Ocean Monarch

[captstubing]

Does anybody remember the Ocean Monarch.

My first cruise many many years ago...

[captstubing]

http://www.navis.gr/photos/oc_monar.htm

 

Just found a picture

[dougnewmanatsea]

The ship in the photo was probably not the OCEAN MONARCH you were on years ago, as she has only had that name for the past few years.

 

"Your" OCEAN MONARCH was probably either the Furness Bermuda vessel (1951-1967 - later broken up 1981) or the later Shaw Savill ship of the same name (1970-1975 - built 1957 as Canadian Pacific's EMPRESS OF ENGLAND, broken up 1975).

 

The ship in your photo was previously Costa's DAPHNE, renamed SWITZERLAND from 1996 and now OCEAN MONARCH from 2003.

[captstubing]

Thanks Doug, It was the Furness Bermuda vessel...

 

I'll keep looking for a picture..

[dougnewmanatsea]

Thanks Doug, It was the Furness Bermuda vessel...

 

I'll keep looking for a picture..

Photos of her can be seen here and here (top photo).

[Bunkie103]

Thanks for the pics Doug. I sailed the Queen of Bermude twice as a teen in 1963 and 1964. That's when I fell in love with cruising!

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

I am trying to research the Ocean Monarch of the Shaw Savill Line.

I cruised on her from Sydney in 1972 (I think). Had such a good time can't remember the exact dates.

 

Anyone have any information on her?

 

Jillybean:)

[StanandJim]

Jillybean

 

Your Ocean Monarch was the former Empress of England, which Canadian Pacific withdrew in April of 1970.

 

She then sailed with passengers, from Liverpool, around Africa, and arrived in Australia on May 15th.

Later in 1970, unchanged except for her name and Funnel colors, Ocean Monarch cruised briefly out of Sydney to take advantage of the World Expo in Japan

Returning to Britain, again carrying passengers, the ship entered her builders yard (Cammell Laird in Birkenhead) in September of 1970.

 

SSL had planned to give Ocean Monarch a 2 million pound refit, and reintroduce her in early April 1971.

 

Sadly, the refit was a complete disaster, taking 12 months instead of the predicted 8, and costing 4 million pounds instead of the predicted 2 million.

 

As the result of not being ready to sail, Shaw Saville claimed that the ship lost a further 12 million pounds of anticipated revenue, and Ocean Monarch was never able to emerge from under that black cloud for the rest of her career.

<--According to Clive Harveys magnificent book "The Last White Empresses", Ocean Monarch sailed mainly out of Southamton in 1972, so it is unlikely that you sailed her then, unless you are talking of a line voyage back to Britain.

 

After 5 years of mounting losses, bad timing and labor unrest, Ocean Monarch was withdrawn in 1975 and scrapped.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Thank you for all that information StanandJim.

Yes I took a cruise on her out of Sydney finishing in Auckland N.Z.

I have an on board photo but unfortunately it doesn't have a date.

 

Thanks again,

 

Jillybean:D

[StanandJim]

I have an on board photo but unfortunately it doesn't have a date.

 

Jillybean-

 

We know how that can be....

The same thing happened to Jim on his Home LinesCruise on the Oceanic in 1966 or so......

He looks so cute in his white dinner jacket, but then, all 5 year olds are cute!

[franu]

captstubing and Doug,

The Ocean Monarch of Furness-Bermuda Lines was my first ship. In fact it was my honeymoon cruise. I had scoured every ship leaving my hometown of New York for a cabin with a double bed. We had one that in addition to that bed there were upper and lower foldout beds. It was actually a large cabin.

 

I developed an ear infection and the aged doctor almost sent me home. Thank goodness we now have younger, sober and better doctors than were the case then.

Fran

[StanandJim]

Franu-

 

The Ocean Monarch that you sailed on was an adorable little "pocket Ocean Liner".

At 13,650 tons, she was as small as a ship could be while still containing all the big ship amenities. She was built in '51 and cruised (in tandem with the much older Queen of Bermuda) for about 15 years.

Although Furness, perhaps, wished that the Ocean Monarch had a larger passenger capacity, they were thrilled with her modern profile.

