A Tribute to the Swedish American Line
The White Viking Fleet
19 Years on the Internet

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News archive

News items posted before January 2014 are presented here.


Updated Oct 15, 2013

Kungsholm Tenders

Peter Walker has sent us an update of one of Kungsholm's tenders being transported
from Cardiff to Coniston in the Lake District for new service with Coniston Launch.

See two photos here.

Hans "Hasse" Gustafsson, former crew member on the Kungsholm,
reminds us of Sten Hovne's text about Kungsholm's tenders.
This was published when the tenders served in Cardiff.

Read more about all the tenders here.


 

 

Please note that the organizer is responsible for all events at reunions.
Salship.se does not organize reunions.

Updated March 15, 2013

SAL Reunion in October 2013,
in KLEINHAUGSDORF-HATE, Czech Republic


Johann Schlögl is organizing a SAL reunion in October 18 - 20, 2013.
For more information, contact Johann Schlög.
You will find his email address in the invitation.

Read the invitation here

See maps here



The place where the meeting will be held is on the Austrian-Czech Republic border  =KLEINHAUGSDORF-CHVALOVICE HATE =


The meeting will take place in the  ( www.itvv.cz - 00420 515 230 590 )
All 3 days in this  hotel.
Rooms: double room around euro 50.-, pension euro 32.-.


www.hotel-savannah.com 100 meters away, around  90 euro.  
Saturdays  dancing and music. Midnight show.

For more information, contact Johann Schlög.


Read about previous reunions here


Updated Aug 14, 2013

Do You have Information about SAL in Canada
and Arthur Anderson?

Regretfully we have no information about SAL in Canada on this website, even though Halifax
was a regular port for SAL in North America, and several cruise passengers were Canadians.
Laurel Anderson McCallum has sent us an inquiry:

My grandfather, Arthur Anderson, directed the Line for many year from the Winnipeg office in Manitoba, Canada. He also received an award from Sweden for long-time service with SAL. (The award was the Royal Patriotic Gold Medal from the King of Sweden). I know that he was directing the Line in 1949, but he also worked with the Line both earlier and later on, before becoming Swedish Consul in Manitoba and Western Canada from 1955-62.

Laurel Anderson McCallum, granddaughter.

Do you have more information? Please email salship@yahoo.com.


Updated Aug 14, 2013

A Surprise Gift


Lars-Erik Jansson has an impressive collection
of SAL documents.
 

Webmaster Lars Hemingstam.

In April 2013, I made a social visit to Lars-Erik Jansson in Malmö. Lars-Erik is a former Information Officer on the Kungsholm and the Gripsholm. Imagine my surprise when Lars-Erik, in addition to being a perfect host, presented me with several Chief Purser reports from Kungsholm and Gripsholm. Among them were reports that I had taken part in writing when I worked in the Purser's Office on the Kungsholm during the fall of 1968, The Fall Cruise of Scandinavia, Europe and the Mediterranean, and The Around South America Cruise. More about this will be posted later. Read more about Information Officer Lars-Erik Jansson here.



Chief Purser's reports. Cruise folders.
Hemingstam collection.




Updated Aug 14, 2013

Drottningholm in Port Elizabeth in 1945

Drottningholm visited Port Elizabeth in 1945 on one of her
repatriation voyages. Ivor Markman has contributed this photo.

Read more about the Exchange and Repatriation voyages here.


Read more about the Drottningholm here.



Updated Aug 14, 2013

A Kungsholm Cruise to Cuba

http://youtu.be/VgTdfu4U058

Johan Sjöberg has contributed a link to Shipgeek Cinema's color film of a M/S Kungsholm
cruise to Cuba
in wartime, prior to December 1941. The Kungsholm sailed on cruises
in the Carribean until the attack on Pearl Harbor when the US entered the war.
The ship was first seized by the US Government in New York harbor to be
used as a troop transport ship, and shortly thereafter purchased
and renamed John Ericsson.

Read more about the Kungsholm of 1928.

See more film clips here.




Updated Aug 7, 2013

A Memory from Sweden in 1944

Mrs Flo Clucas has contributed this card from Swedish Princess Sibylla,
the mother of the present King of Sweden.
Mrs Clucas' father received
the card when he was exchanged as a prisoner of war in 1944
Read more here.




Updated April 19, 2013

A visit on board the Sea Princess in 1985

In 1985, SAL veterans Chief Purser Curt Dawe, Deck Steward Per Ståhlberg,
and Information Officer Lars-Erik Jansson boarded the Sea Princess,
ex Kungsholm, in Copenhagen.
See the photos here.



Updated April 19, 2013

Lecture Calendar



A listing of lectures during the Gripsholm's
Africa - South America Cruise January 23 - March 5, 1968,
"Travel Talks by Col. J Wickersham Kirk", has been added.
See the document here.



Updated April 18, 2013

Art Objects from Kungsholm of 1928 to be Sold at Auction

Two art objects from Kungsholm of 1928 will be available at
Stockholms Auktionsverk on April 24-25 2013.
Read more about the auction here.

The information is in Swedish. Use Google Translate.

Many thanks to Marie Rehnberg for this information.

Read more about Kungsholm of 1928, and its artwork, here.


Updated April 17, 2013

Folk Dancer Identified

Udo Ulrich, Austrian living in Stockholm today,
Dining Room Waiter, MS Gripsholm 1966-70,
has identified himself in a photo of folk dancers.
See the photo here.



Updated April 17, 2013

David Chisling

More photos have been added to David Chisling's page.
David was a Cruise Staff member 1966-1969. See his photos here.

Also see newly added photos of Folk Dancers here.



Updated April 15, 2013

Ingwar Gemzell and Rolf Mayer

New photos added

Ingwar Gemzell served on the SAL ships from the 1950's until 1975, on the Stockholm, the Gripsholm, and the Kungsholm. Rolf Mayer served on the SAL ships from the 1960's until 1975. Read about them and see their photos here.

Many thanks to Tommy Stark and Hans Gustafsson for working with this collection.


Updated April 3, 2013

Gerhard Kummer

A new page has been created about Gerhard Kummer, who worked on the Swedish American Line from 1959 to 1975. See his photos here.

Gerhard Kummer has identified Manfred Christel and Werner Petersen


Updated April 3, 2013

A Memory of Easter in 1970

Today is March the 28th. In 1970 this day was Easter Eve. On that day in 1970 we passed the Date-line with MS Kungsholm, where I worked as Assistant Barsteward (Barnisse). This meant that we had two Easter Eves 1970. You can imaging waking up after the Easter party to another Easter eve and party. See the enclosed Cruise programme.

Christer  Bengtsson

See the inside of the folder here.


Updated March 23, 2013

The New SAL Guestbook

Since the new guestbook can take some time loading, it has been moved to a separate page, and is not being displayed at the bottom of every page.

Read the new guestbook here.


Find Passenger Lists and Crew Lists on Ancestry.com



Through Ancestry.com I found my grandmother's cousin Arvid Norling
in this passenger list for the Kungsholm's departure from Göteborg
on March 15 1923, plus this list below, showing his arrival in NYC.

You can find many passenger and crew lists on Ancestry.com, (but not all).
I also found information about Arvid's siblings Richard and Fanny Norling,
who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920's.

And I found my great uncle Karl Arvid Norling's US draft record for WWI,
plus several crew lists from other ships he worked on.

You can find records of births, and deaths from Sweden and the United States.
The historical documents at ancestry.com can show family members, occupations,
birth and marriage dates, addresses, and more for your ancestors. With billions of records, ancestry.com has the largest online collection of genealogical documents anywhere in the world.

Immigration Collection

 


Updated March 17, 2013

More photos from the
Gripsholm 1967 - 1970


Patrick Zeller on St Patrick's Day, 40 years ago.

Patrik Zeller, who served in the dining room of the Gripsholm 1967 - 1970,
and the Kungsholm 1970- 1973, has contributed four new pages of photos.

Helmut Bretmaisser has identified Franco Maresca in photo Z-302.

Gert Pedersen, Busboy in the aft bar, has identified his cabin mate Keld Schmidt Larsen in photo Z-202.

Many more photos from Patrick will be posted soon.


Updated January 30, 2013

Reunion in April 2013,
for SAL and Lindblad Explorer

Morten Olsson informs us that many bookings are coming in,
and that March 31 is the last date for reservations.


Morten Olsson, who has organized SAL reunions several times before, is organizing a new reunion att Ronnums Herrgård, April 6 to 7, 2013.

Invitation in Swedish

Invitation in English

Read about previous reunions here




Please note that the organizer is responsible for all events at reunions.
Salship.se does not organize reunions.




Updated March 15, 2013

SAL Reunion in October 2013,
in KLEINHAUGSDORF-HATE, Czech Republic


Johann Schlögl is organizing a SAL reunion in October 18 - 20, 2013.
For more information, contact Johann Schlög. You will find his email
address in the invitation.

Read the invitation here

See maps here

Read about previous reunions here


Great fares to Europe and beyond.


Updated March 12, 2013

Recent Photos from the Engine Room
of Veronica, ex Kungsholm

We have received several current photos of the Kungsholm's engine room.
See them here.



Updated January 24, 2013

15 Years with the SAL Website

This year it iwill be15 years since the SAL website was launched. This website was started in 1998, when my sons and I needed some kind of activity during a rainy summer's week. Since then the site has developed into a huge portal and resource containing more than 200 pages, about an important part of 20th century shipping and Swedish corporate history. The pages about the repatriation voyages during World War II tell unknown stories of American history. The site also plays a central part in my interest in the Swedish-American heritage.

There is much more in my archive to be published, for example the secret correspondence between ship and shore in the weeks before the shutdown of SAL's passenger operations in 1975, many more interesting facts about the repatriation and exchange voyages during World War II, a woman's diary from an Atlantic crossing in the 1950's, and a story from NYC about the lasting friendship between a prominent cruise member and dance instructors Marlene and Michael Pekala.

But mostly the website thrives on pictures and stories contributed by former crew members and passengers, of which I have been promised more this year.

"Regardless of which ship we sailed on or which year - the memories we share are the same", is a phrase posted on this site. We all remember embarkiing at Stigbergskajen in Gothenburg, the Vinga Lighthouse, so many days and nights on the Atlantic Ocean, the first time we saw the Statue of Liberty, Pier 97 and the U.S Customs officials, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, King Neptune and the Equator Ceremony, the South Pacific, the Folkdancers, the Passengers, the Commanders, the Pursers, the Cruise Staff, the Christmas sailing home to Sweden, and all our friends among the Crew. They remained so alike through the years.

Looking forward to 15 more years remembering "Of all the ships that sail the sea, the ship for me is the Gripsholm/Kungsholm".

Lars Hemingstam


Updated November 30, 2012

Where Do Our Visitors Come From?

Almost half of the number of visitors to this website live in Sweden, the rest in many other parts of the world. Countries in addition to the ones in the chart are, in order (less than 2%); France, Austria, Latvia, Finland, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Norway, Italy, Australia, and Luxembourg.

Thailand, Japan, China, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico are not in the statistics, but I know from emails from those countries that we have visitors there as well. It is truly an international community.

The average number of hits per day, counting all pages on the site, is 6514, with a maximum of 10554 on a very busy day.


 

Updated January 10, 2013

A Story of American Passengers' Lives
as World War II Internees in Asia


Mrs Marjorie Sayre, originally from Wellfleet, Massachusetts, now living in Florida,
has sent the story of her relatives, who were repatriated on the Gripsholm.

Read more about the repatriaton voyages during WWII here.



Updated January 10, 2013

More Photos from 1970


Kungsholm in Leningrad 1970

Karl Glimnell, 3rd Officer on the Kungsholm1970 and Gripsholm 1972-73,
has contributed more interesting pictures.

Two new pages have been created.

Two of Karl Glimnell's new photos have also been added to the Pier 97 page.



Updated January 10, 2013

Folk Dancers Identified

Kerstin Wennerström has identified herself and other folkdancers in
the Gripsholm World Cruise 1968 photo.
See the photo here.

Franz Havranek, et al, have added names to photo D-215.
See the photo here.



Great fares to Europe and beyond.


Updated December 24, 2012

A Christmas Greeting
from the Swedish American Line

The movie was most likely shown on board the ships, and at promotional meetings for Swedish American organizations in the U.S.
Many thanks to assistant webmaster Kathryn Hemingstam
for finding this clip on Youtube.



Updated December 14, 2012

QM2 Cruise

Tommy Stark, who has contributed many photos to this website, and his wife, went on a cruise on the Queen Mary 2 in November 2012, to celebrate Tommy's 60th birthday.

Read Tommy's letter about the cruise here.

See a gallery of pictures from the cruise here.

See photos from the Kungsholm in 1971 to 1973 on Tommy's page.




Updated December 3, 2012

Poul V Lange
Chief Purser

A new page has been created about
Chief Purser Poul V Lange.

See the photos here.


Updated December 2, 2012

Jörgen Areskough
Second Purser

Jörgen Areskough was Second Purser on the Gripsholm for many years. He was on board during Gripsholm's last voyage in 1975.

See his photos here.



Updated November 25, 2012

Veronica, ex Kungsholm

During the last two months, this site was not updated for technical reasons. We received several emails during that time about the fate of the Kungsholm of 1966, now a floating hotel in Oman.

Read about it here.


Find Passenger Lists and Crew Lists on Ancestry.com



Through Ancestry.com I found my grandmother's cousin Arvid Norling
in this passenger list for the Kungsholm's departure from Göteborg
on March 15 1923, plus this list below, showing his arrival in NYC.

You can find many passenger and crew lists on Ancestry.com, (but not all).
I also found information about Arvid's siblings Richard and Fanny Norling,
who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920's.

And I found my great uncle Karl Arvid Norling's US draft record for WWI,
plus several crew lists from other ships he worked on.

You can find records of births, and deaths from Sweden and the United States.
The historical documents at ancestry.com can show family members, occupations,
birth and marriage dates, addresses, and more for your ancestors. With billions of records, ancestry.com has the largest online collection of genealogical documents anywhere in the world.

Immigration Collection

 


Updated November 28, 2012

List of Officers from 1951

Eric Sakala has contributed a list of officers from the Gripsholm in 1951. This list helps us identify a purser in picture B004. The list has been added to Hugo Bilén's page and the Gripsholm of 1925 page.

 

Updated November 27, 2012

Crew Members Identified

Several crew members in photos on Anthony Bloomfield's photos (see below) have been identified by members of the Facebook group Gripsholm Friends.

 

Updated November 20, 2012

A Photographer's Memories

Anthony Bloomfield was a photographer on the Gripsholm 1974 until
its final transatlantic voyage from New York in 1975. This included two cruises
around South America, many Carribean cruises and some European cruises.
Two new pages have been added.



Updated November 24, 2012

Gustav Weber Pettersson

Gustav Weber Petterson served on MS Gripsholm from January 3rd 1949 to July 16th 1953. During his 4.5 years on board MS Gripsholm he met many celebrities and happy, appreciative passengers.

Two pages of photos have been contributed by Asger Weber, son of Gustav Weber Petterson.

Asger Weber has also identified his father in photo B100 on Chief Purser Hugo Bilén's page.


Updated August 30, 2012

The Guestbook from 2008-2012 Restored

The guestbook from 2008-2012, which has been gone, is now restored. You might enjoy reading the top entry, informing us that Ricky Nelson and Vilhelm Moberg were on the same Atlantic crossing in 1954! What a voyage that must have been! Do you have stories from that crossing? Another passenger, who was on a crossing years later, also having Vilhem Moberg as a fellow passenger, has said that he was quite a skilled dancer, being very active on the dance floor in the Main Lounge every evening.

You can find the guestbook 2008-2012 here.

The missing guestbook entries from 2001 to 2008 will be added during late autumn of 2012.

A new guestbook has been added in 2012. You can find it at the bottom of every page.

The SAL Guestbook is a treasure of Swedish-American emigration and maritime history. In hundreds and hundreds of entries, passengers, crew members, and their relatives, have told unique stories of Atlantic crossings and SAL cruises.

(Unfortunately, there was a problem with the latest guestbook, which has been closed down. Not to worry, the entries in the old one, from 2001 to 2012, have been saved in a backup file. The task of converting the old entries from a database format into a readable PDF is halfway done.

Many thanks to the hosts of the old guestbook, Lycos and Tripod, for
providing the backup.)



Updated December 17, 2012

More Photos from 1972-73



Karl Glimnell, 3rd Officer on the Gripsholm 1972-73,
has contributed more interesting pictures.

Two new pages have been created.


 


Updated August 20, 2012

SAL Exhibition in Philadelphia PA

Torsten Torstensson is displaying his SAL exhibition at
the American Swedish Historical Museum in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
The exhibition will be open until February 24, 2013.

Click here to read the invitation.



Updated August 17, 2012

Officers Recognized

First Radio Officer Wimar Berg has identified himself
and 2nd Officer Sr Nils Andersson in a photo from
a Kungsholm Officers' Christmas Dinner.

See the picture here.



Updated August 17, 2012

Memories of a South Seas Cruise
and the Panama Canal



Lars-Erik Jansson served on SAL ships 1963-64, 1966-71, and 1974-75.
For many years he was Information Officer on the Kungsholm and Gripsholm.
Now, he shares memories of a cruise to the South Seas -
Far East and Pacific, January 5 - April 8, 1967.

See the photos here.



Updated July 7, 2012

MS Stockholm of 1948 Delivered

"Anonymous" has informed us that British Pathe shows a newsreel of the Stockholm being delivered to SAL.

Find links to this and many more film clips here.



Updated July 7, 2012

Folk Dancers Recognized

Lillemor Lahger from Uddevall, Sweden, has recognized herself and
three fellow folkdancers in this photo. Lillemor was a crew member 1974-75.
See the picture here.



