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A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
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A Tribute to the Swedish American Line | ||||||||
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Information Officer
Lars-Erik Jansson
Lars-Erik Jansson served on SAL ships 1963-64, 1966-71, and 1974-75.
For many years he was Information Officer on the Kungsholm.
| The ship's Information Officer was responsible for preparing and presenting the necessary documents, such as passenger manifests, for port-, customs-, and immigration authorities at ports of call. He also had duties in the Main Lounge, such as organizing entertainment and games. Lars-Erik Jansson, now a resident of Malmö, Sweden, will also be remembered for various antics and his knack for practical jokes. A Swedish columnist, Stig "Gits" Olsson, once wrote about an Atlantic crossing on the Kungsholm, departing December 27, 1967. The weather was terrible, and there were only 150 passengers on board. He writes confoundingly about a certain officer Jansson who seemed to be everywhere, entertaining the passengers in the Main Lounge for days, from the Hebrides to Newfoundland, reading aloud from the Swedish Army Instructions for Bicycle Maintenance. During an officers' party in Sydney in the 1960's, Jansson transformed his cabin into a Playboy Club, with female crew members as bunnies. Lars-Erik Jansson is widely known as Pastor Jansson. |
 Lars-Erik Jansson at the Equator, January 29, 1971. |
 The Information Officer's report (in Swedish) after calling at Ushuaia, Argentina, February 11-12, 1975. Click on the image to enlarge. |
The Gripsholm anchored off Ushuaia, because of weather conditions and size of the dock. Seven persons from the local authorities arrived on their own boat on the evening of arrival. The Information Officer's report informs about arguments with the authorities about which landing cards were to be used for passengers and crew. The customs officer had forgotten his official seal stamp, and had to return to shore to fetch it. After a round of drinks were ordered, the argument faded out.
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Bornholm Revisited
Lars-Erik Jansson Jansson served on board the Kungsholm on
the North Cape Cruise
in 1969.
On July 20, 2009, exactly 40 years after the Kungsholm visited
Bornholm,
he made a nostalgic trip back to the island
in the southern Baltic Sea.
Jansson visited the Kungsholm's shipping agent from 1969, Plum. Moller & Skovgaard A/S
& Ejv. Hansens Eftf. A/S,
the Bornholms Tidene newspaper,
as well as the Ronne Library,
where he looked up a newspaper clipping from 1969.
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 Lars-Erik Jansson, passenger, Lecturer Derek J Swinnerton and Purser's Office Clerk J Wiklund at the North Cape, on July 7, 1968. Derek J Swinnerton was a former high ranking submarine officer in the Royal Navy. In addition to holding travel lectures in the auditorium, he had a morning radio show on board the Kungsholm called "Greet the Day with Derek J". When the ship passed through the Panama Canal, Swinnerton would hold an impressive and detailed guidance during the entire passage, from the bridge over the ship's PA system, not using a manuscript. |
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 After riding a tender from the Kungsholm to Hornvika, L E Jansson and J Wiklund climbed up to the plateau. |
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 At the plateau. Ship's Doctor Hey, Nurse Else, Cashier Skafte, Nurse Anna Karin (?), and Information Officer Jansson, barely visible to the camera by the light of the Midnight Sun. |
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 North Cape Diploma 1966 |
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 The Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society 1966 |
 The Royal North Cape Club 1994 |
 Lars-Erik Jansson returned to the North Cape in the summer of 1994. Here at the monument commemorating Swedish King Oscar II's climb to the North Cape summit in 1873. |
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Visiting Bornholm in 2009
Bornholms Tidene July 21, 1969
| Bornholms Tidene July 22, 2009
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Regardless of which ship we sailed on or which year - the memories we share are the same!
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Recommended Books |
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Updated Sep 7, 2009 Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising John Graves
Örjan Slätte, ex Information Officer on the Gripsholm, recommends Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising by John Graves, published by the National Maritime Museum in London in 2004. It is based on photos by Marine Photo Service, which were acquired by the museum in 1996 The book features many photos from SAL cruises.
