ssMaritime.com & ssMaritime.net
With Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian
T.S.S. Olympia
Sold to become Caribe, Caribe I, Regal
Empress
Sold for scrap in March 2009 and
sailed for India
as the MV Regal Tmpress

The superb Greek Lines Trans Atlantic Liner
T.S.S. Olympia
From the Jonathan Thurston (UK) collection
Regal Empress was built
as the TSS Olympia in Glasgow, Scotland
in 1953. She was the first and only ship ever to be built for the Greek Line,
as well as being the largest built for Greek interests at the time. Olympia
was designed to operate regular transatlantic voyages, between Piraeus
and New York,
but also became a seasonal cruise ship as of 1961.
Olympia was built to accommodate at total of 1,356 passengers, most of these
travelling in Tourist Class, carrying only a small number in First Class. She
had a number of interchangeable cabins for 146 passengers. The reason she was
built as a predominantly Tourist class ship was in response of a demand for
cheaper travel during the post-war years. Olympia has eight passenger decks,
Sports (Boat) Deck, Sun Deck, Promenade Deck, Upper Deck, Main Deck, A Deck, B
Deck, and C Decks.

An
early postcard of the Olympia
Author’s
private collection
Each ship in the Greek Line
fleet was owned by a separate subsidiary company, the registered owners of the Olympia were the
Transatlantic Shipping Corporation.
She
was launched on April
16, 1953, yet she had not as yet been named. This did not occur
until October12, 1953, when she was delivered to the Greek Line and was then
officially named Olympia.
She departed that day on a seven-night cruise for invited guests only from Glasgow. TSS Olympia first voyage departed Glasgow
on October 15 and she sailed via Belfast,
Liverpool, Dublin to Southampton.
This was a special coastal cruise to introduce the ship to the British. She
then departed Southampton for her maiden voyage for New York on the 19th, 1953 with a full
complement of passengers. On November 17 of that year she departed from Bremerhaven and sailed to New York,
then, finally on March
26, 1955, the first ever newly built Greek passenger liner,
departed New York and sailed for her home port
Piraeus. At
that time she was re-registered at 17,362 GRT
(Greek measurement). In 1961 her service was extended to Limassol and Haifa.

This image of a 1959 Greek Line Sailing Schedule cover was
provided by
www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/shiplist.htm
In
the early and mid sixties her ports of call are listed as follows, although
they did vary at times: Piraeus, Messina, Naples,
Genoa or Lisbon, Halifax, New York.
Lisbon, Naples, Messina, Piraeus, Limassol,
Haifa, Piraeus. In addition she operated cruises during the
winter.

Olympia seen with SS France and RMS Queen Mary in New York
Author’s private collection
“The Birth of Olympios”
Obviously, like most ships all have many
personal stories to tell and TSS
Olympia also has them. I received an interesting email in January 2009 with the
following information which I now include as part of the story and I will
expand this story at a later date.
When Olympia
departed Greece on April 12, 1960 Mr
and Mrs Bournelis were passengers bound for New York. Although Mrs Bounelis
was expecting at the time she was not due until after her arrival in the USA. However on
April 19 she gave birth to a baby boy who was duly named Olympios Demetrios.
His first name is the ships name and the second the Captain’s name, who
also became his Godfather during the voyage. They arrived in New York on April 24 with mother and child
well!
Thank you Jim (Olympios Demetrios) Bournelis for sending us your interesting story!

A fine view of the TSS
Olympic
*Photographer unknown – See photo notes at bottom of
page
TSS Olympia’s Specifications
Built: 1953 Alex Stephen
& Sons Glasgow
- Yard 636
Tonnage: 22,640 GRT (Gross Registered Tons)
Length: 186.5 m (611ft)
Beam: 24.1m (79ft)
Draft: 8.6m (28ft)
Engines: Pametrada Steam DR Geared Turbines
geared
turbines – producing 25,000 shaft horsepower
Screws: Two
Speed: 21 knots (Service Speed)
Passengers: Min. 50, max 169 First
Class
Min
1,160, max 1,306 Tourist
Stabilizers: Flume Stabilizers
Air-conditioning: Fully air-conditioned
Postcards & Photo’s

Original Greek
Lines Postcard of the magnificent TSS
Olympia
Author’s private collection

First and Tourist Class Pools
Author’s private collection

TSS Olympia seen at anchor during a winter cruise
Author’s private collection
In 1961 her
service was extended to Haifa Israel, then in 1968, Olympia was re-registered at Andros, under the Greek Flag. Her tonnage was now listed
as 17,434 GRT (Greek measurement).
By 1970, with the Trans Atlantic traffic declining, she became a one-class
cruise ship accommodating 1,030 passengers. However, this proved to be
unprofitable, thus in 1974 it was decided to cease operations and Olympia was laid up at Piraeus, where she remained for the next
seven years.