Updated July 7, 2012

Dining Room Photo

Reinhard Postl from Austria, since the 1970's living in Germany, has contributed this photo. He worked as a dining room steward on the Gripsholm 1962-63, and on the New Kungsholm for the Maiden-Voyage in 1966 until 1970. Read more about the photo on the Bridge & Crew Page.



Updated July 6, 2012

Brev från Bengt Danielsson på Tahiti

Lars-Erik Jansson, som var Informationsofficer på
Kungsholm och Gripsholm under många år, har bidragit
med två versioner av brev till SAL från den kände
etnografen och konsuln på Tahiti,
Bengt Danielsson.
Läs breven här.



Updated June 27, 2012

Hälsningar från Gripsholm i New York 1943


Under andra världskriget tjänstgjorde Gripsholm och Drottningholm som utväxlingsfartyg med krigsfångar, frigivna fångar från koncentrationsläger, diplomater, missionärer, affärsmän, m fl, som passagerare.

Per Tistrand, son till chefen för SALs Sjöpersonalvdelning, Torkel Tistrand, har hittat en inspelning med hälsningar från Gripsholms besättning från 1943, då Gripsholm var upplagd i Hudsonfloden, i väntan på nya uppdrag.

Läs mer om utväxlingsresorna här.

Lyssna på inspelningen:

En sjömanssång

Hälsningar frän besättningen

Kungsholms intendent Hugo Bilen
och Gripsholms kapten Sigfrid Ericsson

Gripsholmskvartetten och Torkel Tistrand


Stort tack till Per Tistrand för detta unika bidrag!




Updated June23, 2012

Crew Member Recognized


Hans Richter, who served on the Gripsholm
July 1966 to May 1967, has identified himself in
a photo from David Chisling's Birthday celebration.



Updated June 19, 2012

Gripsholm Photos from 1972-73



Karl Glimnell, 3rd Officer on the Gripsholm 1972-73,
has contributed more interesting pictures.

Two new pages have been created.



Updated June 19, 2012

Memories of a South Seas Cruise



Lars-Erik Jansson served on SAL ships 1963-64, 1966-71, and 1974-75.
For many years he was Information Officer on the Kungsholm and Gripsholm.
Now, he shares memories of a cruise to the South Seas -
Far East and Pacific, January 5 - April 8, 1967.

See the photos here.



Updated May 7, 2012

Photos of MS Stockholm after the Collision



Erik has contributed three incredible photos of
the Stockholm's bow after the collision with Andrea Doria.

Erik's father was a passenger on the Stockholm.

See the photos here.



Updated May 6, 2012

Gripsholm Photos from 1972-73



Karl Glimnell, 3rd Officer on the Gripsholm 1972-73,
has contributed more interesting pictures.

Three new pages have been created.

Even more pictures will follow soon.



Updated April 30, 2012

Photos of Pier 97



Karl Glimnell, 3rd Officer on the Gripsholm 1972-73,
has contributed several interesting pictures.

First out are four photos from Pier 97.

Many more pictures will follow.



Updated April 29, 2012

Film Showing the Gripsholm of 1925

The Swedish Film Institute has posted a film from 1925,
showing the new Gripsholm
.

Find a link to the film here.



Updated April 29, 2012

Kungsholm Memories from the 1930's



A postcard from 1941, and a passenger list from 1935,
have been added to the Kungsholm of 1928 page.





Updated March 22, 2012

Crew Photos


Robert Heinzelmann has contributed two photos
from crew parties on the Kungsholm 1973/75.
See them on the Bridge and Crew Page.



Updated March 22, 2012

Folk Dancers Recognized


Kerstin Gren has recognized herself and
cabinmate Birgitta Andersson in photo K-7-



Updated March 19, 2012

Photos of Pier 97 and Stigbergskajen


Lars Johansson has contributed one more photo of Pier 97,
as seen from W 57th Street,



plus photos from Stigbergskajen in Gothenburg.



Updated January 17, 2012

Gripsholm & Drottningholm Film Clips from WWII

There are several film clips from the Gripsholm and Drottningholm exchange and repatriation voyages in the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. You can find links to the clips on the SAL Film Clips Page.

Read more about the Exchange and Repatriation Voyages during WWII here.



Updated January 17, 2012

Karl Gustav Ingemo

Helene Carlsson in Mölndal, Sweden, has sent us three photos of her
grandfather, Karl Gustav Ingemo, serving on one of the SAL ships in the 1930's. One of the pictures is a group photo. Helene would like to get in touch with anyone with knowledge of her grandfather
.

See the photos on the Bridge & Crew Page.



Updated January 17, 2012

Folk Dancer Identified


Anders Tidström has identified himself in this
Folk Dance photo (s-100) from 1966.
See the picture in the Sandholm Family collection
.



Updated January 12, 2012

Cruise Staff Identified


Bill Klingener, Shore Trip Staff member, has identified the
Cruise Staff members in this photo. Bill Klingener worked on
both the Kungsholm and Gripsholm for several years and
continued after the Kungsholm was sold to Flagship Cruises.
Bill has also contributed memories of the duties of the Cruise Staff.
See the picture and all the names here and here
.

Officers Identified


Sven-Olof Svensson has identified two officers in this photo.
See the picture and the names here
.



Updated January 9, 2011

Kungsholm's Final Voyage



Several photos have been added to the story started
in 2001 by Sven-Olof Svensson, about the Kungsholm's
final voyage under Swedish flag in 1975. The story now
consists of 4 pages.

Carpenter and Boatswain



Carpenter Reo Salminen and Boatswain Anti Leskinen,
have been identified in this photo from Kungsholm's Final Voyage.
Many thanks to Mats Jangsell and Sven Ottosson
for helping out with this.

(Matts Jangsell sailed on the Kungsholm as able seaman from
September 1972 until May 1973, and another period September 1973
until May 10, 1974. Matts turned 18 years old on May 6,1974.)



Updated January 9, 2012

Kungsholm Memories from 1966

Lars-Erik Jansson, former Information Officer on the Kungsholm
and Gripsholm, has contributed two photos from 1966
.

Read more about Lars-Erik Jansson here.



Updated January 9, 2011

Veronica, ex Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, in Oman

See Veronica's website here.

Many thanks to Mr Burkhard Schütt for this information.

 

This is a quote from the Oman business magazine Business Today:

Veronica, Oman’s first floating hotel

In October 2010, DSME bought Mona Lisa, a cruise ship built in 1966, from Bahamas shipping firm Leonardo Shipping Inc, with the intention of converting it into a luxurious floating hotel, to be stationed at the Duqm drydock. With investments of over US$30mn the ship was renamed as Veronica after refurbishments and is set for its soft launch soon. 

The floating hotel has 208 rooms subdivided into luxury, deluxe, standard, serviced residences and crew rooms. Facilities onboard include restaurants and bars, a spa, swimming pool and sauna, a fully equipped gym/health club, a karaoke bar, a clinic and pharmacy, retail shops, offices and conference rooms.  DSME started with the project to compensate for the lack of hotels in Duqm for visiting senior management of ODC and DSME. While Veronica will be for the officials during its soft launch phase, having identified the potential for development of tourism, there are plans to open it to public towards the end of 2012.



Updated January 4, 2012

SAL Models



Klas-Åke Lindstedt has contributed this photo of his
collection of models of SAL ships, made by the German
model maker Risawoleska. Only the smaller ships, which
sailed on the Baltic Sea, Kastelholm, Borgholm and
Marieholm, are missing. They are expected to be built
by Risawoleska in the next few years.

The scale is 1:1250.



Updated January 4, 2012

Two New Crew Member Pages



Claes Lindström was a crew member on the Gripsholm and the Kungsholm
from the spring of 1974 to the autumn of 1975.

See his photos here.


Updated December 22, 2011

A Visit to S/S Rotterdam

Tommy Stark, crew member on the Kungsholm from 1971 to 1973, has together with his wife, visited the floating museum ship S/S Rotterdam, and compares the fate of the two ships in this letter,

Tommy Stark has also contributed 108 photos of the S/S Rotterdam. See them here.

See photos from Tommy's years on the Kungsholm here.


Updated December 21, 2011

Kungsholm Still Going Strong

The Kungsholm, renamed Veronica,
is now a floating hotel, docked in Duqm, Oman.
http://www.theweek.co.om/printCon.phpx?Cval=5810

Many thanks to Mr Burkhard Schütt for this information.


Updated November 24, 2011

The Kungsholm's Final Voyage Under Swedish Flag



Sven-Olof Svensson has contributed photos from the Kungsholm's final cruise,
and her final Atlantic crossing in September 1975.

See his photos here.

There will be more photos from Sven-Olof later on this year


Updated November 24, 2011

More Gripsholm Photos



Lis Brokmose has contributed more
interesting photos from the Gripsholm.

See the photos here.


Updated November 7, 2011

Pier 97 Photos



Lars Johansson has contributed photos from the Kungsholm's
departure from NYC, October 11, 1974.

See the photos here.


Updated November 6, 2011

SAL Reunion, October 15-16, 2011



Carl-Gustaf Edhardt and Hans W Pettersson have
contributed photos from the reunion in Onsala 2011.

See the photos here.

Read more about reunions here.


Updated October 2, 2011

Gripsholm Tenders



Lars Johansson has contributed two photos showing
Gripsholm's tenders at Charlottetown, Canada,
September 8, 1974, on a Canada - Bermuda Cruise.

See the photos here.



Updated September 27, 2011

Stockholm of 1938 and 1940



Patrik Lindmark has informed us of an Italian website
with photos, and a film clip, showing the Stockholm of 1940.
Two ships named Stockholm were built in Italy at
Cantieri Riunti delli Adriatico, Monfalcone. in 1938 and 1940.
These ships never sailed for SAL.

See the photos and the film clip here.
The instructions are in Italian. Use Google Translate,
if necessary, to translate the site into your own language.

Read more about the two Stockholms here.




Updated September 23, 2011

Literary Memories

Göran C-O Claesson, son of Carl-Otto Claesson who served on the bridge of the Drottningholm and the Gripsholm has found the following text in WRITER'S DIGEST Sept 2011, page 14:

Before They Were Famous: The Oddest Odd jobs of 10 Literary Greats
...
#5  J. D. Salinger mentioned in a rare interview in 1953 that he had served as entertainment director on the H.M.S. Kungsholm*, a Swedish luxury liner. He drew on the experience for hos short story ''Teddy'' which takes place on a liner. Read more about J.D. Salinger and the Kungsholm here.

*Why is the prefix "H.M.S." incorrectly used above? Most likely, someone has confused H.M.S. (His or Her Majesty's Ship) with "M/S" (Motor Ship, as in S/S, for Steamship). M/S is an abbreviation used by the Nordic countries. The Anglo-Saxon countries have more commonly used the abbreviation M/V (Motor Vessel). If anyone can find the combination M/S Queen Mary 2, please let us know.

SAL often omitted M/S in their English language marketing material, because it created confusion. Instead they just wrote "The Kungsholm", or "The Gripsholm", which is also the practise on this website.

In official company documents and reports, the ships were referred to as MS KUNGSHOLM and MS GRIPSHOLM, etc, in capital letters.



Updated September 23, 2011

Bokanjärerna

Göran C-O Claesson är medlem i Bokanjärerna, föreningen för havets berättare. I en mininovell införd på föreningens hemsida har Göran nämnt Gripsholm. Den finns att läsa här.



Updated March 30, 2011

En modell framkallar minnen


Göran C-O Claesson, son till Carl-Otto Claesson som var
styrman och kapten på SAL:s passagerarfartyg, har skrivit
ett blogginlägg om de minnen och tankar som väcktes till
liv av en modell av MS Gripsholm. Läs mer här.


Updated June 10, 2010

Gripsholm Model

Carl-Gustaf Edhardt, Assistant Deck Steward on the Gripsholm 1965 - 1967,
has contributed photos of a model of the Gripsholm, that he has acquired
recently. The model is built by the German model maker Risawoleska.

Read more here.

 


Updated Aug 31, 2011

Peanut Butter Sandwich in Alex*

Robert Neilson has added a story of a shore trip in Egypt
in 1963, to the Neilson Family Page in the passenger section.

* Ice-Cold in Alex (1958) is an award winning British film based on
the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon.



Updated Aug 29, 2011

News Items Moved to the News Archive

News items posted before July 2010 have been
moved to the SAL News Archive.




Updated Aug 29, 2011

An Interesting Link About SAL

The site Resandemannen shows photos of the Gripsholm in 1950, and many
of the SAL freighters, as well as ships belonging to other Swedish shipping companies.

Resandemannen.se has this information of what you can find
about SAL at the Regional Archives in Gothenburg:

The SAL archive comprises 25 shelf meters of the Regional Archives, in addition to all the ship related documents, drawings and such, stored at the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg. Among the contents are inspection reports, accounts, stock books and printed Passenger Lists 1915-1971. from all voyages between Gothenburg and North America (excluding "emigrant class" passengers).


Updated Aug 24, 2011

A SAL Cabinet and Wash Basin

Maria Ericson bought and old cabinet with a wash basin at an antique fair a few years ago. The wash basin has the SAL logo, but she does not know which ship it came from, one of the passenger ships or a freighter?


A similar cabinet in Rune Dahlstrand's cabin on the Gripsholm of 1925.

Maria Ericson would like to have more information about this antique cabinet. She has not decided if she is going to sell it or keep it.

Email salhip@yahoo.com

 

Updated Aug 24, 2011

A Lighthouse Brings Back Memories

When Lars-Erik Jansson, former Information Officer on the Kungsholm and Gripsholm, visited a lighthouse in Malmö, it brought back memories of his years at sea as a young seaman. "I started out as a potato peeler and advanced to the position of Information Officer", he told the reporter from Sydsvenskan. "The lighthouses were our best friends! I still like them very much."

Lars-Erik Jansson also has fond memories of the betting pools on board the ships, which were based on the exact time the ship passed a lighthouse, such as the Ambrose Lighthouse Ship outside New York.

Read the whole article here.

Read more about Lars-Erik Jansson here.



Updated Aug 3, 2011

Several SAL Clips on Youtube

Go to youtube.com and you will find many video clips relating to the Swedish American Line. By searching for the combination Kungsholm Mona Lisa, you will find clips about the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm.

Continue to search for each of the ships Kungsholm, Gripsholm, Stockholm and Drottningholm, and you will find a treasure of film clips.

Read more about SAL clips here.



Updated July 30, 2011

A Fire on Pier 97 in 2010

There are several video clips on Youtube of a
fire on Manhattan's Pier 97 in September, 2010.
There are video clips showing views from both sides of the river.

See more memories of Pier 97, where so
many SAL passengers entered America.




Updated July 27, 2011

Our Thoughts Go To Norway


The Norwegian American Line's Sagafjord and SAL's Kungsholm, side by side.
Contributed by Franz Havranek.




Updated July 19, 2011

Johnny Grahm, Dining Room Waiter 1965-66

Johnny Grahm has contributed a photo from his time on
the Gripsholm and Kungsholm as a dining room waiter in 1965-66.

Read more on the Bridge and Crew page.



Updated July 19, 2011

A Kungsholm Memory of H.R.H The Duke Of Edinburgh

Lars-Erik Jansson, Information Officer on the Kungsholm,
remembers an event in Plymouth in 1969. Read more here.



Updated July 19, 2011

News from the Reunion in June 2011

The weekly magazine Ennsseiten in Austria has
published a news article from the reunion in June.
60 SAL friends attended. Read more here.

Read more about SAL Reunions here.



Udated July 11, 2011

Gripsholm Memories

Lis Brokmose has contributed a photo from the Gripsholm's last Atlantic crossing.
Lis has also identified Bridge Instructor David Croft in a photo of the cruise staff.





Udated July 9, 2011

Find Passenger Lists and Crew Lists on Ancestry.com



Through Ancestry.com I found my grandmother's cousin Arvid Norling
in this passenger list for the Kungsholm's departure from Göteborg
on March 15 1923, plus this list below, showing his arrival in NYC.

You can find many passenger and crew lists on Ancestry.com, (but not all).
I also found information about Arvid's siblings Richard and Fanny Norling,
who emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920's.

You can find records of births, and deaths from Sweden and the United States.
The historical documents at ancestry.com can show family members, occupations,
birth and marriage dates, addresses, and more for your ancestors. With billions of records, ancestry.com has the largest online collection of genealogical documents anywhere in the world.


Immigration Collection



Udated June 6, 2011

Price List and Sailing List for 1957



A price list and the sailing list for 1957,
have been added to the About Us Page.



Udated June 5, 2011

WWII Medal


The US Merchant Marine Victory Medal.

The Gripsholm crew members were awarded medals for their service during WWII. Lennart Svedberg of Söderhamn, Sweden, has contributed information
about one crew member who was awarded. Read more here.


Udated June 5, 2011

Gripsholm Photos

Lis Brokmose has contributed more photos from the Gripsholm.
See them here.


Udated June 5, 2011

Pier 97, 1974-75

Lars Johansson has contributed two photos of Pier 97.
He served
on the Gripsholm and the Kungsholm.
See them here.



Updated Feb 2, 2011

Reunion in June 2011

Once again, the Zirngast Family will host a SAL Reunion
in Schladming, Austria. Sepp Zirngast served on
the Gripsholm and the Lindblad Explorer. Read more here.

Read more about SAL Reunions here.




Updated May 14, 2011

Second Purser Ingvar Torstensson

Ingvar joined the Swedish American Line in 1970 on board the Kungsholm.
He stayed until the ship was sold in 1975. During his time on board
he served in different positions in the Purser Office, and was later
promoted to Second Purser, substituting as Chief Purser.

Read more here.




Updated May 7, 2011

I.J. Gonon's Store on W 57th Street

Ted Gonon, son of I.J. Gonon, and Audrey Brava, granddaughter of I.J. Gonon,
have ben in touch and contributed their memories, for which we
all are most grateful. It's like being back in the store on Manhattan.

