With
SS Oceanic - Home Lines (1965-1986) / StarShip
Oceanic - (1986-2000) then Big Red Boat 1 - Premier Cruises (1986-2000)
Oceanic – Pullmantur Cruises (2001-2009) / Oceanic – (2009-2011) – The Oceanic – Peace Boat (2011 - )
A Link to our Oceanic Photo Album
is at the bottom of this page
A Matter of Design
I received the very interesting story on
January 29, 2008, and felt it was worthy to add to this page as I have been
unable to locate any details regarding the ships designers over the years, and
this story makes total sense! I wish to thank
Question – “Who Really Designed The Oceanic”?
By
Little known history behind the identity of
the original designers of the SS Oceanic, steadfastly denied by the Italian
shipbuilder and the CEO of Home Lines, is the true story of how it came into
being. It goes back to a meeting between
In 1953, de Schelde had completed the
Kungsholm II for the Swedish American Line and, during the maiden voyage
to New York, which I attended, I mentioned to Hupkes that the new Kungsholm was
a nice design in the traditional sense and observed that I could suggest
some "improvements" to bring the design and styling into
the modern age. After discussing my ideas, Hupkes was intrigued and suggested I
meet with his naval architect during my next visit to
As for my background, I am an aeronautical
engineer with a lot of experience as a youngster, sailing all over the
globe with my family, giving me an abiding interest in ships. I also
gained some styling design experience with my first job, after graduating from
MIT, with the General Motors Styling Section for car design. The
job lasted only 8 months when World War II broke out and I
volunteered to join the US Army Air Corps to be trained as a fighter
test pilot.
Change the conventional curved sheer line to a straight line, parallel with the water line. Eliminate camber to make flat decks, like floors in any building ashore. Neither sheer nor camber serve any purpose on a large ship, or any ship for that matter, and they only add to cost. At first, Pieterse was horrified at the thought of a ship without a graceful sheer line as he had designed for the Kungsholm. Pieterse tried to defend camber on structural ground but eventually conceded that the same structural integrity could be achieved without camber. To achieve proper styling, all decks must be flat and parallel with the waterline.
Next, I insisted that all promenade decks be fully glass enclosed. I knew from experience that the first thing an experienced ocean traveller does after boarding, is to run for the deck steward and reserve a deck chair on the limited space of the fantail (stern), the only place where you don't get blown away. Also, I insisted that the only promenade deck be at the very top level, also fully glassed in, with an unobstructed view of the ocean.
I also insisted that the lifeboats be
stowed on a lower deck and not on the top deck so they would not detract
from ship's styling. My attempt to substitute life rafts for life boats was
apparently not allowed by
Then, as a main feature of the ship, I
envisaged an open space near the ship's center, with a transparent sliding roof
and a swimming pool as the central attraction. The beam sides to be fully
glassed in with all seating (deck chairs) facing inwards, overlooking the
swimming pool. The presumption is that passengers would rather stare at Bikinis
than look at the ocean which they can see from their cabins or top deck. The
sliding roof would close during inclement weather. I named this the
After Pieterse completed the design, he had
become an enthusiastic supporter of the new configuration and conceded
that eliminating sheer and amber might reduce the total construction
cost by as much as 10%. I was given a ten page copy of the completed design and
I was satisfied that Pieterse had faithfully followed all my suggestions.
The significant fact is that every cruise
liner, without exception as far as I know, built since the completion of
the Oceanic has followed every feature and configuration which led to
the Oceanic's original design. That neither the Italian builder or
the Home Lines, as far as I know, has ever claimed credit for introducing
a wholly new design concept for cruise ships, probably stems from
their concern that such a claim could lead to
the revelation that the original design was made by Mr. Pieterse, Naval
Architect for the Kon. Mij.
Her History
SS Oceanic was built by
The super sleek looking SS Oceanic on the building
slip and ready to be launched January in 1963
From the
SS Oceanic was the first purpose-built Trans
Atlantic liner for Home Lines and she was designed as a two-class liner to
operate in summer on the Homes Lines Canadian route from
The elegant looking SS Oceanic
seen in the mid 60's!
As built, Oceanic accommodated up to 1,600,
configured as follows. 230 first class and 1,370 tourist class. First class had
8 major deluxe suites, 58 mini suites, 58 deluxe cabins, all having a lounge or
lounge area. In addition, there were 20 single cabins. All of the 500 tourist
class cabins had two lower beds and two upper
Other onboard features.
Closed circuit TV screens in public rooms,
apartments and deluxe cabins. TV cameras for recording cruise activities and or
transmitting films to the theatre. One of the finest Swimming pool "
A Home Lines postcard
From the author’s collection
SS Oceanic 1965 specifications
Builders:
Yard: 1876
Keel Laid down: October
29, 1961.
Launched: January 15, 1963.
Completed: March 1, 1965.
Maiden Voyage: April 3, 1965.