Please note that the book's edition at Amazon.co.uk may not have the Kungsholm on the cover. Örjan Slätte, Informationsofficer på Gripsholm, rekommenderar boken Waterline - Images from the Golden Ages of Cruising. Boken är utgiven år 2004 av National Maritime Museum i London som 1996 förvärvat Marine Photo Service (MPS) samlingar. Redan omslagsbilden föreställer Kungsholm 1953 med två vattenskidåkande ynglingar i fronten. MPS fanns i många rederier och där finns många mycket bra foton från SAL:s kryssningar. Våra fotografer var mycket yrkesskickliga med konstnärlig talang. Man kan förmoda att de tidvis kände för att fotografera annat än leende, välklädda pax med cocktailglas i hand. Fina miljöer från fartygens "omvärld". |
Updated July7, 2008 MERCY SHIPS
During World War 2 the Drottningholm and the Gripsholm were used as repatriation ships and made 33 voyages to exchange prisoners of war, diplomats, women and children, between the warfaring nations. David Miller has written a book about the exchange and repatriation voyages,with an emphasis on the British experience. It is loaded with facts about these voyages of mercy. Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here. |
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M/S Kungsholms inredning Första M/S Kungsholm, Amerikalinjens stora passagerarfartyg, byggdes på 1920-talet. Det gick mellan Göteborg och New York. Arkitekten Carl Bergsten fick uppdraget att hålla i den påkostade inredningen som skulle visa för världen vad svenska konstnärer kunde åstadkomma. Under andra världskriget togs fartyget i beslag av amerikanarna för att användas i trupptransporten till Europa. Inredningen revs då ner och förstördes. Anne-Marie Ericsson har letat i arkiv och museer efter beskrivningar, ritningar och gamla fotografier för att försöka rekonstruera denna makalösa uppvisning i svensk inredningskonst. |
Amerikabåtarna Christer Winberg, professor i historia vid Göteborgs universitet, har skrivit en bok om SAL som bygger på bevarat samtida material från Svenska Amerika Linien på Landsarkivet och Sjöfartsmuseet i Göteborg. Det omfattar exempelvis reserapporter, minnesberättelser och personligt färgade reseskildringar. Författaren har också samlat in eget material genom intervjuer med f.d. anställda.
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Andrea Dorias undergång I Andrea Dorias undergång berättar Britt-Marie Mattsson den fascinerande berättelsen om kollisionen, den heroiska räddningsaktionen och det rättsliga efterspelet till den mycket uppmärksammade olyckan - sin tids Titanic. Mattssons far var vid tiden för olyckan informationschef vid Svenska Amerika Linien. Britt-Marie Mattsson har träffat flera av de överlevande och intervjuat dem för denna bok. Hon har bland annat talat med vittnen som ger information som kan kasta nytt ljus över vad som egentligen orsakade den fruktansvärda kollisionen. Boken är rikligt illustrerad i svartvitt. |
A book about the Kungsholm of 1953. |
Journalist Per Fält has recommended |
"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna SAL har skildrats i böcker, dokumentär-filmer, journalfilmer och tidningsartiklar. Oftast är det glamouren som uppmärk-sammats men en grupp har alltid saknats i beskrivningarna: homosexuella män. Såna på Amerikabåtarna är en välskriven, lättläst och underhållande studie av en värld som gått i glömska. | |
De Flytande Palatsen From the very inception of the line in 1915, the ships of the Line attracted much attention on both sidesof the Atlantic. Not only did they represent the bonds between the old country and the new, they also represented new concepts in service, decor, and furnishings as well as in art and handicraft. Published in 1987. This book can be found on Amazon.
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Huset Broström Huset Broström för tankarna till Forsythesagan och Onedinlinjen. Inget svenskt företag har upplevt så stor dramatik som just Broströms. Detta är den dramtiska berättelsen "inifrån Huset", om det som skedde i det som syntes ske. Utgiven 1980. | ||
Out of the Fog is an American edition of a Swedish book by Algot Mattsson, who was the information officer for SAL, the owner of Stockholm, the ship that collided with Andrea Doria in 1956. The book describes the collision from the perspectives of both ships as well as the heroic rescue of hundreds. Testimony given at the hearing is also included as is a legal opinion by the American editors, one of whom was directly involved with the case. |
Detta är en berättelse om den dramatiska färden över Atlanten, från de hårda och riskfyllda överfarten med små lastskutor i mitten av 1800-talet, till lyxresorna med Amerikalinjens sista skepp. Utgiven 1982 | ||