Read their memories here.




Updated April 2, 2011

Passenger in the Post-SAL Era


Clive Harvey has visited, and been a passenger
on several SAL ships, after they have changed
owners and appearances. Read more here.




Updated March 29, 2011

Manhattan Piers in 1954


A photo showing Piers 7 to 10
has been added to the Pier 97 page.
The photo was taken by Tage Hemingstam,
passenger in 1954 and 1957.

Compare the two almost identical views,
one taken by Tage Hemingstam in 1954, and
the other by Annica Roussetos in 1964.




Updated March 29, 2011

Drottningholm Label

Ken Sandholm has contributed this photo of a rare luggage label from his mother's voyage from Göteborg to New York on the Drottningholm in January 1948.



Updated March 27, 2011

Gripsholm to Naples in 1945

In the autumn of 1945, Mr Vernon T Hands, his
mother, and two sisters departed New York City
on the Gripsholm for the Mediterranean Sea.
See two new photos, and read his story here.




Updated March 24, 2011

Herbert B Colcord, Cruise Manager

Lars-Erik Jansson, Information Officer on the Gripsholm and Kungsholm,
has contributed more information about Herb Colcord.

Herb Colcord was a Cruise Manager on the SAL ships for many years.
The Cruise Manager and the Social Directress, assisted by the cruise staff,
hosted the daily social life on board, and saw to it that the cruise
members enjoyed the cruise experience.
Read more here.

 



Updated March 17, 2011

Stigbergskajen

Two new photos have been added to the page about Stigbergskajen, SAL's home terminal in Gothenburg.

See them here.



Updated March 17, 2011

10 Years as a Young Cruise Member

Robert Neilson of Fort Lauderdale, FL, sailed on SAL ships across the oceans for months at a time, continuously from 1962 -73, aged 9-20. New images of the Neilson family, and Col. A.M. Neilson's obituary have been added. This is a piece of SAL history, illustrating how the "repeaters" returned to SAL year after year.

Read more here.



Updated March 17, 2011

An American Road Trip in 1954

My father was a member of a Swedish Men's Choir which made a two month tour of the USA in 1954, leaving Sweden on August 25 and returning on October 22. They made the westbound crossing on the Gripsholm of 1925 and the eastbound crossing on the Kungsholm of 1953. I have now made seven web pages about this tour.

Read more here.



Updated March 9, 2011

New Photo Added


Carl-Gustaf Edhardt in cabin 78 on C-deck.
Read more here.



Updated March 5, 2011

Chief Purser Bilén's Page Updated


Chief Purser Hugo Bilén and his wife, Mrs Elsa Bilén.

Mr Ola Bilén, grandson of Chief Purser Hugo Bilén,
has contributed more photos. The photos have
been provided by Per Bilén, Hugo Bilén's son.
who also served on SAL ships. See the photos here.
Hugo Bilén was on board the Gripsholm's first voyage from
Genoa to Gothenburg, and his son Per has contributed
interior photos from 1957.



Updated March 3, 2011

SAL Literature

The list of SAL literature, which up until now could
be found at the bottom of every page, has been
moved to a separate page called SAL Literature.
A list of SAL literature from the 1920's and 1930's,
contributed by Lars-Erik Jansson, has been added.

 


Updated March 2, 2011

Doctor and Nurse on the Gripsholm

Updated


Anna-Greta and Maurits Lindblad.

Several photos and other documents have been contributed by Gunilla Lindblad,
daughter of Dr Maurits Lindblad and his wife Anna-Greta
. They served in the Gripholm's hospital 1931-1936.
Read more here.

Lars-Erik Jansson, for many years Information Officer on the Kungsholm and Gripsholm, has provided information about Ernest Hemingway, passenger on the Gripsholm's Winter Cruise in 1934, and Frank Heller, passenger on the Gripsholm's Winter Cruise in 1933. Dr and Mrs Lindblad served on both of those cruises. Jansson has also contributed a folder with the itinerary of the 1934 cruise.

Even more pages will be added.



Updated March 2, 2011

Herbert B Colcord, Cruise Manager

Herb Colcord was a Cruise Manager on the SAL ships for many years.
The Cruise Manager and the Social Directress, assisted by the cruise staff,
hosted the daily social life on board, and saw to it that the cruise
members enjoyed the cruise experience.
Read more here.

 


Updated March 2, 2011

The World's Fair in 1964

Serving on SAL's ships was a way for young Swedes to
see the world.
Information Officer Lars-Erik Jansson shares
photos from a visit to the World's Fair in New York in 1964.
At that time Jansson was a bus boy and an elevator piccolo.



Updated Feb 24, 2011

Officer's Apprentice on the Stockholm



Leif Vickberg was an officer's apprentice on the
Stockholm in 1956, at the time of the
collision with Andrea Doria.


Read more here.




Updated Feb 24, 2011

Photos added

Photos of Leif Vickberg and the Neilson family
have been added to the Neilson Family Pages.



Updated Feb 11, 2011

Anonymous Letter on Gripsholm Stationary


Pharmacist's Mate 2C  Roland  Erich Going
at a naval hospital in Honolulu in 1936. 
His nickname, for reasons unknown, was Pete.

Valerie Boersma has contributed an anonymous letter in 1943 concerning her uncle who was in Japanese captivity during WWII. The letter is written on Gripsholm stationary.

Read more here.



Updated Feb 11, 2011

From Bombay in 1945

Heather Waters Bedford of Canada has contributed six pages of her father's autobiography, describing the family's voyage from Bombay in August 1945.

"My parents, brother and I left Bombay India in the first part of July 1945 and sailed to New York City landing there Aug 3, 1945. My Dad has written details of our voyage in an autobiography and I could find the exact date."

(According to my notes, the ship left Bombay on June 21, 1945. LH)

Read the intriguing story from Mr Waters' autobiography here.

Read more about the Exchange and Repatriation Voyages During WWII here.



Updated Feb 7, 2010

SAL Tenders

Carl-Gustaf Edhardt has contributed more photos
of SAL tenders. See them here and here.



Updated Feb 7, 2010

SAL Soccer Team in the 1930's


SAL soccer team. Click on the image to enlarge.

The Swedish American Center in Karlstad, Sweden,
is hosting a SAL exhibition, which has been extended throughout 2011.
Read about it here.
The exhibition is based on Mr Torsten Torstensson's collection of
SAL memorabilia. The photo above shows a soccer team on
one of SAL's ships, most likely in the 1930's
Do you have more information about this photo?

Email salship@yahoo.com



Updated Feb 7, 2011

Mrs Bilén identified


Chief Purser Hugo Bilén and his wife, Mrs Elsa Bilén.

Mr Ola Bilén, grandson of Chief Purser Hugo Bilén,
has identified his grandmother, Mrs Elsa Bilén in photo B002.


Updated Feb 2, 2011

Repatriated on the Drottningholm


Donald Prager
and his older brother in 1942.

Mr Donald Prager has contributed a story about his voyage from Lisbon to Liverpool in August 1944, on board the Drottningholm, after four years of internment, of which two years were in Vittel.

The original version in French, has now been posted here, along with the English version, posted earlier.



Updated Feb 2, 2011

Reunion in June 2011

Once again, the Zirngast Family will host a SAL Reunion
in Schladming, Austria. Sepp Zirngast served on
the Gripsholm and the Lindblad Explorer. Read more here.

Read more about SAL Reunions here.




Updated Feb 2, 2011

Folk Dancers Identified

Lis Brokmose has identified several folk dancers
in photo K-6. Read more here.

Klaus Gnegel has identified himself in photo D-218
Klaus served on the Kungsholm from July 1969 to July 1971.
Read more here.



Updated Dec 4, 2010

Divine Exercise


The Lindblad collection

A unique collection of Gripsholm memorabilia has been contributed. The collection includes a photo of a Swedish goddess, amusing herself among mortals. Much more will be be revealed in February, 2011.



Updated Dec 4, 2010

They Met on the Gripsholm in 1945

John Borrego of Guthrie, Oklahoma tells the story about his parents, who crossed the Atlantic in November, 1945, to work at the American Embassy in Rome.

SAL was one of very few shipping companies who sailed on the Atlantic in 1945 and 1946.

Read about it here (scroll down the page).



Updated Dec 4, 2010

Lucia Celebration on the Gripsholm in 1957

A new page has been created with photos contributed by Lene Mikkelsen,
Beautician in the Gripsholm's Beauty Parlor,
from December 1957 to April 1958.


December 13, 1957



Updated Nov 30, 2010

Gripsholm Dining Room Staff

Patrick Zeller has contributed a photo of the Gripsholm
Dining Room Staff,
1967 or 1968, heading towards New York.




Updated Nov 29, 2010

Gripsholm Leaving Pier 97 in 1937

Two photos of the Gripsholm leaving Manhattan
in 1937 have been added to the Pier 97 page .



Updated Nov 28, 2010

Ett novemberminne

Informationsofficer Lars-Erik Jansson delar med sig av en
minnesvärd upplevelse på Falklandsöarna i november 1969.




Updated Oct 19, 2010

Breaking News About Kungsholm

Sadly, the efforts to save the Kungsholm as a hotel in Stockholm did not succeed.

Please use Google Translate to read this letter from Mr Lars G Hallgren in English.
(Copy the text from the pdf and paste into Google Translate
)

Letter from Mr Lars G Hallgren

Read more about the hotel plans for the Kungsholm here.




Updated Oct 17, 2010

Patrick Zeller's Pages

Helmut Bretmaisser has identified Richard Grabner in photo Z-14.

Patrik Zeller, who served in the dining room of the Gripsholm 1967 - 1970,
and the Kungsholm 1970- 1973, has contributed two pages of photos

Please help us to identify the persons in the photos.
salship@yahoo.com

Read more here,


Updated Oct 3, 2010

News Archive Updated

News items posted before July 2009 have been moved to the News Archive.



Updated Oct 1, 2010

Gripsholm Dining Room 1957-58

Göran Fredriksson, bus boy on the Gripsholm
from December 1957 to June 1958, has contributed
this photo of the dining room staff. Göran was assigned
to serve Captain Nordensson in his cabin, when the captain
prefered to have his meal there. Click on the photo to enlarge.




Updated Oct 1, 2010

Folk Dancers Identified

Franz Havranek, who served on the Kungsholm, 1971-73,
has identified several folk dancers in photo D215.

See them here.




Updated Sept 28, 2010

Photos from the Reunion in Onsala, 25-26 September 2010

SAL enthusiast L-O Rydén, grandson of crew member Bertil Bärgström,
and Carl-Gustaf Edhart, Assistant Deck Steward on the Gripsholm 1965 - 1967
have sent us photos from the reunion in Onsala, 25-26 2010.

Lars Nydén and Carl-Gustaf Edhardt were shipmates
on the Gripsholm in 1965, and now met for the first time in 45 years.

Read more about SAL Reunions here.

 


Updated Sept 19, 2010

Photos from Mona Lisa's
Final Cruise 2010

Mr Burkhard Schütt of Germany has been working on a book about the Kungsholm of 1966 for the last five years. It is going to be published in 2011. Mr Schütt was a lecturer on the Mona Lisa during her final cruise to Greenland, Iceland and Ireland. He has contributed a series of photos from the cruise.

Read more here,


Updated Sept 14, 2010

Patrick Zeller's Pages

Patrik Zeller, who served in the dining room of the Gripsholm 1967 - 1970,
and the Kungsholm 1970- 1973, has contributed two pages of photos

Please help us to identify the persons in the photos.
salship@yahoo.com

Read more here,


Updated Sept 12, 2010

Interior Photos of
Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm

Design historian David Leidenborg has contributed about 200 photos
of the ship, many showing original design features.

Read more here, and see a slideshow.



Updated Sept 10, 2010

The Kungsholm Not Bound For Stockholm

The Swedish Newspaper Svenska Dagbladet reported on September 4, that the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, is not to become a floating student accommodation in Stockholm.
- We tried to find a solution, but the business calculation did not add up, says Lars G Hallgren.

Thanks to David Leidenborg for this information.

Read more here.



Updated Sept 9, 2010

Mr Tune Identified

Ann Saunders, whose father, Mr Sidney Davis, was the SAL agent in Weymouth, has identified a person in photo D220 of the Dawe collection.

Read more here.



Updated Sept 8, 2010

Maiden Voyage Passenger

Mrs Mona Fossen was a passenger on the Gripsholm's maiden voyage in May, 1957. Now she has found the article my father, Tage Hemingstam, wrote about that voyage.

"I was intrigued by the comment about one family embarking in Copenhagen with 5 small children. Well, I was the oldest of those children..."

Read more here.



Updated July 26, 2010

Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm,
Leaving Stockholm on July 24, 2010



Jan Wisén, crew member on the Gripsholm in 1964 and the Kungsholm in 1966,
has contributed photos of Mona Lisa leaving Stockholm on July 24, 2010.
See them here.



Updated July 24, 2010

Still Hope for Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm.

Future Student Accommodation in Stockholm?


Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, in the Stockholm Free Harbor,
July 24, 2010
Photo: Lars Hemingstam

During Mona Lisa's, ex Kungsholm, stay in the Stockholm Free Harbor, on Saturday, Juy 24, 2010, from 7:30 to 15:00, Mr Lars G Hallgren, the initiator of the project to turn the ship into a floating hotel, will be on board with representatives of local authorities. They will be investigating the possibility to use the ship as a student accommodation. Use Google Translate to translate the following letter from Mr Hallgren:

Skam den som ger sig! På lördag kommer Mona-Lisa till Stockholm kl 07.30. Frihamnen 638. Hon lämnar kl 15. Jag kommer att vara ombord tillsammans med olika personer, bland annat representanter från Stockholms Stadshus och Hamnkapten i Stockholms hamn. Vi har under en tid arbetat hårt med att försöka hitta en långsiktig lösning som innebär att fartyget under september till maj kan fungera som studentbostäder i Stockholm. Efter denna period försöker vi få fartyget att kunna fungera som i huvudsak hotell men dessutom med studentrum - kanske 100-200 rum i besättningshytter -. Men återigen har vi problem med fartygets djupgående och tänkbar placering. Problemet är störst under sommarmånaderna då kryssningsfartygen behöver kajplats. Vi har arbetat igenom problem och möjligheter. Vi har diskuterat med försäkringsbolag mm. Vi får se vart det bär hän men alla inblandade parter gör ett seriöst försök att rädda fartyget från skrotdöden.

Med vänliga hälsningar
Lars



Updated July 19, 2010

Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, in Stockholm

Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, will dock in the Stockholm Free Harbor, on Saturday, Juy 24, 2010, from 7:00 to 15:00, for her final (?) visit to Stockholm.

Lord Nelson Seereisen has two more cruises planned in July and August.

Thanks to L-O Rydén for this information.


Updated July 14, 2010

More Gripsholm Memories

Björn Wallde, crew member on the Gripsholm 1961-62 and 1966, has contributed more Gripsholm photos. A new page has been added about the Around South America Cruise 1962. See all the photos here.

 


Updated June 30, 2010

Atlantic Crossing in 1966



Ken Sandholm has contributed even more
photos from his family's voyage to Sweden in 1966.



Updated June 24, 2010

Menu from 1935



A menu dated June 10, 1935, has been
added to the Kungsholm of 1928 page.



Updated June 24, 2010

SAL exhibition in Karlstad

The Swedish American Center in Karlstad, Sweden,
is hosting a SAL exhibition, from June 6, 2010 to April 30, 2011.
Read about it here.

See a slideshow about the Exhibition

http://www.swedishcouncil.org/

SAL-utställning i Karlstad

Den 6 juni klockan 11.00 kommer Sverige Amerika Centret att öppna en ny utställning om den sagoomspunna Svenska Amerika Linien, SAL. Här kommer att visas något från de kända båtarnas verksamhet, resor och det liv som upplevdes av besättning och passagerare. SAL öppnas detta år som Sverige Amerika Centret firar sitt 50-årsjubileum och får ses som en jubileumsutställning.

Utställningen kommer att ge en liten glimt av den berömda linjens verksamhet, erbjudanden och resor. Den blir "en promenad genom båten och en resa över Atlanten". Man får börja med ombordstigningen över landgången i Göteborg tills man anländer i New York. Utställningen vill ge något av upplevelsen att resa med båten, livet ombord, den eleganta inredningen, bekvämligheterna och tekniken. Materialet som visas kommer i huvudsak från en privat samlare, Torsten Torstensson, som har en av landets mest spännande samlingar gällande SAL. Mycket av Torstenssons samlingar kommer att visas.

Utställningen är planerad att vara öppen under ett år och under sommaren kommer den visas dagligen.

Läs mer om Sverige - Amerika Centret här.

Se ett bildspel om utställningen

http://www.swedishcouncil.org/

 


Updated June 14, 2009

About the Kungsholm

For a translation of this letter from Mr Lars Hallgren, the initiator of the project to save the Kungsholm, please copy the text and paste it into Google Translate.


Om Kungsholm

Tyvärr har jag nog uttömt alla realistiska möjligheter för att kunna bevara Kungsholm. Jag var för någon vecka sedan i Colombo och hade möte med bland annat styrelseordförande för John Keells Group som är Sri Lankas största börsnoterade bolag. Bolaget äger 40 % av alla hotell på Sri Lanka och har kunskap och logistik för att kunna få gäster ombord på fartyget. Fartyget kan med lokala regler för Sri Lanka gå inom territoralgränsen (200 nm) trots Solas regelverk. Tillsammans med min medfinansiär försökte vi hitta en lösning som innebar att vi körde fartyget under tre år för att därefter köra henne till Göteborg och stationärt lägga henne utanför Casinot där jag sökt bygglov. Vi bedömde att motorer utan vidare klarar ett par år till under förutsättning att man kör henne någorlunda sakta. Vi har också tagit in offerter på återställande av fartyget med skorstenar och originalmålning mm.

