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PAGE 6 |
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Ocean Liners and the sea: Bill loved the old ocean liners from an era now gone by. He has studied the events that led up to the demise of the fabled RMS Titanic and has met nine original survivors from that disaster. Bill has an extensive collection of original ocean liner memorabilia that he is extremely proud of. |
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Most people know the story of the ill-fated Titanic by now. She sailed on her maiden voyage, struck an iceberg, and sunk. With a shortage of lifeboats, only 705 people survived out of 2200+. |
This is a group picture of nine Titanic survivors Bill met in 1977. |
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When Bill was 15 years old and living in Connecticut, his parents allowed him to take the train to New York City, then a cab to the docks where he could actually board the great ocean liners that day before they sailed. He has been on board some of the biggest and greatest ones including the RMS Queen Elizabeth, the S.S. United States, and the S.S. Ile de France. |
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The last "real" ocean liner was the S.S. Norway (ex-S.S. France) which was retired from service in 2003. He has sailed on her three times and was on the second-to-last voyage the liner made before being withdrawn from service. All that is left are cruise ships, built especially for cruising, that Bill calls "A hotel stuck on a hull which makes for an ugly ship". They simply don’t have the beautiful lines of the old ocean liners. |
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The S.S. Norway was originally launched as the S.S. France and was the longest ocean liner in the world. Bill has sailed on her three times including her second-to-last voyage before a boiler accicent killed some crew members and she was retired. |
Of all the beautiful ocean liners ever built, Bill feels that the Normandie of the French Line had the most graceful lines. |