Tonnage: 39,241 GRT (Gross
Registered Tons)
Engines:
Screws: twin
Top Speed: 26 – max 27.30
knots
Length Overall: 772ft
– 238.5m
Beam: 97ft – 29.4m
Draught: 28.5 feet
Passengers: 230
First Class
1,370
Tourist Class
1,200
One Class
Crew: 560
Fully
Air-Conditioned
Denny Brown stabilizers
However, by the time of her delivery travel
Trans Atlantic by seal had become the less favoured option due to the increased
popularity of air travel, thus the company decided to cease their regular
Trans-Atlantic line voyages almost immediately. Thus the Oceanic headed for
Maiden Voyage:
The SS Oceanic departed on her maiden voyage
to
Two Personal
Stories:
A painting (print) of the SS Oceanic presented to Mr
&
Courtesy of
Debora
Apart from her Atlantic services she was also
a popular cruise ship and I received an email from Debora Alba who
stated: “I just located your site, loved to see
these classic liners and their photographs and I have never forgotten one of
the best experiences of my life. I have been on three ocean liner cruises
with the being the first being on the SS Oceanic. I am sending to you
a photograph I have taken of a lighter that I purchased aboard the ship during
the cruise. If you are interested I have further photographs as well
as memorabilia and I happy to scan these with the exact dates. Just as a
note of interest, this cruise was so exciting we (the many fabulous
people we met aboard) were able to, as a first, get the staff to open
the disco all night for the two week duration.”
This is the lighter Debora
obtained on board the SS Oceanic
Image provided by Debora
This is a Home Lines official ships
photographer photo cover with the traditional image of this fine ship!
Image provided by Debora
And here is the Passenger List!
The Ship is
sold:
Premier Cruise Line:
After 21 years of service and with the ever increasing fuel costs and the arrival of newer ships, Home Line decided to sell the Oceanic, and she was sold to Premier Cruise Line in 1985.
After an extensive refit, she was renamed
StarShip Oceanic and commenced cruising for Premier in 1986. Departing from
Port Canaveral she undertook mostly three and four night cruises to
Renamed Big Red Boat I, she became known for
offering the best cruise value to the
Premier Cruises SS Starship Oceanic
Premiers Cruises publicity photo
From the author’s collection
After Premier went into bankrusy we see their ships
laid up at
Followed by the Big Red Boat III ex
Pullmantur Cruises:
Following the collapse of Premier, Oceanic was acquired by a new Spanish Cruise Company, Pullmantur Cruises who named her Oceanic once again. She has successfully cruised for this company to the point they have now acquired a good number of other excellent second hand ships.
Oceanic with her new bold “Pullmantur
Cruises” livery
Photographer unknown – Please see photo notes at bottom of page!
Since entering service with Pullmantur the Oceanic has been constantly upgraded and refitted with flammable materials having been removed she now passed the 2010 SOLAS regulations. However, it has been reported that Pullmantur Cruises may sell the ship in September 2009.
As indicated above, Oceanic is in a superb condition and although due to be sold she will still undergo a dry docking in Gibraltar in January 2009, thus obviously, even Pullmantur believes that she has life in her yet as a cruise ship. Pullmantur hopes to sell her to another cruise operator, as long it is not their rival Spanish operator. Despite her age and being steam powered she is remarkably fuel efficient. I was told by a Scandinavian engineer who has worked on her a number of times during her refits, that she burns 6.3 tons of fuel per hour when she sails at a maximum speed of 21 knots which gives her a daily fuel consumption of around 150 tons. However she normally cruises at 18 knots. We know from the specifications above that when built her max speed was 27.5 knots but this came at a hefty fuel cost, but her current cruise speed which makes her quite economical to run. As a result today she is a very popular and successful cruise ship indeed and a viable proposition of a company as this ship will be able to sail on with any company long past 2010 and that would not be the case!
SS Oceanic seen in 2008 with her new low key
Pullmantur livery and red funnel
Photograph provided Pullmantur
Cruises
In February/March 2009 Pullmantur Cruises
negotiated a sale of the superb SS Oceanic to the well known Japanese Peace
Boat organization. She was destored in
SS Oceanic seen in her new role at
Photograph © 2009 Copyright
–
SS Oceanic seen in
Photograph © Philippe Brebant
“The Oceanic” Certifications:
As I have full details of her last and when her next survey and dry-docking were done and are due, it is obvious that she can sail on for a considerable time as yet! Thus, it is important to understand that Peace Boat has had her fully certified last November, and she is not due for her next full certification until November 4, 2014.
Pullmantur’s MV Ocean Dream
The question is; what will Peace Boat do with
the SS The Oceanic? They may run two ships, or will they use her as a static
ship in
Now named SS “The
Oceanic” and
she is registered in
Photograph kindly provided by
View the
Oceanic Photo Album One & Photo Album Two
**************************************************
or go to our
Who is the Author of ssMaritime?
Also visit my …
“Save The Classic Liners Campaign” & “Classic Ocean
Voyages”
And …
Photographs on ssmaritime and associate pages are by the author or from
the author’s private collection. In addition there are some images that
have been provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or
collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there are some
photographs provided to me without details regarding the photographer/owner
concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images would be so kind to make
them-selves known to me (my email address may be found on www.ssmaritime.com only), in order that due credit may be
given. I know what it is like, I have seen a multitude of my own photographs on
other sites, yet these individuals either refuse to provide credit or remove
them when asked, knowing full well that there is no legal comeback when it
comes to the net. However, let us show these charlatans up and do the right
thing at all times and give credit where credit is due!
This notice covers all pages, although, and I have done my best to ensure
that all photographs are duly credited and that this notice is displaced on
each page, that is, when a page is updated!