Styrelsen för John Keells meddelade mig efter ett styrelsemöte i förra veckan att man behöver minst fyra månader due diligence och den tiden har jag inte.

I Göteborg kan man tänka sig att bevilja tillfälligt bygglov om 5 år. Jag har bett politikerna om att ge Fastighetskontoret i uppdrag att söka ändra detaljplanen - vilket behövs för att bedriva hotell - men inte fått den uppbackning som jag behövt. Inga politiker är uttalat negativa utan snarare positiva men ingen vill eller vågar ta projektet som en fråga för ett eller flera politiska partier. Hade en enskild politiker kommit på iden med Kungsholm i Göteborg och velat driva frågan hade vi kanske varit framme vid en ändrad detaljplan. När jag drog igång detta projektet - som kostat långt över miljonen i konsultarvoden - försäkrade jag mig om Göran Johanssons stöd. Av olika anledningar som jag inte känner , men i viss mån kan spekulera över, kallnade Johanssons aktiva stöd. Och i Göteborg går man inte emot Göran Johansson eller Anneli Hulthén. Cheferna på kommunens dotterbolag eller bolag som kommunen har intressen i, är minst sagt försiktiga i stöd för något som inte är sanktionerat uppifrån. Däremot har det funnits ett stark stöd bland de flesta tjänstemän och handläggare av ärendet i kommun och länsstyrelse.

Tyvärr har jag trots massor av möten, skrivelser och telefonsamtal inte lyckats nå mitt mål. Jag har verkligen lagt ner mycket tid och möda för att få detta projekt i hamn. Jag har även sökt alternativa lösningar i Stockholm och New York.

Jag vill tacka alla som aktivt stött mitt arbete under dessa fyra år. Massor av e-post från hela världen visar vilket intresse det finns för bevarandet av denna kulturskatt. Vi får glädja oss åt SS Rotterdam som jag besökte i april och Queen Mary i LA.

Varma hälsningar

Lars Hallgren

Comment

We are many friends of SAL and the beautiful Kungsholm, who are sad this day, but still very grateful to Lars Hallgren for his efforts to save this unique ship. Who would have believed that the politicians in Gothenburg would not welcome the Kungsholm in the harbor, especially with the financing secured? Everyone has to admire Mr Hallgren's ambition, planning, and perseverance, managing this four year project. However there were too many unforseen obstacles along the way, from unpredictable sources. Let us hope now that the remaining works of art on board the ship somehow will be preserved in a museum.

Lars Hemingstam
Webmaster


Updated June 13, 2009

Sad News Alert

According to Maritime Matters,
scrap buyers will soon be inspecting the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm.

Thanks to Paul Smith for this information.


Updated June 13, 2009

The SAL Blog

For some time, I have been thinking of starting a blog about the "work" with the SAL website, salship.se. There are many related facts, events and comments that don't easily fit into the context of the SAL website. Read the blog here.


Updated June 11, 2009

Bevara Kungsholm!

I Svensk Sjöfartstidnings Forum finns ett inlägg av
Ulf Hjertquist, Brisbane, om att bevara Kungsholm.
Läs hela inlägget här.

Tack till Lennart Angelmo för detta tips.

Ulf Hjertquist har också skrivit till kommunledningen i Göteborg.

Brisbane Queensland Australien den 30 Maj 2010

URGENT TILL
Göteborgs Stads Kommunstyrelse
Anneli Hulthén, Kommunalråd, ordförande;
Jan Hallberg, Kommunalråd, vice ordförande
Helena Nyhus, Rotel: Kultur och fritid
Kia Andreasson, Rotel: Miljö


G´day !

Vi är säkert miljoner utlandsboende med anknytning och band med Sverige .

SAL's världskända fartygsflotta har för oss alla haft en stor praktisk och historisk betydelse. Dessa fartyg har alltid påmint oss om Sveriges tidigare storhet som världsledande sjöfartsnation. Människor i världshamnar känner till och talar fortfarande i lyriska ordalag om "The White Viking Fleet".

Sverige har under alla tider varit en sjöfartsnation med Göteborg som handelsflottans huvudstad och vi är angelägna om att sjökultur fortlever för denna stad, landet och världen, för oss och kommande generationer.

Därför är det Er plikt att som övergripande ledare i Kommunstyrelsen göra möjligt för M/S KUNGSHOLM att återbördas till sin gamla hemstad som ett kulturellt betydelsefullt minnesmärke och en central turistikon.

Stockholm schabblade bort chanserna att rädda m/s GRIPSHOLM. Låt inte samma fatala blunder inträffa för Er och detta stolta fartyg.

Missa inte chansen som aldrig återkommer!

Med vänliga hälsningar från sjöfartsälskare från världens alla hörn via
Ulf Hjertquist
39 Brentford Rd
Richlands Qld 4077
Australien.


Updated June 11, 2009

Gripsholm Officers



A list of officers on the Gripsholm's crossing from New York on June 28, 1957,
voyage number 2, eastbound, has been added to the About Us and
Bridge & Crew pages. Most likely the same officers as on the maiden voyage.


Updated June 10, 2010

Gripsholm Model

Carl-Gustaf Edhardt, Assistant Deck Steward on the Gripsholm 1965 - 1967,
has contributed photos of a model of the Gripsholm, that he has acquired
recently. The model is built by the German model maker Risawoleska.

Read more here.

New Photos



Carl-Gustaf Edhardt has contributed photos
of the Manhattan skyline in the 1960's.
Se them here.


Updated June 8, 2010

Back on the Kungsholm

Tommy Stark, crew member on the Kungsholm 1971-73,
has returned for a final cruise on the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm.
Read about his voyage and see his photos here.

See his fantastic photos from 1971-73 here.


Updated June 4,, 2009

The Gripsholm Repatriation Voyage in 1942

We have received a contribution of menues from
the Gripsholm and the Conte Verde in 1942.
See them here.



Max Hill

Max Hill wrote the book "Exchange Ship", after returning
to the USA on the Gripsholm in 1942. Max Hill's niece, Edie Pickens,
has contributed her memories of her uncle. Read about them here.



Updated Jan 3, 2010

Länspumpen om SAL:s Östersjötrafik

Länspumpens årsnummer 2009 beskriver historien om Svenska Amerika Liniens Östersjötrafik med tonvikten på de små passagerarångarna Borgholm, Kastelholm och Marieholm, men även atlantfartygen. Över 170 foton på 60 sidor! Flera unika foton som aldrig tidigare varit publicerade. Turlistor, ritningar m m.

SAL bedrev en omfattande trafik med de små ångarna från 1924 till krigsutbrottet 1939, samt med SAL:s stora fartyg på Östersjökryssningar.

Skriften kan beställas genom att sända in 60 kr på plusgiro 81 57 68 - 7, Tidningen Länspumpen. Ange namn och adress.

Läs mer här.

Tack till Bertil Söderberg, Örjan Slätte och Jörgen Areskough för denna information.

Se även bilder från en Östersjökryssning med Gripsholm 1932.



Updated April 6, 2010

SAL in Mariehamn, Åland

A new page has been created with SAL documents found in Mariehamn.
Jesper Bergvall is renovating a house in Mariehamn, Åland, Finland.
He has discovered several SAL documents hidden in the walls and floors of
the building. The documents have been used as isolation material.

A SAL flyer from 1922, Finland - New York, has been added

See the documents here

A new page has been created with interior pictures from the Drottningholm.



Updated April 5, 2010

From the Gripsholm to the Kennedy Center

Ryan Wineinger is designing projections for a new musical at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, called: Knuffle Bunny : A Cautionary Musical. The musical is part of the Kennedy Center's Theatre for Young Audiences 2009/2010 season, and the musical is based on the children's book of the same name written by Mo Willems.

On this website, Mr Wineigner found a photo of the NYC skyline, taken from the Gripsholm on the Hudson River by Kenneth M Sandholm in 1966. By courtesy of Mr Sandholm's son, Ken Sandholm, the photo has been selected to be shown in a projection in the musical, which opens May 8, 2010.

See the photos here


... and who is this crew member
enjoying the sun on the Atlantic Ocean?


Updated April 5, 2010

SAL Advertisements

SAL ads from 1956 and 1975 have been added

See them here



Updated April 5, 2010

Stigbergskajen



Approaching Stigbergskajen in June, 1956.
Göran Forsén, 3rd Engineer on the Kungsholm 1959-1960,
has contributed a photo shot from the deck of the Stockholm.


Updated March 28, 2010

The SAL Office in Chicago

A new page has been created about the SAL office in Chicago,
with information from the Dawe collection, Mark Wagner and Jesper Bergvall



Updated March 18, 2010

Photos of Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm,
Serving at the Winter Olympics


Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, in Squamish, British Columbia, 2010.

Mr Gerry Dempsey, Director Procurement, of VANOC, the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, has informed us that the Mona Lisa was chartered from Leonardo Shipping for use as accommodations for the VANOC workforce during the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The Mona Lisa arrived in January, and is still moored in Squamish BC.

"Her charter here was for 56 days for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the peak she had over 1250 games workers but she currently is housing just over 750. She is scheduled to leave for Kiel Germany at noon PST on March 23."

See more photos here.

Read about the Mona Lisa in Squamish, BC, here, here and here.



Updated March 16, 2010

Utställning på
Emigranternas Hus i Göteborg

Ombord på MS Gripsholm 1942-1946


rune.dahlstrand@hotmail.com

Rune Dahlstrand tjänstgjorde ombord på MS Gripsholm under
brinnande krig. Berättelserna om utväxlingsresorna för krigsfångar,
diplomater och internerade civila är okända för de allra flesta.

Många ättlingar till de passagerare vars liv räddades tack
vare Gripsholms och Drottningholms resor, skriver i gästboken
här på hemsidan, eller skickar email, och är oerhört tacksamma
för besättningarnas obeskrivliga mod - att färdas i fullt upplysta
fartyg över världshaven bland minor och patrullerande ubåtar.

Emigranternas Hus i Göteborg har nu en utställning om
utväxlingsresorna. Den bygger på Rune Dahlstrands minnen.
Utställningen är öppen vardagar 10-16, fram till den sista maj 2010.

Rune Dahlstrand kommer att finnas på plats en stor del av tiden.
Läs mer om Rune Dahlstrands minnen och om utväxlingsresorna.

Exhibition in Gothenburg

On Board the Gripsholm 1942 - 1946

Rune Dahlstrand managed the Beauty Salon and served as a barber
on the Gripsholm during the WWII exchange and repatriation voyages.
Emigranternas Hus (The Emigrants' House) in Gothenburg hosts
an exhibition about these voyages, based on Rune Dahlstrand's
memories. The exhibition is open on weekdays from 10 am to 4 pm,
until May 31, 2010. Rune Dahlstrand will be present a great deal of the time.

Read four pages of his memories here.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.



Updated March 15, 2010

Mer SAL-information

Morgan Lundberg från Tjörn har massor av information om SAL på sin hemsida.

 


Updated March 15, 2010

Kungsholm Crew Tender at Bali 1965

Sven Fürst, Crew Purser/Cashier on the Gripsholm
and Kungsholm 1965-1968, has contributed photos
of a crew tender at Bali 1965. See them here.

 


Updated March 13, 2010

The Gripsholm of 1925

Frank Scherer has added valuable additional information regarding the photos.


Three new photos from the Curt Dawe collection have been added here.

 


Updated Nov 5, 2009

Från Livbåt Till Flytande Palats

1915: Sextonåring tjänstgör på SS Nordic. Hon kapas. Han mönstrar senare på SS Jarl. Kapas av britterna, torpederas av tyskarna. Han förlorar sin ärvda silverrova, tvingas ro fem dygn i livbåt. Nästa fartyg minsprängs, han räddar sig på livflotte. Nästa torpederas, åter i livbåt. Efter tjugo år skrev Carl-Otto Claesson ned sina minnen från sin idylliska barndom och sin dramatiska ungdom, hemsökt av skrämmande krigsupplevelser. Hans minnen från sjömanstiden utgör det första kapitlet i denna bok.

1923: Carl-Otto Claesson börjar som styrman i Svenska Amerika Linien, rederiet med den senaste tekniska utrustningen, de kända passagerarna och de välsituerade kryssningsdeltagarna. Tjänstgör på Drottningholm under andra världskrigets utväxlingar av sårade och sjuka krigsfångar liksom civila internerade från New York i väst till Bombay i öst. Därmed tilldelas han USAs Victory-medalj. Flaggar ut Drottningholm som hennes siste befälhavare. Sedan växelvis på Gripsholm och Stockholm medan SAL fulländar kryssningsnäringen.

Boken levereras med DVD som innehåller foton, filmer och dokument ur familjearkivet samt dokument ur offentliga arkiv, inte minst brittiska krigsarkivet. Producent: Hans Claesson som också sammanställt och redigerat materialet.

Från livbåt till flytande palats. 439 sidor.

Pris: 320:- kronor plus frakt.

Boken kan beställas direkt hos författaren på bokorder@brevet.se
eller tel 08 754 86 17.

Läs mer om Carl-Otto Claesson här.



Updated March 12, 2010

The Tenders



A new page has been created about the ships' tenders.



Updated March 7, 2010

Kungsholms sista resa 1975


Kungsholm, New York, 10 September, 1975

Ett foto av Kungsholm i New York 1975, Fartygsintendens rapport, samt Broströms PM om flaggskiftet i Newcastle, samtliga från Curt Dawes samling, har lagts till på sidan om Kungsholms sista resa.

Kungsholms final voyage 1975

The Chief Purser's Report from the Kungsholm's last voyage for SAL, has been added here.



Updated March 2, 2010

Photos from the North Cape



Memories of North Cape Cruises have been
added to Information Officer Lars-Erik Jansson's page.



Updated March 2, 2010

Memories of Gripsholm 1965 - 67

Over the years, Carl-Gustaf Edhardt has contributed quite
a few photos to this site. His collection is assembled here.



Updated March 2, 2010

Dining Room Photo

Franz Havranek has contributed one more photo
from the Kungsholm's Dining Room.



Updated Feb 26, 2010

Stigbergskajen, Göteborg

A new page has been created about Stigbergskajen,
SAL's home terminal in Gothenburg.


Updated Feb 23, 2010

Memories of Kungsholm, 1971-73

A new page has been created with memories and photos
contributed by Tommy Stark, crew member on the Kungsholm 1971-73.


Updated Feb 1, 2010

Memories of Gripsholm, 1961-62

A new page has been created with photos contributed by Björn Wallde.
Björn Wallde was a crew member on the Gripsholm 1961-62 and 1966.



Updated Feb 14, 2010

Pier 97, at the Foot of W 57th St

Björn Wallde, crew member on the Gripsholm 1961-62 and 1966, has contributed photos shot from the Gripsholm in December 1961. See them here.



Updated Feb 12, 2010

Recommended Sites

After years of sad neglect, the Aft Link Library has been updated. Broken links have been corrected or removed.

The following sites are treasure troves for afficionados of ocean liners, cruise ships and maritime history:

Maritime Matters

Cruising The Past

The Great Ocean Liners

Fakta om fartyg

Kommandobryggan



Updated Feb 11, 2010

Donation to The Maritime Museum of Gothenburg


Photo: Olle Andersson

Christer Bengtsson, crew member on the Gripsholm 1968-69 and the Kungsholm 1969-70, has informed us about a unique donation to Sjöfartsmuseet, the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg. It is a statue of Venus and a model in relief of the Kungsholm of 1928. Both objects were removed from the Kungsholm in 1941, when she was converted into a troop transport ship, and renamed John Ericson. Read about it here and here.



Updated Feb 10, 2010

Gripsholm's Last Atlantic Crossing


Lennart Angelmo, Second Purser and Crew Purser on the Gripsholm,
has contributed memories from Gripsholm's last Atlantic crossing in 1975.


Folk Dancers Identified

Cruise member Barbara Case (maiden name Burall) has identified several
folk dancers in photo D215.



A Swedish Flag from the SAL New York Office
and Kungsholm



Barbara Case (maiden name Burall) of Tolland, MA, made eight cruises on SAL ships with her mother, Mrs. Stephen Burrall or Frederica Burrall. Barbara's mother participated on many more cruises, starting when she was 14 or 15 years old and continuing until the Kungsholm was sold to P&O. She was called the "Penguin Lady", because of the toy penguin she brought along on the cruises. Barbara has donated a very large Swedish flag, which was given to her by Mr Walter Capelli of the SAL New York office. The flag has flown on the Kungsholm and is to be used at special SAL events.

www.barbaracasephotos.com


Updated Jan 8, 2010

A Gripsholm Crossing in 1957



A letter from an Atlantic crossing in 1957
has been added to the About Us page.


Updated Jan 5, 2009

SAL Rules


From the Dawe collection.

A new page has been created about
instructions for the crew on SAL ships.
This is a work in progress. More will be added


Updated Jan 4, 2010

The SAL Office in New York


New photos have been added, Jan 4, 2009.

A new page has been created about the SAL Office at 636 Fifth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, in New York.

Annica Rousettos was Lucia at the SAL Office in New York in December 1963. Read her story here.


Updated Jan 3, 2010

Länspumpen om SAL:s Östersjötrafik

Länspumpens årsnummer 2009 beskriver historien om Svenska Amerika Liniens Östersjötrafik med tonvikten på de små passagerarångarna Borgholm, Kastelholm och Marieholm, men även atlantfartygen. Över 170 foton på 60 sidor! Flera unika foton som aldrig tidigare varit publicerade. Turlistor, ritningar m m.

SAL bedrev en omfattande trafik med de små ångarna från 1924 till krigsutbrottet 1939, samt med SAL:s stora fartyg på Östersjökryssningar.