When the time came (in 1961) to refit their venerable Queen of Bermuda.........

 

Ocean Monarch was certainly their design inspiration:

 

Sadly, in '66 (only 5 years after the Queens face-lift), new American safety regulations were enacted, and Furness opted to withdraw rather than make further investments.

In 1967, the Bulgarians purchased the laid up Ocean Monarch, renamed her Varna and sailed her in the Canadian Maritimes to earn foreign currency.

After 1970 the ship was laid up again. This time, she was inactive until 1979. She was then shuffled between several Greek Shipping companies, and was renamed Reina Del Mar.

While running engine trials after yet another refit in 1981, she suffered a disasterous engine room fire, which gutted the entire ship. A sad end for a gallant little ship.

 

If you want to know more about Ocean monarch, Queen of Bermuda, or any of the other Furness Bermuda fleet, you might be interested in this book:

http://www.nauticalmind.com/Queen-of-Bermuda-and-the-Furness-Bermuda-Line-pr-68094.html

[CGTNORMANDIE]

The OCEAN MONARCH was a wonderful little ship that was purposely built for cruising. Furness was very proud of her when she debuted in 1951-52...I believe each cabin was equipped with a full bathroom. She had tons of natural wood...all done to a high degree of workmanship. She was extremely comfortable and well loved by all those who sailed on her.

 

I grew up in a small mill town in North Central Massachusetts...called Gardner. It was the home of Simplex Time Recorder...then owned by Curtis Watkins. Curt was one of the most unique people I have ever met. We all called him Uncle Curt. He had more than 1,200 employees and he knew each one by name. Curt also had factories in Europe and Trinidad. In February 1956 he decided to take his sales force, a bunch of his factory workers, his drum and bugle corps, the local high school band, and a bunch of others on a 2 week voyage to Trinidad for Carnival and a cultural exchange of sorts. Curt chartered the OCEAN MONARCH for the occasion. He even hired a private train to take everyone to New York for the sailing. Uncle Curt also had a film crew onboard with him...and they shot a movie to commemorate the visit. I actually have a tape of that movie...and some of the shots of the OCEAN MONARCH are quite unique. I have also gathered some memorabilia from the OCEAN MONARCH to add to my collection. She was a unique ship and everyone seemed to love her. I know all the folks from Gardner had a great time onboard her.

[StanandJim]

The OCEAN MONARCH was a wonderful little ship that was purposely built for cruising

 

That is not exactly true. The Ocean Monarch was also built to run line voyages to Bermuda.

 

The Queen of Bermuda's consort Monarch of Bermuda (after surviving WWII, practically intact) was horribly damaged in fire, and never returned to the Bermuda Service, after the war.

Furness, meanwhile, had a contract with Bermuda, requiring them to maintain at least 14 round trips a month from New York City. Either that or lose a valuable subsidy.

 

The reliable old Queen of Bermuda could do it alone...... if they ran her fast and cut the "turn arounds" down, however, Furness knew that their passengers preferred a more leisurely schedule, so a new ship was ordered. That ship was the Ocean Monarch.

 

Of course, with two ships on the Bermuda run, the pressure to maintain the required number of sailings was off. So, aside from their annual return to Great Britain for drydocking, both ships also occasionally ventured into the Caribbean.

 

The Ocean Monarch, being easier on fuel and having bigger fresh water tanks, was more often the ship chosen for these longer voyages, while the Queen maintained the Bermuda service alone.

 

It was a very different era of shipbuilding and of Cruise Line operation.

 

 

 

BTW, CGT, any chance of you getting that Ocean Monarch movie copied? I'd love to see it.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

 

BTW, CGT, any chance of you getting that Ocean Monarch movie copied? I'd love to see it.

 

 

HI STAN AND JIM, I will see what I can do. If you want...email me at

BIOCLEAN at RCN.COM

[wiselindag]

I don't know if anyone is still reading this thread, but I just came across it. I'm writing a blog entry about my first cruise, which happened to be a trip to Quebec and Bermuda on the Furness Ocean Monarch in August, 1953. I was five years old and my grandparents took me on this two-week amazing voyage. I have a "diary" written by my grandmother (although purportedly written by her five year old granddaughter!) which describes life on the ship including daily activities, port visits, dinners, and evening entertainment. I have also dug up some old photographs taken on board. At the back of the diary, are autographs and little notes and addresses written by other passengers and some staff and crew members including the Cruise Director and the Captain. I have been on many cruises since then, but because that was my first, because I was just a child and it's the only time I cruised when a child, and because I sailed for the only time with my grandparents, it will always be very special to me.

