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The Tragic Final Fate of the World’s Most Famous Ships

Chris Frame the Maritime Historian

121,225 views

From the golden age of ocean liners to the modern cruise boom, even the most magnificent floating cities cannot outrun progress. What really happened to legendary speed queens like Cunard's Mauretania, White Star Line's Olympic (sistership of the Titanic), and the ultimate TV icons, the famous "Love Boat" (Pacific Princess and Island Princess)?

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🛳️ Production & Image Credits CC BY:
Sivil Denizcilik - CC BY SA 3.0 https://tinyurl.com/83j4epb5
Monarch & Sovereign CC BY SA 4.0 ND44 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mo...
Carnival Inspiration CC BY SA 4.0 Angelgreat https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Monarch CC BY SA 2.0 Roel van Deursen https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
White Swan Hotel CC BY SA 4.0 'Own Work' https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
SS Norway CC BY SA 3.0 AKS1189 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
SS Norway CC BY SA 3.0 Photography.np https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Seawise University CC BY SA 2.5 Barry Loigman M.D. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Se...
Costa Concordia CC BY SA 3.0 Rvongher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...
Costa Concordia CC BY SA 4.0 G. Jenewein https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Co...
France Bow CC BY SA 4.0 Neoclash https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
By Angelgreat - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Monarch & Sovereign, 2020. CC BY SA 4.0 ND44 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mo...
By Angelgreat - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
Island Princess Dashers https://tinyurl.com/3bt9hzen
Island Princess Deck Scene CC BY SA 2.0 Glenn https://tinyurl.com/ckduue4y
Discovery MKFI https://tinyurl.com/yc7mmrmz
Island Princess CC BY SA 2.0 Glenn https://tinyurl.com/bdhj685m
Pacific at Fort-de-France CC BY SA 4.0 Boato Giuseppe https://tinyurl.com/235kfk3p
Pacific CC BY SA 2.0 Aah-Yeah https://tinyurl.com/5n6492m7
Discovery CC BY SA 4.0 Pjotr Mahhonin https://tinyurl.com/jpvahrrd https://tinyurl.com/pjtorwaj https://tinyurl.com/y66uaut4 https://tinyurl.com/y66uaut4
Acif CC BY SA 3.0 Eustace Bagge https://tinyurl.com/m8ty4prx
Scrapping at Aliağa CC BY SA 4.0 FAith Takmakli https://tinyurl.com/r2trewgf5634
Discovery CC BY SA 3.0 ~~--=XEON=--~~ https://tinyurl.com/4tw6fafd
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By Edmondramous - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Angelgreat - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By anil c patel, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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Sivil Denizcilik CC BY SA 3.0 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
By Planet Labs, Inc. - https://www.planet.com/gallery/alang/ (direct link), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Bambhaniya Ravikumar - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Fatih Takmakli - CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
By Angelgreat - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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By Phillip Capper CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index...
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Notes:
Thumbnails: Made with aid from Canva and Gemini.
Note: We've been advised images of SS Norway licensed under CC BY were taken by ‪@midshipcinema‬

Tags:
#oceanliner #scrap #theloveboat #qe2 #qm2 #cruisenews

20 Comments

@ChrisFrameOfficial Creator 3 months ago (edited) Pinned

Have you ever sailed on a ship that's been scrapped? This video was released today as a new, re-recorded and re-edited 4K version of a similar video I did earlier in the year. That one was taken down after a false audio copyright claim tanked it. As a bonus, this version looks at the fate of The Love Boat's in far more detail. And use updated imagery of the shipbreakers. I hope you enjoy this new video.

@petergibbs 3 months ago

Glad you only showed a picture of 'Canberra' at sea, and not of her scrapping. It still hurts even today years later to see pictures of that.

@stephenhowardsmith 2 weeks ago

many thanks for this fine and superbly edited film.

@willyboy3581 3 weeks ago

As a boy in the 1950s, with my family I had the pleasure of sailing on the "President Cleveland" and on the "President Wilson," both holding places of honor for the American President Lines. Both entered service in the late 40s and were withdrawn from service - and scrapped - in the early 70s. Wonderful memories (even the bouts of mal de mer). Trivia notes: one of these beauties - I believe it's the "President Cleveland" - can se seen in the opening and closing credits of "The Gale Storm Show," being used as the fictitious liner, the "Ocean Queen." Thanks so much for posting this interesting and informative video.