Tidningen kan beställas genom att sända in 60 kr på plusgiro 81 57 68 - 7, Tidningen Länspumpen. Ange namn och adress.

Läs mer här.

Tack till Bertil Söderberg, Örjan Slätte och Jörgen Areskough för denna information.

Se även bilder från en Östersjökryssning med Gripsholm 1932.


Updated Jan 3, 2010

"Auf Wiedersehen"
Soon 35 Years Ago


Franz Racz 1975

A picture of orchestra leader Franz Racz on the Kungsholm's last voyage from New York, after being sold to Flagship Cruises in 1975, has been added to The Entertainers' Page and to Kungsholm's sista resa.


Updated Jan 2, 2010

Chief Steward
C-G Quant

Chief Steward C-G Quant served on SAL ships from the end
of WWII until 1974. C-G Quant's son, Göran Quant, has
contributed several photos from his father's years at sea.


Updated Jan 1, 2010

Information Officer
Lars-Erik Jansson

A new page has been created about Lars-Erik Jansson who served on
SAL ships 1963-64, 1966-71, and 1974-75. For many years he was
Information Officer on the Kungsholm.


Updated Dec 24, 2009

God Jul
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Webmaster Lars Hemingstam wishes all Friends of SAL
a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!


Updated Dec 24, 2009

Frohe Weihnachten

Christmas Greetings from reunion organizer Sepp Zirngast and family!

Read more about SAL reunions here.


Updated Dec 6, 2009

Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborg

Se perspektivskiss, planskiss och sektionsskiss.

Kära Kungsholmsvänner,

Hos Göteborgs stad ligger en bygglovsansökan för behandling. Ansökan avser att få placera M/S Kungsholm ca 30 meter utanför Packhuskajen i Göteborg. Ungefär där Jagaren Småland idag ligger i Maritimans område. Jagaren får då flyttas något uppströms och M/S Kungsholm kommer att ligga med fören västerut och sträcka sig längs med Casino Cosmopol. Tillträde till M/S Kungsholm sker via en täckt pontonbrygga. Hissar och nödutgångar hängs på fartygets utsida.

I bifogad skiss har hänsyn tagits till den planerade gång- och cykelbron som nu inte blir av. Exakt hur man lägger fartygen blir en fråga att diskutera.

Placeringen innebär omfattande muddringsarbete och förstärkningsarbeten utanför kajen.

Underhandskontakter har under året skett med politiker i såväl kommunstyrelse som byggnadsnämnd. Vidare har diskussioner förts med Stadsbyggnadskontoret, Maritiman, Göteborgs Hamn, Länsstyrelsens Miljöenhet, Sjöfartsverket samt informationär lämnad till Älvstranden Utveckling AB som kommer att vara hyres/arrendevärd. Med en del av dessa olika parter återstår diskussioner och förhandlingar. Diskussioner med Maritiman har skett genom dess styrelseordförande men något formellt beslut har inte fattats av dess styrelse - vilket naturligtvis är nödvändigt.

Utgångspunkten är att Kungsholmsprojektet ska finansiera alla kostnader som uppkommer i samband med placeringen, och i slutändan genera en hyresintäkt för staden som vi hoppas ska komma Maritiman tillgodo och vara med och säkerställa dess fortlevnad.

Vår bedömning är att fartygets placering inte kommer att störa utsikt för boende. Operan är positiv till förslaget och vänföreningen för Ostindiefararen Götheborg sonderar möjligheten att lägga Götheborg utanför operan. Man kan då muddra för Götheborg i samband med muddring för M/S Kungsholm, om man så önskar.

Att samla Viking, Götheborg, Kungsholm, Marieholm och Maritimans fartyg tror vi kommer att bli vackert och ge ytterligare liv och rörelse åt området.

Tanken är att snarast projektanställa en person - redan klart vem - för att driva på arbetet.

Personligen tror jag att projektet går att genomföra men känner en viss oro för tidsaspekten. Bygglov, överenskommelser mm måste fram under januari - februari.

Låt placeringen av fartyget på skisserna var idegivande - och se dem som en utgångspunkt för hur det kan se ut.

Varma Hälsningar

Lars G Hallgren

Läs mer här om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.


Kungsholm by night.


Updated Nov 30, 2009

Save the Kungsholm! - Rädda Kungsholm!

The Facebook group Save the Kungsholm, now has over 100 members. The group was created by SAL enthusiast L-O Rydén, whose grandfather Bertil Bärgström was a Chief Steward on the Gripsholm.


Updated Nov 23, 2009

Pier 97, at the Foot of W 57th St

New photos, plus Superintendent Eddie Flynn's birthday greetings,
have been added the the page about Manhattan's Pier 97,


Updated Nov 23, 2009

Finnish-American and Finnish-Canadian passengers
from North America to Finland in the 1930's

We are searching for more information about Finnish-Americans and Finnish-Canadians who sailed on SAL from North America to Sweden and Finland during the 1930's.

Emigration to the USSR
There was a reverse migration that took place in the 1930's when 10,000 Finnish-American and Finnish-Canadians left the US and Canada and sailed on the Gripsholm to emigrate to the USSR. Many of them went to Karelia - and few survived Stalin's purges of the late 1930's

The Winter War
The Gripsholm left New York Harbor on or about December 12 1939. The Soviet Union attacked Finland November 30, 1939. About 56 volunteers left the U.S. on this voyage to fight for Finland.

Please email salship@yahoo.com if you have relatives who were passengers, or have any other information about these voyages.


Updated Nov 21, 2009

An Atlantic Crossing on the Gripsholm in 1966


The Sandholm family

Kenneth R. Sandholm, living in the Washington D.C. area, has contributed wonderful photos from his family's voyage to Sweden in June 1966. See the pictures here.


Updated Nov 19, 2009

Gripsholm and American Export Lines during WWII


Gabriel "Bill" Lichtman

Fredric T Schneider in New York has provided information about his uncle Gabriel (known both as "Garry" or "Bill") Lichtman, who sailed on the Gripsholm during one of the repatriation voyages during World War II.  He was the Director General for the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf fleets of the American Export Lines from 1941 to 1967, based in Calcutta.

Read the story here.


Updated Nov 18, 2009

Gripsholm Repatriation Voyage in 1944

Vandy Vandervort has contributed documents from her aunt's arrival in New York on the Gripsholm, on March 15, 1944. Dorothea (Dodo) Clark Vandervort Richie was a member of the U.S. diplomatic corps in Germany.

See the documents here.


Updated Nov 16, 2009

More Cruise Memories

Robert Neilson has contributed another cruise memory, about a Brazil - West Indies Cruise, December 1973 to January 1974. He was a cruise passenger on SAL ships for months at a time, from 1962 -73, aged 9-20.


Updated Nov 16, 2009

Drottningholm Repatriation Voyage in 1943

Alistair Crawford Cameron MacRitchie was repatriated via Gothenburg after 3 1/2 years as a POW in Poland, after capture at St Valery on 12 June 1940 with the BEF. He spent two days on the Drottningholm prior to transfer to a troop ship for the voyage home from Gothenburg in late 1943.

Stuart and George MacRitchie have previously contributed an excerpt of their father's memoirs. Stuart MacRitchie has now sent us a link to documents from his father's voyage.

See the link to the documents and the excerpt here.


Updated Oct 30, 2009

More photos from the Reunion in Onsala, 10-11 October 2009

Asko Salkola, who served in the Gripsholm's Purser's Office from 1961 to 1966,
has contributed more photos from the reunion. See them here

SAL enthusiast L-O Rydén, grandson of crew member Bertil Bärgström,
has sent us photos from the reunion in Onsala, 10-11 October 2009.

See photos from previous reunions here.


Updated Oct 23, 2009

Kungsholm as a Hotel in Gothenburg

In a message today, Lars G Hallgren, the initiator of the project to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg, informs us that the project is still advancing and he hopes to be able to present more information within a month or two.


The Kungsholm of 1966


Updated Oct 20, 2009

Claes Feder

Sadly, we have been informed that Claes Feder, the architect behind
the beautiful Kungsholm of 1966, recently passed away. He was born in 1928.
It's truly a sad day for all admirers of the Kungsholm.

See his visions here.

 

Many thanks to Sven Fürst, cashier on the Gripsholm 1966-1968, for this information.



Updated Oct11, 2009

Pier 97 Revisited

Gunnar Hallert, crew member on the Kungsholm in 1962 and 1965,
has recently visited Pier 97 on Manhattan. See his photos here.



Updated Sep 14, 2009

GARBO LEAVES FOR HOLLYWOOD AGAIN!

Greta Garbo made her first voyage to the USA on the Drottningholm in 1925. See her depart from Gothenburg in this clip, after a brief visit to Sweden in 1929.


Updated Sep 14, 2009

GARBO IS BACK IN SWEDEN!

See Greta Garbo arrive in Gothenburg on the beautiful Kungsholm, June 13, 1935.

Enjoy many more clips from the days of cruising on the White Viking Fleet.


Updated Sep 14, 2009

Olympic Athletes Return to Sweden
on the Drottningholm in 1932

Swedish athletes return from the 1932 Olympic Games in Los Angeles on the Drottningholm.

 


Updated Sep 14, 2009

The Kungsholm Song

Listen to an old 78 rpm recording of the Kungsholm Song (also called the Gripholm Song by some). Actually the original title is "See The Sun".

The Kungsholm Song was written by a passenger in the thirties, and became the ship's official song, sung at the Farewell Dinners.

 


Updated Sep 14, 2009

The Gripsholm arriving in New York

This clip from Youtube shows the Gripsholm arriving in New York City in 1943 with American internees and prisoners of war from the Far East.

Read more about the Gripsholm's and Drottningholm's Exchange and Repatriation voyages here.

Enjoy many more clips from the days of cruising on the White Viking Fleet.


Updated Sep 12, 2009

SAL Film Clips

For some time a collection of links to film clips about the Swedish American Line, have been posted here. Some months ago, the link to the SAL clips at SVT's archives stopped functioning. Now, Per Tistrand, son of SAL Sea Personell Manager Torkel Tistrand. has informed us how to access the clips again.

So, go ahead and enjoy many more clips from the days of cruising on the White Viking Fleet.


Updated Sep 7, 2009

Photos of Mona Lisa


Photo by Jan Wisén, from his living room.

Two new pages with photos of Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm of 1966, have been added. Photos by Jan Wisén, crew member on the Gripsholm in 1964 and the Kungsholm in 1966, and by Lars Hemingstam, webmaster and crew member on the Kungsholm in 1968.


Updated Sep 7, 2009

Recommended Book

Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising

John Graves

Please note: The book edition sold at Amazon.co.uk may not have the Kungsholm on the cover!

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 a collection of photos by Marine Photo Service, which was acquired by the museum in 1996. The book features many photos from SAL cruises.

Buy at amazon.co.uk
 

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".
Anser boken vara av god kvalité. 255 sidor, inkl. noter. Här i Göteborg hittade jag den i Haga i en butik som köper in restupplagor (remainders) och säljer till bra pris, ca 160 sek. "Böcker som vi gillar till pris som ni gillar": Bokrummet i Haga, Skolgatan 11, 413 02 GÖTEBORG, bokrummet, tfn 031-7010028. De har ett traditionellt antikvariat, Bokmalen, Haga Nygata 16.


Updated July 29, 2009

Gripsholm North Cape Cruise 1961

Asko Salkola, who served in the Gripsholm's Purser's Office 1961-66, has forwarded this picture from Håkan Hansson, Elevator boy/Bellboy on the Gripsholm 1961-62. The picture is from a "Cruise News" leaflet. Asko has identified the following persons;

Standing in the back row, from the left, Arne Hylander, Ralf Odenlund, Asko Salkola (Purser's Office), 6th from the left, partly blocked, Gunnar Tinglöf (Chief Purser) , 9th Sture Hilmerson (Purser's Office), 11th Karl Axel Carman (Cashier), and on the far right, Lars Hjelm (Information Officer).

Seated in the second row, from the left, Olof Ollén, (Shore Trip Manager), John Fraser Jr., (Cruise Manager), 4th from the left Captain Evert Borg, and on the far right, Michael Pekala, (Dance Instructor).

Seated in the front row, 3rd from the left Herb Colcord (Cruise Staff), in center Marlene Pekala (Dance Instructor).

Other names to be added.


Updated July 28, 2009

New Folk Dance Page

A new page of Folk Dance photos from the Gripsholm in 1954 has been added. The pictures have been contributed by Seaman Benny Doverhagen, through Lasse Olsbrand, son of Gripsholm fireman Gunnar Olsbrand.

See all five Folk Dance pages, starting here.


 


Updated June22, 2009

Kungsholm During the Flagship Years


Lars and Kathryn Hemingstam, Jane Howard and Karl Sabo,
at The Deerfield Inn in the idyllic New England town of
Deerfield, MA, in June 2009.

In 1975, when SAL shut down its cruise ship operations, the Kungsholm was purchased by Flagship Cruises. Karl Sabo had just graduated from a culinary school in New York, and was recruited to serve on the Kungsholm in several different positions. He worked part of the time in Purchasing, buying the season's food in ports that the ship visited on its cruises, such as local wine in Italy, and a whole field of spinach in Hongkong.

When the Kungsholm was sold to P&O in 1978, to be renamed Sea Princess, Karl was part of the small crew that sailed the ship across the Atlantic to England. One of his tasks during the crossing was to throw everything that was loose overboard, as the new owners didn't want it. Of course, by that time, dinner plates and such carried Flagship Cruises' sea horse logo, not SAL's three crowns.

Karl Sabo and his wife, Jane Howard, have been innkeepers for many years at The Deerfield Inn in historic Deerfield, Massachusetts.

There are several documents from Flagship Cruises in the Curt Dawe collection. Some of these will be posted on this site during 2011.
Lars Hemingstam, webmaster.



Updated June 11, 2009

Photos from the SAL Reunion in Luttach

Gerhard Kummer has just returned from the SAL reunion in Luttach, Sudtirol, where everyone had a wonderful time. See photos from the reunion here.

Read more about SAL reunions here.


 


Photo contributed by Thomasine in Norway.
Kungsholm, Midsummer 1974.
See more Midsummer photos here.


Updated May 23, 2009

Gripsholm and Kungsholm in Stockholm 1975

Klas Ericson, son of Ship's Doctor Sten Ericson, who served on the Gripsholm and Kungsholm in periods from 1965 to 1975, has sent us pictures of the Gripsholm in Stockholm in 1975. The photos were taken by Dr Ericson from Kungsholm's deck.
The photos are posted on the Gripsholm page.



Updated May 22, 2009

Stigbergskajen, Göteborg

Thomas Tell in Vallentuna, Sweden, has contributed this postcard of
Stigbergskajen, Gothenburg, SAL's home port. The Gripsholm of 1925
closest to the camera, and the Kungsholm of 1928 further down along the quay.
The year is most likely 1932.

There will soon be a new page devoted to Stigbergskajen,
just as there is for Pier 97 on Manhattan.

Updated May 13, 2009

Nytt om Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborg

Lars G Hallgren, initiativtagare till projektet att omvandla Kungsholm
till hotell i Göteborg, lämnar följande lägesrapport.

Lägesrapport angående M/S Kungsholm / Göteborg 2009-05-08

Kungsholmsvänner,

Vad vill Göteborgs politiker och vad vill stadens tjänstemän?

På uppdrag av Göteborgs kommunstyrelse utredde fastighets- och byggnadsnämnderna möjligheterna att lägga Kungsholm vid någon av stadens kajer där djupet var tillräckligt. Man kom fram till att det var svårt att erbjuda en placering mer än fem år.

Under tiden har en diskussion förts med Göteborgs Maritima Center om att lägga Kungsholm ca 50 meter ut från kaj utanför kasinot och akter om jagaren Småland.
Maritiman har haft allvarliga ekonomiska problem under hösten som löstes genom bidrag från stat och kommun på ca 2 miljoner kronor. Maritiman vill profilera sig med att visa fartyg från fyra epoker varav en är Amerikabåtsperioden. Kungsholm skulle då passa in i Maritimans nya profil och dessutom kunna trygga dess långsiktiga balansräkning genom att betala en bra hyra. En lösning som skulle gynna alla parter långsiktigt då man kan förmoda att Maritiman ska få finnas kvar långsiktigt. Kommunen utreder för närvarande Maritimans kulturvärde mm.

Vi bedömer att fartyget inte kommer att skymma utsikt eller ställa till det för sakägare som hyresgäster mm, däremot behöver det muddras en hel del för att få in fartyget.
Fjärrvärme finns till kasinot och det behövs endast mindre ändringar vid kajen för att få upp en entré med hiss.

Maritimans styrelse har ställt sig positiv till att utreda Kungsholms placering i Maritiman och styrelsens ordförande Birger von Hall har därefter dryftat frågan med Owe Nilsson (s) som har ett flertal tunga politiska uppdrag i kommunen. Owe Nilsson sitter med i KS, är ordförande i fastighetsnämnden och är kommunens kontaktperson gentemot Maritiman. Birger von Hall upplever efter diskussion med Owe Nilsson att kommunen har ett svalt intresse för Kungsholm. Birger har även dryftat frågan med älvstrandens VD Mats Andersson som anses ansvarig för Maritimans område i sin egenskap av hyresvärd. Mats Andersson är inte positiv till att placera Kungsholm inom sitt ansvarsområde. Politikerna i älvstrandens styrelse speglar i stort kommunstyrelsens politiker och frågan måste därför upp för politisk bedömning igen.
Birger von Hall anser mot bakgrund av ovanstående att Maritiman inte kan driva frågan om Kungsholms placering inom sitt område men påpekar att han själv är positiv till placeringen om politikerna tydliggör att det är deras vilja.