[CGTNORMANDIE]

Hi Wiselindag!

 

Yes...a few of us still monitor these pages...lol. How nice to hear about your experience on the Ocean Monarch. Interestingly enough, I have had a few inquiries from different folks regarding the Ocean Monarch. I even sent the video to Bermuda for the local TV station. Your interest and nostalgia for the Ocean Monarch is shared by many people.

[wiselindag]

CGT - Thanks so much for keeping an eye on this thread and responding. I knew from your screen name and the posts here that you had a keen interest in historical matters and old ships. We took our first family cruise (my first after that Ocean Monarch sailing) on the Zenith in 1996. I notice you were on there some years earlier. I just wrote a blog entry on our cruise on the Ocean Monarch and will be writing an entry soon about the similarities and differences between my son's first cruise on the Zenith and mine on the Ocean Monarch so if you are interested, I'll give you the link:http://travelingwithlinda.wordpress.com/

 

Also, we were on the farewell voyage of the Norway in Europe in 1999... quite an amazing cruise! There were about 600 French people on the ship, bidding farewell to the France, and we visited four Norwegian ports, where, in some cases, hundreds of folks stood on the shore and waved to the ship as it departed. I had been attracted to the itinerary and the price, but loved the historical aura that surrounded us.

 

We are Celebrity fans and last sailed on the Summit to Canada and New England, missing St. John because of Hurricane Earl. We went out to sea to avoid the storm and then had 50 mile an hour winds and 30 foot waves for about 10-11 hours, arriving five hours late with a detour quite far South to get around even worse conditions... also memorable, but for different reasons. To make matters worse, we had just left Halifax and the Maritime Museum where some of our party of 13 sat in the Titanic deck chair for a photograph! Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed the Normandie Restaurant and loved the tribute in the anteroom.

 

Needless to say, I would love to see the video of the Ocean Monarch! I'd be happy to exchange some copies of my crew and staff autographs and my photographs including one from the Children's Tour with the Captain for a copy of the video. Even looking at the pictures is extraordinarily strange for me... to look at my five year old self in the company of my grandparents on that ship is just amazing now that I'm a good bit older than my grandmother was at that time.

[brownblonde]

Did someone post a while ago that the Ocean Monarch could be seen resting some place in Bermuda??

[Post Captain]

Did someone post a while ago that the Ocean Monarch could be seen resting some place in Bermuda??

Whether somebody posted that or not, it most certainly is not the case.

 

The Ocean Monarch departed Bermuda (St. George's) for the last time on August 30, 1966, and soon thereafter, along with the Queen of Bermuda, passed out of the Furness fleet. For the next 13 years or so, under several different names and operated by a series of different companies, she cruised mainly in the Mediterranean. In May 1981, during an overhaul in Greece, she was gutted by a fire that broke out in the engine room. A few days later, apparently following another fire, she was scuttled near the Greek island of Salamis, where she had run aground after the initial fire.

[brownblonde]

Whether somebody posted that or not, it most certainly is not the case.

 

The Ocean Monarch departed Bermuda (St. George's) for the last time on August 30, 1966, and soon thereafter, along with the Queen of Bermuda, passed out of the Furness fleet. For the next 13 years or so, under several different names and operated by a series of different companies, she cruised mainly in the Mediterranean. In May 1981, during an overhaul in Greece, she was gutted by a fire that broke out in the engine room. A few days later, apparently following another fire, she was scuttled near the Greek island of Salamis, where she had run aground after the initial fire.

So glad your checking in on this thread and thank you the info

Many memories on the Monarch as it was our first cruise other then a 3 day one out of Miami to Nassau in 1962 Leaving N.Y. for Bermuda on the Monarach it was hat and gloves on day of departure, how things have changed after about 40 cruises