@piskac2781 2 months ago

Great work Chris!

@DC-vv5ii 3 months ago

SS France was a very nice looking ship. The SS Norway was bastardized into a most hideous, bulky thing.

@jefflisa2347 3 months ago

I sailed on Carnival's "Holiday" with my first wife in 1998 or 1999, can't remember exactly.

So the "Holiday" caught my eye a year or so ago when a video popped up that showed her at the ship breakers.

Since then all sorts of ship breaking vids have caught my attention. I was particularly interested in Pacific Princess and Island Princess in the last few weeks, glad you gave them a feature spot!

@steen8156 3 months ago

A good friend worked on cruise ships for over a decade. He took me on a tour once; got to see a lot of the staff areas and the engineering areas. Stark contrast.

Never been on a cruise and never wish to be. I have been on many long distance ferry voyages lasting approximately two days, and that was more than enough.

@robbroere1384 3 months ago

My first cruise was on the Costa Victoria in 2018 from Mauritius and loved it. Done 15 more since and another one planned this month. Saw the ship laid up during Covid-19 in 2020 in Dubai before it was sold off and ultimately ended up in Turkiye for scrapping. Ship itself was still in a great condition when I sailed it. Personally I think it could have sailed many more years and the small size made it suitable for unique itineraries and ports like the one we did.

@sonyarichmond6121 3 months ago

well done and very interesting

@johnnyhollis9977 1 month ago

Excellent video Chris but so so sad! Having cruised on some of these named ships it is horrible but absorbing seeing their tragic ending. Obviously it would be impossible to save them from the scrapers due to the financial rewards for their scrap value. Even so, these great ships had a customer loyalty seldom seen in any other walks of life. They were great times, a far cry from recent years where many younger ships saw an early end with hardly anybody noticing..... You left out the famous SS Oriana which had a rather bumpy end too! In some ways I am glad that you did!😉👍⚓

@Rodrigo.de.Fenix.01 1 month ago

❤I will always love you, Olympic!❤

@ChristopherPeasley-kl7qk 3 months ago

I was a passenger on a few Union Castle liners:
Winchester Castle.
Pendennis Castle.
Windsor Castle.
Edinburgh Castle.
I waved goodbye to the Edinburgh, Pendennis and Windsor as they sailed away from Durban for the very last time in 1976/7.
That was very emotional as all the ships and tugs in the harbour sounded their whistles in prolonged salute.
The liners responded with many deep blasts from their tyfons.

@Atrizzle2026 3 months ago

Haunting yet beautiful to see these magnificent ships, once full of life, coming to an end.

@user-pb54 3 months ago

I sailed many times aboard the glorious Canberra. She was such an elegant ship. She had sheer, making her much better looking than todays totally flat decked vessels, though I have to concede that flat decks make for easier passenger movement on board. Such a shame she was not saved as Rotterdam was, that completed service the same day as Canberra in 1997.

@AlVlogs1603 1 month ago

Having cruised on a lot of those ships especially Canberra a ship I grew up on and cruised on so many times from a small boy to adulthood.Ive still got the Harland & Wolff deck plans on Canberra from tank top to mast

@adienowed6366 3 months ago

It seems these days that as soon as a new ship is built,they want to scrap it and build another-that appears to be incredibly wasteful and pointless.

@BELCAN57 3 months ago

In 1980 I sailed aboard the "SS Volendam" (now scrapped) to Bermuda.

The ship was small enough that it could dock in the ports of Hamilton and St.George's.

The "SS Norway" (formerly "France") was there also, but was so large that her passengers needed to be ferried by tender from ship to shore.

As the video stated, " Norway " was also scrapped.

@danielintheantipodes6741 3 months ago

Thank you for the video.

@brober 3 months ago

So glad we have spared Queen Mary,Rotterdam and QE2. It's a miracle Regal Princess/Ambience dodged the breakers unlike her sister Crown Princess. Will be onboard her next month.😁