Olympia seen laid up in Greece
Photograph by © Nick Hall
A New Life for Olympia

Caribe with her new 1983 “modern”
profile. Also, her original tripod mast was replaced with a new
one
Photograph Copyright © Michael Goldsby
With the growing Caribbean cruise industry,
Olympia was sold to Sally Shipping GmbH, Bad Schwartau,
Germany in 1981, but she remained laid up in Piraeus for another year, but
under a German flag. She was towed by the Wotan to Hamburg where she arrived on March 11, 1983,
and she received an extensive internal refit readying her for fulltime cruise
duties. In addition she received an external makeover, which saw the removal of
her funnel, her tripod mast replaced by a modern mast, and her forward and aft
kingposts removed in order to turn her into a “modern” streamlined
ship. With work complete she received a slight name change and became Caribe I.
However, they also
replaced her steam turbine engines with new and efficient Klockner-Humbolt-Deutz
diesels that would provide 20,270 BHP, giving her a comfortable
cruising speed of 18 knots.
Next came a big shock for all those who had
sailed on her in the past and dearly loved this fine liner, for a new
constructed curved, grilled what you may call a “stylised” funnel
was fitted, just aft of where her original funnel had been. It
looked hideous!

This hideous funnel which was fitted to Caribe I
Thankfully it was soon removed and replaced
Photograph
Copyright © Peter Knego
With a new livery, she had been given THE
“modern” look and she departed Hamburg
on June 29, 1983,
joining the 1968 built Boheme in Caribbean
and commenced cruising under the management of Commodore Cruise Line
Pty Ltd. With Caribe I operating seven night Caribbean cruises
from Miami, she soon became a much sought after cruise ship, which much due to
her elegant old world atmosphere, something that new ships lacked.

Caribe I postcard
Author’s private collection
In 1985 the owners name changed to Olympia Caribbean Shipping Co, Inc, Panama. She was
now listed as 14,533 GRT.
In 1988, Caribe I received another refit, which (thankfully) included
the removal of that unsightly funnel, and a more conventional funnel was
fitted, giving her a pleasing profile.
Due to strong competition of the larger upmarket cruise ships,
Commodore Cruises, decided to sell their ships in 1993. Caribe was sold to the
newly formed Regal Cruise Line, who renamed her Regal Empress.
In 1996, Regal Empress was given a new “bolder” livery,
with a broad navy blue band on both sides of the ship. In addition her anchor
well was pained dark blue and the size of her name on her bow was greatly
increased, making her quite distinctive to look at. She was unmistakeably the
Regal Empress, even from afar.

MS
Regal Empress with a new livery, and a more suitable funnel Forward on Promenade Deck
six balcony suites were added. Forward there are another four suites
with enclosed verandah’s
*Photographer unknown – *See note at bottom of page
In 1997, REGAL EMPRESS sailed to Mobile, Alabama for
another refit, which included adding balconies to six suites, some with their
own Jacuzzis and the forward suites received attractive enclosed Lanai’s over looking the bow.
After the sad demise of Regal Cruises, Regal Empress was auctioned off
mid 2004, and was sold for what is known in
the industry as a “giveaway price.” The successful bidder was “Celebration World Cruises”
of the Bahamas, who
purchased her for Imperial Majesty Cruises (IMC)
who had been operating two night cruises to Nassau using the classic SS OceanBreeze, ex
Southern Cross. Like her forerunner, Regal Empress became a success
story, sailing mostly to capacity, and she has proven to be one of the most
profitable ships operating in the Caribbean.

Imperial Cruises MS
Regal Empress looks pristine
Photograph Copyright © 2004 Juan
A. Figueroa
There is no doubt, Regal Empress has served
her all her owners well, however, very soon in 2009 it is said that she will be
retired around March/April and will be sold for scrap as IMC had apparently obtained a newer ship. Although
no date for her demise has been set.