Vi är nu tillbaka till en situation där vi måste kontakta och utreda om politikerna har ändrat inställning och vilken inställning organisationer som Göteborg & Co och Business Region Göteborg har.

Vilken uppfattning har Anneli Hulthén idag? I januari 2008 skickade Anneli Hulthén följande e-post till mig:


Från: Anneli Hulthén
Skickat: den 23 januari 2008 08:49
Till: topindustri larshallgren
ämne: Ang. Kungsholm

Hej
Det finns ingen partipolitisk hållning i denna frågan och vi alla har varit positiva till att båten ska få en plats i staden. Uppdraget har lämnats till stadsbyggnadskontoret och det senaste som diskuterades var Amerikakajen. Jag har talat med både Göran och Lars Ivarson om saken. Ibland tar saker en stund att komma fram med eftersom det ska stämma med andra evenemang och händelser också. Hoppas på förståelse och vi vill alla gärna se båten här
Med vänliga hälsningar
Anneli Hulthén

En projektgrupp för Kungsholms bevarande i Göteborg finns och i en bilagd power point- presentation kan man läsa våra synpunkter på ett nära samarbete med Maritiman.

Delar av projektgruppen kommer nu att arbeta fram en strategisk plan för hur vi går vidare.

P S. Har i veckan varit i New York och besökt Intrepid Sea, Space and Air Museum med hangarfartyg och en ubåt. Ett mycket fint museum med 25 flygplan varav en Concorde. Pier 97 där SALs fartyg låg är fortfarande uppställningsplats för sopbilar men de närliggande kajerna fräschas successivt upp.

Never give up, hälsningar!

Lars G Hallgren

Se ett bildspel om planerna för Kungsholm.

Läs mer om planerna att omvandla Kungsholm till hotell.


Updated April 8, 2009

Reunion June 5 to 7, 2009

Hallo Freunde, im Auftrag von Markus Hofer - Kalle Kock - und Bretmaissers
sende ich Euch die Einladung zum Treffen in Luttach.
Wir feuen uns auf Euer Kommen, das Organisationskommitee.

Viele liebe grüsse aus Schladming Uli & Sepp Zirngast

A reunion is being organized by Markus Hofer. Read more here.


Updated March 17, 2009

Captain Torkel Tistrand

New photos added!

A new page has been created about Captain Torkel Tistrand. Tistrand was a captain in the Swedish Army Maintenance Corps (Trängkåren). He served on the Gripsholm during World War II.


Updated March 15, 2009

"About SAL" and "SAL Timeline" merged

The "About SAL" and "SAL Timeline" pages have been merged.


Updated March 13, 2009

Memories of Pier 97

Crew member Björn Wallde has contributed memories of Manhattan's Pier 97, at the foot of W57th St, where the SAL ships docked.



Updated March 2, 2009

Folk Dancers Identified

Lars Nydén has identified fellow Folk Dancers
Claes Legert and Göran Josefsson on photo D207.


Updated February26, 2009

Memories of World War II


Rune Dahlstrand managed the Beauty Salon and served as a barber
on the Gripsholm from 1938 to 1946, during the WWII exchange and
repatriation voyages. Read four pages of his memories here.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.


Updated February 14, 2009

Kungsholm News

The Kungsholm is presently in Cape Town, soon leaving for Japan. On April 21, she will depart for Hamburg, via Pireaus, to undertake cruises as the Mona Lisa for Lord Nelson Seereisen during the summer season. Lars G Hallgren informs us that the efforts to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel continue.


Updated February 27, 2009

Blogg-länk

Här finns ett blogginlägg som handlar om ett loppisfynd från SAL.


Updated February11, 2009

Born on a SAL ship?


Passenger Irma Lampinen,
born on the Gripsholm May 28, 1950

Are you a member of the exclusive club of people who were born on one of the SAL ships?
Please get in touch. salship@yahoo.com



Ingemar Johansson
1932 - 2009

A Champ On Board

Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson won the World Heavy Weight Championship fight vs. Floyd Patterson at Yankee Stadium on June 26, 1959, New York time. Ingo and his fiancée Birgit Lundgren visited the Gripsholm at Pier 97.

Johansson, a native son of Göteborg, said:
"Being on board the Swedish American Line's beautiful ship is like feeling a breeze from my home town."
SAL-Nytt, Aug, 1959
From the Dawe collection

Johansson winning the heavy weight title was a big event for Swedes all over the world.

My father, Tage Hemingstam, born in Jonsered, a suburb of Göteborg, watched the fight being broadcasted live in a movie theater in Chicago, IL.
- Lars Hemingstam, Webmaster


Updated January 10, 2009

Utstälningen Frizon, som visades i Stockholm 2008, kommer i år
till Sjöfartsmuseet i Göteborg.

Frizon
18 februari - 23 augusti 2009

I en tid då kärnfamiljen var ett ideal fann homosexuella män en frihet till sjöss på Svenska Amerika Liniens fartyg. Utställningen bygger på intervjuer med homo- och heterosexuella män ur boken "Såna" på Amerikabåtarna av Arne Nilsson. Genom utställningen Frizon visas nya perspektiv på vårt maritima kulturarv, sjöhistoria och sjömansliv.
Utställningen är producerad av Sjöhistoriska museet.

"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna
Arne Nilsson

SAL har skildrats i böcker, dokumentär-filmer, journalfilmer och tidningsartiklar. Oftast är det glamouren som uppmärksammats, 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.
Köp boken här: Adlibris




Notis i Göteborgs-Posten 30:e januari 2009.
Tack till Lennart Angelmo för denna information.


Updated January 29, 2009

Kära Kungsholmsvänner

Nu har handläggare i Göteborgs stad undersökt och klargjort vad man anser att man på tjänstemannanivå kan göra. Detta är den byråkratiska vägen som vi alla får vandra. Nu kan politiker ta beslut som antingen hjälper eller stjälper projektet. Jag tror att politiker i Göteborg gärna ser att fartyget kommer till staden. Man kan därefter utvärdera om fartyget är och blir det landmärke som vi utlovat. Därefter kommer man att lösa fortsatt placering med hjälp av allmänna direktiv i detaljplansplanering. Det finns plats om man vill och jag tror att 150 arbetstillfällen med mångmiljonbelopp i skatteintäkter kommer att tala för sig själv. Bygglovsärendet går vidare. Miljö och hälsoskydd har funderat på problem med höga ljudnivåer vid rockkonserter i Frihamnen. Vi har nog löst dessa problem nu och vad jag känner till återstår nu att lämna in ritningar på utrymningsvägar. Vi har beställt dessa och de bör vara klara under februari. I övrigt kommer det inom den närmaste tiden att ske en del förhandlingar. Hoppas att under mars månad kunna återkomma med mer och positiv information.

Lars G Hallgren


MS Kungsholm.


Updated January 28, 2009

Hotellplanerna för Kungsholm

Fastighetsknotoret i Göteborg behandlade den 26:e januari 2009 en skrivelse från Lars Hallgren, initiativtagaren till planerna att omvandla Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborgs hamn. Man beslutade att avvakta en pågående prövning om bygglov i Byggnadsnämnden.

Läs fastighetskontorets beslut här.

Läs mer om planerna att omvandla Kungsholm till hotell.

Stort tack till Lennart Angelmo för denna information.

The Kungsholm Hotel Plans

On January 26, 2009, the Real Estate Office in Gothenburg decided to wait for the Building Committee's pending decision concerning a building permit for placing the Kungsholm in the free harbor. The projects continues.

Read more about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.


Updated January 28, 2009

Stewardess identified

Marianne Gustafsson has recognized her grandmother Anna Maria (Maja) Beckman, in photo D403. She was a stewardess 1954/55 - 1963, most of the time on the Gripsholm, but also on the Stockholm at the time of the collision with Andrea Doria in 1954.


Updated January 23, 2009

The Women of SAL

There is a new section devoted to all the women who worked on board the SAL ships, and at the SAL offices. There are already many pictures of stewardesses, nurses, and beauticians on these pages, but the new section will have even more emphasis on their contributions to the greatness of SAL. If you have names, stories, or photos of the women of the "Happy Ships with the Happy Crew", please write to salship@yahoo.com.


Recommended Books

Updated Jan 3, 2010

Länspumpen om SAL:s Östersjötrafik

Länspumpens årsnummer 2009 beskriver historien om Svenska Amerika Liniens Östersjötrafik med tonvikten på de små passagerarångarna Borgholm, Kastelholm och Marieholm, men även atlantfartygen. Över 170 foton på 60 sidor! Flera unika foton som aldrig tidigare varit publicerade. Turlistor, ritningar m m.

SAL bedrev en omfattande trafik med de små ångarna från 1924 till krigsutbrottet 1939, samt med SAL:s stora fartyg på Östersjökryssningar.

Skriften kan beställas genom att sända in 60 kr på plusgiro 81 57 68 - 7, Tidningen Länspumpen. Ange namn och adress.

Läs mer här.

Tack till Bertil Söderberg, Örjan Slätte och Jörgen Areskough för denna information.

Se även bilder från en Östersjökryssning med Gripsholm 1932.


Updated Sep 7, 2009

Recommended Book

Waterline - Images from the Golden Age of Cruising

John Graves

Please note: The book edition sold at Amazon.co.uk may not have the Kungsholm on the cover!

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.

Buy at amazon.co.uk
 

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".
Anser boken vara av god kvalité. 255 sidor, inkl. noter. Här i Göteborg hittade jag den i Haga i en butik som köper in restupplagor (remainders) och säljer till bra pris, ca 160 sek. "Böcker som vi gillar till pris som ni gillar": Bokrummet i Haga, Skolgatan 11, 413 02 GÖTEBORG, bokrummet, tfn 031-7010028. De har ett traditionellt antikvariat, Bokmalen, Haga Nygata 16.



Updated July7, 2008

MERCY SHIPS
by David Miller

Buy at amazon.co.uk
 

 


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.


 

M/S Kungsholms inredning
Ett mästerverk i svensk
art deco

Anne Marie Ericsson

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.
Köp boken här: Adlibris

 

Amerikabåtarna
Från emigranter till miljonärer

Christer Winberg

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.
Köp boken här: Adlibris

 

 

Andrea Dorias undergång
Britt-Marie Mattsson

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.
Köp boken här: Adlibris



SAL enthusiast Bob Zeschin has recommended
Kungsholm - Europa - Columbus C
by Nico Guns

A book about the Kungsholm of 1953.
Primarily Dutch text, but with English language insertions, captions and a full summary at the end of the book.


Journalist Per Fält has recommended
The Grand Cruise by Cecil Roberts, published in 1963. It tells the story of an Around The World Cruise on the Kungsholm of 1953. The book can from time to time be found on eBay.


"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna
Arne Nilsson

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.
Köp boken här: Adlibris


De Flytande Palatsen
The White Viking Fleet
Algot Mattsson

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.



Huset Broström
Algot Mattsson

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

Algot Mattsson

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.



Vägen mot Väster

Algot Mattsson

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



Updated January 19, 2009

Lindblad Explorer

A link to the Lindblad Explorer page has been added to the front page menu.


Updated January 19, 2009

Waiter and Folkdancer identified

Helmut Bretmaisser from Austria has identified himself serving on the Gripsholm on one of the pictures contributed by Mr Fleming Storck Petersen. Helmut has also identified Marguerite Velten - Bretmaisser on one of the Folk Dance pages.


Updated Jan 18, 2008

Chief Purser Curt Dawe

Work in progress

Two pages showing photos of officers, on and off duty, from the 1940's and 1950's have been added.

A large donation, containing Chief Purser Curt Dawe's extensive collection of SAL memorabilia, has been contributed by Curt Dawe's nephews, Andreas and Christian Dawe. The collection has been donated to the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg, Sjöfartsmuséet, with permission for us to view the objects on this website.
Read more here

Pages showing items from the Dawe collection
Start page
Photos, people page1
Photos, people page2
Photos, people page3, the Lounges
Photos, people page4, the Lounges
Photos, people page5, the Dining Room

Photos, people page6, Officers
Photos, people page7, Off Duty
The Collision page1
The Collision page2
The Folk Dance Teams, page 2
The Gripsholm of 1925, Bridge Photos
The Stockholm of 1948, Photos
Chief Purser Hugo Billén
Chief Purser Evert Eriksson
Cashier T Odenlund

Uniforms
SAL Souvenirs

More pages will be added



Updated December 18, 2008

Cashier T Odenlund

New photos have been added to the page about SAL veteran, Cashier T Odenlund.


Updated January 15, 2009

The Seven Nuns on the Gripsholm

Stephen Fox has informed us of the story about Seven Sisters of Mary of the Presentation interned at Vittel, France during World War II. They returned safely to the USA on the Gripsholm in March 1944.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.



Updated January 10, 2009

Gripsholm as the Berlin

MS Gripsholm of 1925 was renamed MS Berlin when sold to Norddeutscher-Lloyd in 1954. Chris Schmidt maintains a website about the Berlin.


An architect's drawing of Kungsholm at the proposed docking site.


Updated December 27, 2008

Hotellplanerna för KUNGSHOLM

Lars Hallgren, initiativtagaren till projektet att omvandla Mona Lisa, ex MS Kungsholm, till hotell i Göteborg, meddelar följande:

1. En enig Kommunstyrelse tog beslut att man vill ha Kungsholm till Göteborg. Vi har mottagit ett brev från KS undertecknat av Göran Johansson som innebär att KS delegerat till Chefen för Fastighetskontoret Christina Johnsson och Chefen för Stadsbyggnadskontoret Lars Ivarson att besvara de skrivelser som jag sänt till KS.

2. Jag har haft möte med ovan nämnda personer som i sin tur delegerat frågorna till beredning av tjänstemän på respektive kontor. Formellt skall svarsskrivelsen behandlas på sammanträde i Fastighetsnämnd och Byggnadsnämnd i slutet av januari.

3. Underhandskontakt med handläggarna ger oss en uppfattning av att man kommer att föreslå att fartyget får ligga vid Norra Frihamnen - där bygglov är sökt - några år. Bygglovsansökan har varit utställd och några synpunkter har inte inkommit till byggnadsnämnden. För att kunna behandla bygglovsansökan som gäller tillfälligt bygglov under fem år skall vi komplettera med en utrymningsplan. Vi har underlag för att beställa utrymningsplanen men avvaktar tills vi sett en långsiktig lösning av var fartyget kan ligga.

4. Vi förstår att man inte kan ge bygglov på mer än fem år i taget två gånger. Vi har därför bett KS utreda om man kan arbeta fram en alternativ lösning som innebär att fartyget kan läggas väster om Amerikaskjulet bort mot Fiskhamnen. Vad kommunen kommer att svara vet vi inte.

5. Hela projektet kräver en praktisk viljeförklaring från kommunen som innebär en lösning på minst tio år för att klara investeringar och avskrivningar.

Sammanfattningsvis är det svårt att veta om Göteborgs Kommun har viljan och förmågan att ordna en långsiktig lösning.

Mona Lisa skall under våren gå i kryssningsfart längs Sydamerika och återkommer i maj till Kiel för kryssningar i närliggande vatten på samma sätt som sommaren 2008.

Med vänlig hälsning
Lars Hallgren

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.


The KUNGSHOLM hotel plans

According to Mr Lars Hallgren, the initiator of the project to convert the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, into a floating hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Gothenburg City Board has unanimously declared a desire to bring the ship to Gothenburg. The matter has been delegated to the city's Building and City Planning departments.

Still, the issue at hand now is mainly the duration of the building permit. Mr Hallgren is waiting for replies to his correspondence with the city authorities.

The ship will be making cruises along the coast of South America during the spring of 2009, and in northern Europe during the summer.

Read more about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.


Updated December 17, 2008

Lennart Håkanson

As posted earlier, Lennart Håkanson, 2nd Purser, Chief Purser, and Catering Inspector for SAL, from the mid-1960's and during the 1970's, died on November 8, 2008. A private memorial ceremony has been held. Lennart Håkanson wished that, instead of flowers, a donation should be made to Svenska Sjöräddningssällskapet, (The Swedish Sea Rescue Society).
Many thanks to Lennart Angelmo and Ingvar Torstensson for this information.


Updated December 12, 2008

Kungsholm and Gripsholm Atlantic Crossings


Two more pages have been added.

Mr F. Storck Petersen has contributed photos from Atlantic crossings. Mr Storck Petersen's uncle was the manager of SAL in Copenhagen, and his father was baggage master for SAl in Copenhagen. This is a work in progress, and more photos will be added later.


Updated December 11, 2008

News Archive Added

News items posted before July 2008 have been moved to the new News Archive.



Updated December 11, 2008

SAL Friends Meet in Spain

Heinz Krapf, crew member on the Kungsholm from 1965 to 1972, has sent photos from a get- together in September in Calpe, Spain, with friends from the good old days.

See more photos on the Reunion page.



An architect's drawing of Kungsholm at the proposed docking site.

Updated October 9, 2008

The KUNGSHOLM hotel plans

According to Mr Lars Hallgren, the initiator of the project to convert MONA LISA, ex KUNGSHOLM, into a floating hotel in Gothenburg, Sweden, the Gothenburg City Board is going to discuss the project at a meeting on October 29. Mr Hallgren is asking for as much support as possible and encourages emails to be sent to the members of the board to explain how important it is to save the KUNGSHOLM. Mr Hallgren started the project in April of 2007, and has devoted enormous
amounts of time and money lobbying and engaging consultants and experts for inspections of the ship, etc. He has an option to buy the ship, and he has the financial backing. He still needs the City of Gothenburg to assign a suitable site in the harbor. His plans include restoring the two funnels with the SAL golden crowns. We ask all friends of the Swedish American Line to write
to one or more of the board members and elaborate why this beautiful ship must be saved. Your email could make the difference.

