparations package and
renamed the Assyria and placed into
the Liverpool to Bombay, India run. She had 241 first class
cabins and 140 third class cabins.
"Fastest steamer on Pacific Coast"
The SS Princess Victoria was the fastest and best looking ocean
steamship in the Puget Sound area and was active on the
Seattle, Vancouver and Victoria triangular route.
With 76 staterooms housing 152 overnight passengers, she also could
accomodate another 1000 day passengers.
The Canadian Pacific Railway owned the Princess line of ships.
After a number of mergers and business combinations over the next 60
years, a consortium of investors bought the
Princess name and the Princess Patricia cruise ship and formed
the Princess Cruise Line.
Princess Cruise Lines is now a semi-autonomous division of Carnival
Corporation, the world's largest passenger cruise line.
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