The
superbly kept Bridge
Photograph Copyright © 2005 Michael Barnes

The popular Captain Sottos has been master of
the Regal Empress for many Years
Photograph Copyright © 2005 Michael Barnes
The
tragic end of the …
MV
Regal Empress – TSS Olympia
Update: Sadly the
ex Greek Line TSS Olympia / Regal
Empress has ended her long and proud reign of the sea when she arrived at Alang India on June 18, 2009 and breaking up has
commenced and I assume will be by now almost completed.
We had a long
and difficult campaign to save this fine liner, but after we were let down by
American State Senator Leonidas Raptakis it became close to impossible to save her! I
wrote the following on my "Save a Classic Liner" news updates page.
"Senator Leonidas Raptakis
is the ultimate betrayer of the TSS
Olympia!
In years past State Senator
Leonidas Raptakis made a FIRM
commitment, as he made it public in the USA and promised me and thousands of
others via my website to save the Regal Empress, the ex TSS
Olympia and return her to Greece. In order to do so he did commence some
negotiations on it and spoke with her owners even to a point of having an
agreement drawn up. I have all the paperwork and all the promises that he made
on file. However, for some unknown reason, he decided to drop this great ship
without telling me, a ship that would have meant everything to Greece, and instead he commenced a brand new
campaign to save an American Liberty ship the Arthur M Huddell, a ship that is
currently has been stripped of toxic waste and has headed for Greece.
However, this ship has no real value or genuine connection with Greece whatsoever, except for a weak link that
some Liberty ships were given to Greece after
the war to rebuild their then depleted cargo fleets, but they were never a
significant part of their second hand fleet. However all of these ships have
been broken up for they meant nothing to Greece, but mere transport. All of Greece’s
passenger liners were also old tonnage, except for the historic TSS Olympia which was the only Greek Trans Atlantic
passenger liner to be ever newly built especially for the country!
Please Note: I am a strong supporter of the preservation of Liberty, Victory and C3
ships, as they indeed have a significant place in history, but, they need to be
in the right place. Many naval and merchant marines in America were greatly
angered when Leonidas wanted to take the Arthur M Huddell to Greece for she
belongs in the USA, and I wholly agree with them, for he stole an American ship
from them!"
Farewell TSS Olympia, she has been a fine Greek liner and a
superb cruise ship for so many years. She will be sorely missed by all who have
sailed on her and those who have admired her from ashore!

Regal
Empress was one of the best run and superbly maintained ships anywhere
If
only she could be saved for another use!
Photograph
Copyright © 2004 Juan A. Figueroa
TSS Olympia INDEX
– Note new feature - # 8.
1… TSS Olympia The only Greek Trans Atlantic Liner ever to be built. Sold
to become the Caribe and Regal Empress
2… Caribe refit photographs
photos and story by ex crew member Michael Goldsby
3…. Photo Album One
4… Photo Album Two photos by an Australian passenger, Michael Barnes
5 Deck Plan
6… The ex Save the TSS Olympia Campaign
7… Read the Memorandum of Agreement - to
sell the Regal Empress to Greece
dated January 2005
8… Birth at Sea – The fascinating story of how Jim (Olympios) Bournelis was born mid Atlantic!
***************************************************
I trust you have enjoyed reading this page and this
much loved passenger liner. If you have sailed on her I would like to hear from
you, and if you have any photographs I would greatly appreciate some,
especially those of the interiors and out on deck. Email Me!
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***************************************************
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info@ssmaritime.com
PLEASE NOTE: I receive hundreds of requests for Passenger/Crew Lists and Sailing Schedules. I
hereby wish to advise that I am unable to assist due to time
restrains and as most shipping companies have long gone these lists/schedules
are no longer available. I regret to advise that any request for these will no longer be
answered regardless of the circumstances presented!
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Note:
Photographs
on ssmaritime are: 1. By the author. 2. From the author’s private collection. 3. As provided by Shipping
Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all
contributors. However, there are photographs provided to me without details
provided regarding the photographer concerned. I hereby invite if owners of
these images would be so kind to make them-selves known to me, 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 they either refuse to give me
credit and even refuse to remove them, knowing full well that there is
no legal comeback when it comes to the net. However, let us show the charlatans
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Note: I do not credit those who send me photos as they are not the owners of
the photographs concerned, unless the image is part of their private collection.
This
notice covers all pages, although, 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!
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