Find the email addresses here

Read more about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.

Hotellplanerna för KUNGSHOLM

Enligt Lars Hallgren, initiativtagaren till att lägga Kungsholm som hotell i Göteorg, ska Göteborgs Kommunstyrelse ta upp ärendet på ett möte den 29 oktober. Projektet behöver så mycket stöd som möjligt och vi uppmuntrar synpukter via email och brev till Kommunstyrelsens ledamöter. Lars Hallgren avser att återställa båda skorstenarna med SAL:s tre kronor. Han poängterar också:

Det skapas ca 150 nya arbetstillfällen i en hårt drabbad stad. Det ger ca 15-20 miljoner kronor i kommunalskatt varje år.

Kajhyra vid Stigbergskajen betalar en del eller hela kostanden av förstärkningsarbeten och muddring om man ser på 20 års sikt. Det är vattenyta som man inte fått intäkt på, vid en raserad kaj som förr eller senare måste renoveras.

Chalmers får gratis tillgång till fartyg för utbildning av maskiningenjörer.

Ett levande museum.

Unika konferensmöjligheter och ett stort hotell i mellanprisläget.

Skriv och berätta för kommunstyrelsens ledamöter hur viktigt det är att bevara detta vackra fartyg. Ditt mail kan bli avgörande. Hitta mailadresserna här.

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.

The intended docking site in the free harbor.


Updated October 9, 2008

Mona Lisa, Ex Kungsholm, leaving Gothenburg on July 21, 2008.
Photo by Christer Bengtsson.



Updated October 7, 2008

Pier 97, Manhattan

Former crew member Armin Nerger in Germany, Pastry Chef on the Gripsholm 1969-72, has contributed memories to the Pier 97 page.


Updated September 30, 2008

Brev till Göteborgs Kommunstyrelse
angående MS Kungsholm

2008-09-29

Till
Göteborgs Kommunstyrelse

Ett mycket snabbt politiskt beslut krävs för att få MS Kungsholm till Göteborg

Av misstag adresserades en skrivelse 2008 09 08 till ledamöterna istället för till Kommunstyrelsen. Denna skrivelse är inte identisk med den tidigare insända och har ett nytt förslag på placering om och när Norra Frihamnen inte längre kan användas.

Om Kommunstyrelsen anser att en placering av MS Kungsholm i Göteborgs hamn är positivt för staden måste ett beslut om upplåtelse av nödvändig mark i Norra Frihamnen eller på annan plats komma senast under början av oktober 2008. Om det inte finns ett beslutat upplåtelseavtal under oktober kommer fartyget förmodligen att säljas till en intressent i Kina. Då förlorar Göteborg Pr-värdet, 100-150 arbetsplatser samt ett fantastiskt landmärke. Fartyget är av kulturhistoriskt riksintresse och bör bevaras. Inredning i Honduras mahogny, teak, konstverk, målningar, förgyllda tak mm gör henne unik. Ett liknande fartyg kommer aldrig att kunna byggas och nu har Göteborg chansen att få M/S Kungsholm till staden redan 2009. Varför arbetar inte staden för den chansen utan istället skickar runt frågan som en het potatis?

Mats Andersson på Älvstranden Utveckling AB har i fredags meddelat - efter skrivning till Älvstranden Utveckling AB´s styrelse - att bolaget enligt nuvarande direktiv har befogenhet att förhandla fram ett upplåtelseavtal som sträcker sig till 2012, men inte längre. Platsen som avses är i Norra Frihamnen bredvid byggnad 113 – som använder hela huset för att marknadsföra sina nya bilmodeller. Lokalen är utmärkt för att även framledes användas för events, konferens, minimässor mm. Det är synd om staden missar denna chans att kombinera hotell med en utmärkt event-fastighet.

Ett alternativ till att placera M/S Kungsholm i Norra Frihamnen är på sikt längs Stigbergskajen väster om Amerikaskjulet. Längs den gamla SeaCat terminalen och ut mot fiskhamnen.

Fartyget kan för närvarande inte placeras där då;

  • kajen har sjunkit ner och måste förstärkas och höjas innan muddringsarbetet kan ske. Ett omfattande arbete som är kostnadskrävande men som någon gång måste göras.
  • Higab och Göteborgs Hamn har sagt nej till upplåtelse.
  • Vattendjupet är otillräckligt. På sina ställen längst västerut är det 5- 6 meter och fartyget behöver ca 9 meter .
  • Eventuellt finns nytecknat upplåtelseavtal med Stena för parkering av lastbilar.

Att placera fartyget längs Amerikaskjulet – som i praktiken går med hänsyn till djup – innebär följande problem;

  • Stena har avtal om att nyttja del av nödvändig kaj vid Amerikaskjulet. Kräver förhandling med Stena som överhuvudtaget inte vill diskutera Kungsholm med partners i Kungsholmsprojektet. En personlig reflektion är att detta är synd då det än så länge finns möjligheter för Stena att bli partner och kunna få ett ”Stena-hotell” mitt i staden. Politisk hjälp behövs för att diskutera frågan med Stena om det är en omöjlighet.
  • Amerikaskjulet har hyresgäster som blockerar tillgängligheten till fartyget. (Kommunen är genom Habiliteringen hyresgäst och där kan man kanske kunna hitta en lösning).
  • Hyresgäster är sakägare och kan vid ansökan om bygglov motsätta sig detta.
  • Eventuellt kan man få köpa ut hyresgäster eller medverka till sänkt hyra. Göteborgs Hamn förvaltar fastigheten.

En fördel med placering av M/S Kungsholm antingen vid Amerikaskjulet eller väster om huskroppen längs Stigbergskajen är att:

  • Kommunikationerna till området är bra både med bil,cykel och med kollektivtrafik.
  • Det finns gott om parkeringsplatser i och under Fiskhamnsmotet. På nätterna är parkeringen tom.
  • Bostäder finns söder om trafikleden och bör inte nämnvärt bli påverkade vare sig av skymd utsikt eller av ljud från fläktar mm.
  • Närhet till Sjöfartsmuseet. M/S Kungsholm kommer att i vissa delar bli ett utmärkt komplement till museet för att visa svenska-amerikatrafikens historia.

Det ligger i sakens natur att det är omöjligt att kunna bygga upp en konferens- och hotellverksamhet med en investering på kanske 200 miljoner kronor med en upplåtelsetid som är maximalt två till tre år. Det klargjordes redan under första mötet i början av 2007 med Anneli Hulthén och Lars Ivarsson att en tidsperiod avsåg bygglov om troligen fem år med förlängning av fem år och med ett tioårigt upplåtelseavtal för att klara avskrivningar och få en hotelloperatör. Därefter finns en förhoppning om att lösa fortsatt placering under förutsättning att staden anser att M/S Kungsholm fungerar på tänkt sätt.

Processen avseendet ett tillfälligt bygglov fortskrider avseende Frihamnen. De undersökningar och bedömningar som vår projektgrupp har gjort tillsammans med konsulter och myndigheter ger en positiv bild av möjligheten för att kunna uppfylla gällande regelverk. I dagsläget saknas enligt Lennart Johansson en utrymningsplan som en konsultfirma arbetar med. Det bör därför finnas förutsättningar för ett positivt bygglovsbeslut.

Men det ligger i projektets natur att ett politiskt stöd behövs för att långsiktigt kunna bevara fartyget och verksamhet ombord.

Om fartyget inte sköts på det sätt som staden i sitt bygglov kan besluta ligger faran hos ägarna att inte få ytterligare bygglov för fem år.

Eftersom en av kommunstyrelsens ledamöter befarade att fartyget skulle bli liggande med dåligt underhåll kan man konstatera skrotvärdet är ca 100 miljoner kronor. Genom föreläggande kan staden kräva skötsel och som en sista utväg begära hjälp genom kronofogdemyndigheten. För det långsiktiga underhållet finns Cityvarvet nästgårds som kan docka fartyget för bottenunderhåll.

Genom att aktivt ge politiskt stöd till bevarandet av ett vackert fartyg med en enastående kulturhistoria befäster Göteborg sitt rykte som eventstad. De ca 600 hytterna skall tillsammans med alla utrymmen för events och konferenser höja kvaliteten och valfriheten för gäster i Göteborg. Detta kan ske redan om ett år.

Dessutom får stadens högskola en gratis utbildningsplattform för maskinbefäl där man praktiskt kan gå igenom ett helt modernt och fungerande fartyg vilket blir unikt.

Staden Rotterdam har köpt motsvarande fartyg - SS Rotterdam från 1959 - och renoverat henne pietetsfullt. Under september i år har fartyget öppnats som hotell i Rotterdam. Filmer och bilder finns för den intresserade på Internet.

Los Angeles har Queen Mary och Dubai får nästa år Queen Elisabeth II med samma funktioner.

Under två års tid har jag och andra personer arbetat med att få en plats i Göteborgs hamn. Ansenliga belopp och mycken möda har lagts ned på att klara bestämmelser för bygglov mm. Fartyget har i juli anlöpt Göteborg för att visa upp sig och låta politiker, räddningstjänst, bygglovsingenjörer, partners och journalister bedöma hennes skick. Skicket är mycket gott och fartyget är väl underhållet.

Under projekttiden har vi blivit anvisade att undersöka tre platser och vi har sökt bygglov på två av dem. På alla anvisade platser har vi sedan fått nej till placering. Beslut och direktiv måste därför komma från Kommunstyrelsen. Nu kan man inte skicka runt frågan mer.

I ett möte med fartyget ägare i augusti kom vi överens om att sätta en tidsgräns till sista oktober då man nu fått ett anbud från ett kinesiskt företag som vill köpa fartyget för leverans i oktober 2009. Ägarna har varit tålmodiga och vi kan inte kräva mer tid från deras sida trots att de helhjärtat stöder iden om ett bevarande istället för att skrota ett vackert och funktionellt fartyg.

Fartyget är för närvarande chartrat av Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines och vi har fått ett erbjudande om att överta fartyget från september 2009. Det innebär att fartyget med namnet M/S Kungsholm kan gå i kryssningstrafik under ett år innan man förtöjer henne för att stadigvarande vara hotell mm. Kontakter har tagits med sjöfartsverket som inte har några invändningar. Vidare förs diskussioner med ett svenskt och ett tyskt reseföretag som tillsammans är intresserade av att ordna resor med utgångshamn från Göteborg och Kiel.

Vårt förslag till en långsiktig lösning är följande är att kommunstyrelse i positiv anda beslutar att:

  • Ett upplåtelseavtal träffas som innebär att M/S Kungsholm kan ligga vid Norra Frihamnen tom 31 december, 2013. Avtalet kan förlängas med ett år i taget om kommunen vill med hänsyn till annan projektering. Det kan vara så att platsen blir permanent beroende på vad som sker i framtida planarbete.
  • Kommunen finner en alternativplats för Kungsholm om Frihamnen inte bedöms fungera i framtiden. Om platsen fungerar kan fartyget flyttas tidigare än 2013.
  • Alternativ som avses kan vara längs Stigbergskajen eller annan plats som Stena idag disponerar, t.ex. vid Amerikaskjulet. Även annan plats i Frihamnen är möjlig.
  • Om man beslutar att Stigbergskajen skall användas så står staden för upprustning av kaj och muddring så att fartyget kan flyta med ca 1 meter vatten under kölen. Naturligtvis skall en rimlig kajhyra betalas men den behöver förhandlas fram nu.
  • En avsiktsförklaring som innebär att kommunen på något sätt tillhandahåller lämplig kajplats innanför Älvsborgsbron under en 10 års period för att kunna genomföra förvärvet och tillförsäkra en vettig finansiering.
  • En mycket rimlig upplåtelseavgift mot bakgrund av den investering och nytta för staden som investeringen innebär under den första tiden då fartyget ligger i Norra Frihamnen.
  • Fjärrvärme, vatten, avlopp och el tillhandahålls på ett rimligt sätt för avsedd funktion som hotell mm.
  • Utse en kontaktperson som snabbt kan hjälpa fram underlag för ett beslut. Lars Ivarsson är insatt och är från vår sida en lämplig person.

För Top Industri AB som formellt sökt bygglov och för den grupp av partners som arbetar med att få M/S Kungsholm till Göteborg

Lars Hallgren

Top Industri AB
Box 484
701 49 Örebro

019-16 41 30
0705-13 61 80

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.


Updated October 2, 2008

The Swedish Cultural Center in Seattle
Holds a Swedish American Line Auction

Pam Madden of the Swedish Cultural Center in Seattle, WA, has informed us of their SAL auction next year:

Our auction will be held on Saturday, February 7, 2009 at the Swedish Cultural Center. It is themed as "Voyage Aboard the Swedish American Line " and will attempt to recreate ocean travel from the SAL fleet.

There will be a dinner menu using some of the Kungsholm menus from the 1950's. There will be music, and guests are invited to optionally wear clothing styles from the late 1940's, 50's or 60's to reflect the era.

The Swedish Cultural Center is a non profit 501(c)(3) organization founded in 1882 and located in the Queen Anne neighborhood. Our membership totals approximately 600 households who live and work in the greater Seattle area. Anyone interested can join and participate in our activities.

The Center is devoted to the preservation and enjoyment of Scandinavian culture. We serve as a venue for Scandinavian performing arts, film and lecture series. Swedish language classes and genealogical services are offered.

We are home to the Swedish School Association which maintains a connection to heritage and culture for the younger generation. We provide college scholarship awards to those pursuing higher education at an accredited institution. A monthly Swedish Pancake Breakfast is served to the public with up to 1100 attendees who experience traditional food and musical entertainment.

Money raised will be used to increase our scholarship awards and for the continued expansion of our cultural enrichment programs.

Read more on the SCC website..



Updated September 8, 2008

Gripsholm's Exchange Voyage from Goa in 1943

Robert N Johansen has contributed the story of his cousin Laurits V. Larsen, exchange passenger on the Gripsholm in 1943.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.



Updated September 5, 2008

Picture Galleries Restored

The picture galleries from the SAL reunions in 2000, 2002 and 2005 have not been accessible for some time, but they have now been restored. You can find them here.



Updated August 28, 2008

Franz Havranek, Wine Steward

Three pages have been added, showing photos contributed by Franz Havranek, who served on the Kungsholm, 1971-73. Many thanks to Franz for these interesting photos.



Updated August 13, 2008

Reunion Plans in Salzburg

Schloeg Johann, (Kungsholm May 1971 to May 1974), and Schauer Manfred, are planning a reunion in Salzburg, Austria, at the end of 2008. The reunion will take place at the Golf Club Klessheim, near the castle Schloss Klessheim, where the casino is, and where the get together party will be.


The Casino.

Please spread the word, and contact Schloegl Johann for more information.

 


Updated August 16, 2008

More Crew Members Identified

Kerstin Wennerström has identified Else Larsson on Folk Dance photos D207 and 208, plus Birgitta (last namen unknown). Kerstin served with Else and Birgitta on the Gripsholm during the spring of 1968.


Updated August 16, 2008

Additions to Cruise memories

Mr Robert Neilson has made a few additions to his Cruise Memories in the Passenger Area.



Updated August 13, 2008

Crew Members Identified

Kent Roos has identified Bo Skogsfors on the photo from Mrs. Rockefeller's Hawaiian Party in 1966 on the Gripsholm.

Sven Lagerström has identified several persons on Folk Dance photo D211.

Franz Havranek remembers three crew members on Folk Dance photo D218.

Hans Schloegl has identified himself and two colleagues in the same Folk Dance photo as Anita Olsson and Luigi Polli.


Updated July 30, 2008

Experience an Atlantic Crossing Online

The Maritime Museum in Stockholm has posted the classic SAL film "Semester på Atlanten" on the Internet. The film shows a Swedish couple's voyage across the Atlantic on board the Kungsholm of 1953. The quality is unstable at the beginning, but improves. This film also exists in an English language version, but here it is shown in Swedish.

Watch the film here (select Utställningar and then Semester på Atlanten).

See more film clips here.


Updated July 22, 2008

Kungsholm på besök i Göteborg

Göteborgs-Posten har idag ännu en artikel om planerna på att placera Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborgs hamn. Flera representanter för myndigheterna i Göteborg gick ombord då Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, lade till i Skandiahamnen. Tack till Lars Hallgren, Lennart Angelmo och Christer Bengtsson för detta tips.

Läs artikeln här: http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=113&a=434124

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg..


Updated July 9, 2008

Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborg

Göteborgs-Posten har idag en artikel om planerna på att placera Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborgs hamn. Initiativtagaren, Lars Hallgren, talar om ett genombrott i projektet. Tack till Lennart Angelmo och Örjan Slätte för detta tips.

Läs artikeln här: http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=113&a=431842

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg..


Updated July 9, 2008

Kungsholm as a Floating Hotel in Gothenburg

Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren, the initiator of the conversion plans, reports today that there has been a break through in the project. Mr Hallgren, who has an option to buy the MONA LISA, ex KUNGSHOLM, has worked methodically with this project for over a year. After long negotiations with the building council and the Fire & Rescue department, he is now very close to being granted a five year building permit in the Gothenburg free harbor. The chances of getting the permit prolonged are favorable. It's easy to be impressed by the way Mr Hallgren is handling this project, engaging experts, from maritime engineers to hotel people, from the very start, and above all, his endurance.

Read about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg .



Other sites with information about SAL:s ships

This site is not about refurbishings, altered doorways, or funnel colors. The purpose of the site is primarily to describe the life and people on board the "White Viking Fleet" - the emigrants, the tourists, and the business passengers who crossed the stormy North Atlantic to reach America, - and the cruise members, sailing smoothly from port to port in a world of luxury, many of them coming back for a new cruise, time and time again. And, of course the crew, who worked and lived on the ships for months and years - in some cases decades - regarding them as their homes.

For a more detailed technical description of the ships, however, we recommend the following fine sites:
Kommandobryggan, which also features a fleetlist, and photos of SAL's freighters,
Fakta om fartyg,
and The Great Ocean Liners.




Updated June 30, 2008

The Gripsholm Exchange Voyage
from Goa to New York in 1943

George and Gertrude Wilder were American missionaries, who lived and worked in China from 1894 to 1943. They were interned in a prison camp in Weihsien, China, during World War 2, until they were sent back to the US on the exchange ship Gripsholm.


Painting by Gertrude Wilder

Gertrude Wilder documented the whole journey from the prison camp in Weihsien, China, to New York, in watercolor paintings.

In addition, George Wilder, who was an amatuer ornithologist, wrote a memoir of the voyage with an emphasis on the various birds seen along the way.  His friend, Howard Galt, also wrote a memoir of the voyage. These memoirs are valuable documents, describing daily life and conditions on the Gripsholm voyage.

George and Gertrude Wilder's grandson, Donald Wilder Menzi, has created a unique web site showing the paintings and other documents. Many thanks to Donald Wilder Menzi for sharing this information.

Read more, and find the link to the web site here.



Updated June 15, 2008

Kungsholm as a Floating Hotel in Gothenburg

Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren, the man behind the plans to convert the Kungsholm of 1966 into a floating hotel in Gothenburg, has informed us that the project is still in progress. At present an analysis is being made concerning the transportation of hazardous goods in the harbor near the intended docking site.

Mr Hallgren intends to invite representatives of the city authorities aboard when the Mona Lisa (ex Kungsholm) visits Gothenburg on July 21, to show what a cultural treasure this ship is.

We wish Mr Hallgren every success with this project, which is so important for preserving the memory of the Swedish American Line, and the history of the shipping trade in Gothenburg.

Read about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg .


Updated June 14, 2008

News About Kungsholm

The Scholar Ship Program Ends

During the Fall of 2007 and the Spring of 2008, the Kungsholm of 1966 has been sailing as The Scholar Ship, a floating university. Today we have received information that the Scholar Ship program will end.

The Scholar Ship Team writes:
"The Scholar Ship has been unable to secure funding necessary to continue the program at this time, including the upcoming September 08 and January 09 voyages."

It is not known to us right now what will happen to the Kungsholm in the short run.

Read about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg .




Updated May 8, 2008

Mona Lisa Afloat

The Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, was refloated on Wednesday. The ship is currently in Ventspils, Latvia, for inspections.

Länk till nyhetsartikel i Svensk Sjöfartstidning
Tack till Lennart Angelmo för detta tips.


Updated May 6, 2008

Mona Lisa Aground in the Irbe Strait

The Kungsholm of 1966, currently sailing as the Mona Lisa, ran aground on Sunday in the Irbe Strait, which is the main exit from the Gulf of Riga into the Baltic Sea. The ship was carrying 651 passengers who had all left the ship on Monday. According to several news agencies, 300+ crew members are still on board.

Inspections by divers from the Lithuanian Coast Guard have not found any damage to the hull so far. Powerful tugs from Sweden and other countries are on their way to assist.


 

From the news archive:
Updated March 3, 2008

Photos of Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm

Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, visited Gothenburg in September of 2006. Photos from that visit are posted on Göteborgs-Posten's website.
Thanks to Lennart Angelmo for this news.

Read about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.

Mona Lisa will be back in 2008

Lord Nelson-Seereisen will operate the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, during the summer of 2008, from May 1 to August 31, for cruises in Northern Europe. See the itineraries here.



Updated May 7, 2008

The Gripsholm Exchange Voyage in 1942

Ms. Carmen Puente Prieto of Mexico City, Mexico, has contributed an interesting and lovely story about her mother and grandmother, who left Shanghai in June 1942, and boarded the Gripsholm at Lorenco Marques, arriving in New York on August 25.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.


Updated April 7, 2008

The Kungsholm Soccer Team 1970

A photo of the Kungsholm Soccer Team from 1970 has been added to the Bridge & Crew Pages. From Curt Dawe's collection.



Updated April 5, 2008

Professor Christer Winberg avliden

Professor Christer Winberg, Göteborg, författaren till "Amerikabåtarna - från emigranter till miljonärer", har nyligen avlidit. Boken, som gavs ut 2007, är ett stort och mycket uppskattat bidrag till arbetet att bevara kunskapen och minnet av atlanttrafiken och livet ombord på fartygen.



Updated April 4, 2008

Chief Purser Curt Dawe

Work in progress

A new page with photos showing the bridge of the Gripsholm of 1925 has been added.

A large donation, containing Chief Purser Curt Dawe's extensive collection of SAL memorabilia, has been contributed by Curt Dawe's nephews, Andreas and Christian Dawe. The collection has been donated to the Maritime Museum in Gothenburg, Sjöfartsmuséet, with permission for us to view the objects on this website.
Read more here

Pages showing items from the Dawe collection
Start page
Photos, people page1
Photos, people page2
Photos, people page3, the Lounges
Photos, people page4, the Lounges
Photos, people page5, the Dining Room
The Collision page1
The Collision page2
The Folk Dance Teams, page 2
The Gripsholm of 1925, Bridge Photos
The Stockholm of 1948, Photos

Chief Purser Hugo Billén
Chief Purser Evert Eriksson
Uniforms
SAL Souvenirs

More pages will be added


Updated April 1, 2008

The Kungsholm of 1953

Two new pages have been created with photos contributed by Magnus Baecklund. Magnus mustered on the Kungsholm in 1953 as a 3rd Engineer and served until the departure of the first World Cruise in 1954.



Updated March 27, 2008

The Drottningholm in Gothenburg in 1943

Stuart and George MacRitchie have kindly offered to share an excerpt of their father's memoirs. Alistair Crawford Cameron MacRitchie was repatriated via Gothenburg after 3 1/2 years as a POW in Poland.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.



Updated March 21, 2008

The Folk Dancers

Lars Nydén, Bellboy at the Kungsholm Radio Station in 1966 (working for Jalle Andersson / Keio Rockalati and Millding), has identified himself on folk dance photo D207. Lars also served on the Gripsholm in 1965 and 1967.


Updated March 20, 2008

SAL Film Clips

A new page has been created with links to SAL film clips on the Internet.



Updated March 18, 2008

Senaste nytt om hotellplanerna för Kungsholm

Lars G Hallgren, initiativtagare til projektet att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg, har skrivit följande brev

 

Angående kajplats för M/S Kungsholm
2008-03-16

Sammanfattning

Den av Göteborgs stad föreslagna placeringen av fartyget längs Stigbergskajen väster om Amerikaskjulet är i dagsläget inte ekonomiskt försvarbart och ett beviljat tillfälligt bygglov riskerar att fastna i en byråkratisk process av överklaganden från sakägare. Det gäller nu att handla snabbt om staden vill ha fartyget till Göteborg

Mitt förslag är därför att staden i vart fall under en tioårsperiod godtar en placering längs kajen i Norra Frihamnspiren, vilket är den enda platsen som återstår mot bakgrund av ekonomi och tidsaspekt.

När fartyget är på plats kan Göteborgs stad utan tidspress besluta om man efter tio år vill projektera för en annan placering av fartyget text. vid Stigbergskajen eller om man inte vill ha kvar fartyget i hamnen. Man kan också välja att göra en planändring och behålla fartyget på plats.

 

Bakgrund

Vid årsskiftet 2006/2007 gjorde jag en förfrågan bland Göteborgs beslutande politiker från flera olika partier, om det fanns ett intresse att ta M/S Kungsholm till Göteborg, när fartygets kryssningskarriär var över.

I mars 2007 fick jag förslag från staden om att Top Industri AB borde ansöka om tillfälligt bygglov för fartyget på Södra Frihamnspiren. Projektarbeten påbörjades därefter för att bedöma möjligheten av att klara myndighetskrav för hotelldrift mm. När inhyrda konsulter bedömde att projektet borde klara ett bygglov lämnades bygglovsansökan in till staden.

I samband med att staden förordade att STCC-tävlingar ska få hållas samt att planering av bostäder/kontor ska ske på Södra Frihamnspiren, blev Top Industri AB ombedd att undersöka placering av fartyget längs Stigbergskajen.

 

Placering längs Stigbergskajen

Västra delen av Stigbergskajen rasade 1916. En kajkommission tillsattes för att i framtiden förhindra liknande ras. Stigbergskajen och markområdet mellan Amerikaskjulet och Fiskhamnen består enligt stadens geolog av lera som sträcker sig ut i älven. Kajen har satt sig och sjunkit ner så att vattennivån vid högvatten översvämmar kajen upp till ca 50 meter in mot trafikleden.

Djupgåendet utanför kajen är mestadels runt 7 meter men är i västra delen mellan 5 till 6 meter . För att kunna muddra till 9 meter - vilket fartyget kräver - måste kajen förstärkas.

Jan Andersson på Göteborgs Hamn har meddelat att en undersökning av vad det kostar att förstärka kajen uppskattningsvis kostar 500 000 till 700 000 kronor.

En mycket grov bedömning av vad det kan kosta att förstärka kajen 200 meter kan enligt Andersson göras mot bakgrund av ett arbete som gjordes i Skandiahamnen 2005. Man förstärkte då 400 meter kaj och ökade vattendjupet ca 2 meter till en kostnad av 200 000 000 kronor.

Muddring kostar idag per kubikmeter ca 100 kronor plus en deponeringsavgift om 400 kronor. En uppskattning är att en muddring för att få fartyget på plats kommer att kosta ytterligare 10 -15 miljoner kronor. Hamnens tillstånd att få lägga muddermassor går ut 2009.

Min bedömning är att kaj och muddringsarbeten kan kosta 100 000 000 kronor plus/minus 20 000 000 kronor.

Min bedömning är även att det finns alltför många sakägare i form av hyresgäster i närliggande fastigheter som kan överklaga ett beviljat bygglov. Tidsfaktorn är av avgörande betydelse för att kunna genomföra projektet. En utdragen beslutsprocess kan snabbt omintetgöra affären.

 

Placering vid Norra Frihamnen

Norra Frihamnspiren har kajer med ett bottendjup som klarar en stationär placering av fartyget. Om muddring behöver göras så är det av relativ liten omfattning. Ytor för parkeringsplatser finns och kan planeras. Kollektivtrafik och tillgänglighet från vägnät finns. I stort sett samma förutsättningar finns som gjordes i samband med tänkt placering vid Södra Frihamnspiren.

Om fartyget läggs vid byggnad 113 så torde påseglingsrisken vara minimal. Beroende på vad som kommer att ske med byggnad 113 så kan entré med hissar mm antingen anläggas mellan byggnaden och fartyget eller så kan man eventuellt använda delar av byggnad 113 som entré med gångbro.

I området på Norra Älvstranden finns idag inget hotell. Ett flertal företag är idag etablerade i området och man kan anta att det finns ett behov av hotell, konferens och restauranger i området. Någon speciell hotelletableringsutredning har inte gjorts för Norra Frihamnen men samtal har förts med hotellkonsulten Hans Åke Petersson som i allmänna ordalag är positiv till en hotelletablering av denna typ.

 

Politik och ekonomi

Mot bakgrund av de ekonomiska intressen och den konkurrenssituation som råder om ytor i attraktiva lägen antar jag att frågan måste bli föremål för ett politiskt beslut.

Vill staden ha ett av världens vackraste kryssningsfartyg som eventhotell och landmärke i Göteborg, måste en viljeyttring till som gör att ett fortsatt arbete på ett tillfälligt bygglov kan påbörjas snarast.

Vill stadens politiker inte ha M/S Kungsholm till Göteborg under förutsättningar enligt ovan så bör Top Industri AB också få ett snart besked därom.

Lars Hallgren

 Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.


Updated January 30, 2008

Rädda Kungsholm!

Skriv till politikerna i Göteborg och framför din mening!

bmr@stadshuset.goteborg.se
Attention: Göran Johansson, Kommunfullmäktiges ordförande.



Updated March 12, 2008

Debattartikel om Kungsholm

I tidningen Goda Nyheter skriver skeppsredare Michael Kjellberg att Kungsholm skulle ge nytt liv åt hamnen i Göteborg.



The Kungsholm of 1966

Updated January 30, 2008

The Kungsholm Hotel Plans

Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren has signed a letter of intent with Leonardo Shipping, Greece, to acquire The Scholar Ship, (ex KUNGSHOLM of 1966), in 2010. The ship is to be docked in Gothenburg, Sweden, as a hotel, restaurant, and maritime museum. The two funnels with the Swedish American Line symbol, and the aft mast will be restored. Leading politicians of the City of Göteborg have assured Mr Hallgren of political support for the project.

Since then Mr Hallgren has inspected the ship accompanied by a team of engineers and naval officers. The technical part of the project has not presented any major problems so far - the biggest challenge is the ventilation system on board, which does not comply with Swedish hotel regulations. However, that can be fixed.

Although the politicians in Gothenburg are positive towards the project, the three municipal companies that control the harbor are not interested. The KUNGSHOLM would interfere with their future projects for the harbor, such as condo developments, facilities for visiting cruise ships, etc. So there is a need for political decisionmaking to force these companies to cooperate with the KUNGSHOLM project. Why hasn't that decision been made? The municipal companies are independent profit making entities. Issuing a decree would most likely involve tax funding.

Mr Hallgren has raised the necessary funding to acquire and operate the ship as a hotel, but construction work needs to be done ashore, for roads, parking, sanitation systems, etcetera.

Now is the time for all good men, and women, to write to the politicians in Gothenburg to show that there is an international opinion to save the KUNGSHOLM, and that the ship would be a unique tourist attraction in the harbor. Gothenburg has a long and proud maritime tradition, there are several old ships in the harbor, so there is a deep understanding of maritime history in the city. They just need a few pushes.

Please send an email to the politicians stating your personal views on this matter:
bmr@stadshuset.goteborg.se
Attention: Mr Göran Johansson, Chairman of the City Council.

Lars Hemingstam
Webmaster

Read more about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.



Updated March 15, 2008

Cruise Memories 1962 - 73

Robert Neilson of Fort Lauderdale, FL, sailed on SAL ships across the oceans for months at a time,  continuously from 1962 -73, aged 9-20. He became a close friend of Captain Carl-Otto Wijkmark, Captain Per-Erik Sjölin, and Mr Jack Fraser of the SAL Office in New York City.

Mr Neilson has kindly offered to share his personal memories of these cruises. The texts have been compiled from several emails written in 2008.



Updated March 2, 2008

Passenger Area

A new page called the Passenger Area ha been added. This is the area where you will find links to the contributions from the SAL Passengers, their memories and photos from cruises and Atlantic crossings.



Updated March 3, 2008

Photos of Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm

Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, visited Gothenburg in September of 2006. Photos from that visit are posted on Göteborgs-Posten's website.
Thanks to Lennart Angelmo for this news.

Read about the plans to convert the Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg.

Mona Lisa will be back in 2008

Lord Nelson-Seereisen will operate the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, during the summer of 2008, from May 1 to August 31, for cruises in Northern Europe. See the itineraries here.


Recommended Books

M/S Kungsholms inredning
Ett mästerverk i svensk
art deco

Anne Marie Ericsson

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.

Köp boken här

Amerikabåtarna
Från emigranter till miljonärer

Christer Winberg

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.

Köp boken här

 

Andrea Dorias undergång
Britt-Marie Mattsson

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.

Köp boken här



SAL enthusiast Bob Zeschin has recommended
Kungsholm - Europa - Columbus C
by Nico Guns

A book about the Kungsholm of 1953.
Primarily Dutch text, but with English language insertions, captions and a full summary at the end of the book.


Journalist Per Fält has recommended
The Grand Cruise by Cecil Roberts, published in 1963. It tells the story of an Around The World Cruise on the Kungsholm of 1953. The book can from time to time be found on eBay.


"Såna" på Amerikabåtarna
Arne Nilsson

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.

Köp boken här


De Flytande Palatsen
The White Viking Fleet
Algot Mattsson

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.


Huset Broström
Algot Mattsson

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.


Vägen mot Väster
Algot Mattsson

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


Out of the Fog
Algot Mattsson

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.


Updated February 18, 2008

Artikel om Kungsholm i Göteborgs-Posten

En artikel i GP idag, den 18:e februari, informerar om det senaste i turerna kring planerna för Kungsholm som hotell i Göteborg.

Skriv en kommentar på tidningens webbplats!

Tack till Lennart Angelmo för detta tips.


Updated February 11, 2008

Omröstning

En omröstning har startats på diskussionsforumet salship hos Yahoo Groups.

Gå med i gruppen och lägg din röst här.


Updated February 10, 2008

New SAL Discussion Forum

A discussion forum has been started at Yahoo Groups. Everyone can read the discussions, but to write an entry, you have to create a Yahoo account. It only takes a minute to create an account, and it is free.

You can write comments about the Kungsholm hotel plans, ask questions about SAL, and reply to questions from other members.

The name of the group is salship. Find the discussion group here.

Click here to join salship
Click to join salship

 



Updated February 4, 2008

Request for help

An American author would like to know the nautical distance from Lisboa, Portugal, around Africa to Goa, India. Please email salship@yahoo.com



Updated January 30, 2008


The Swedish travel magazine ResFlex (#1, 2008)
features an article about the Kungsholm hotel plans.

Läs artikeln här

Read more about the hotel plans for Kungsholm here.


Updated January 30, 2008

Save the Kungsholm

SAL enthusiast L-O-Rydén has started a group on Facebook to save the Kungsholm.

Join here:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6929343235&ref=share




Updated January 30, 2008

När hotellplanerna för Gripsholm grusades 2001

Resebyråmannen Tommy Asklund har skrivit ett brev om hur det gick till när planerna att göra Gripsholm till hotell i Stockholm stoppades av en liten grupp motståndare år 2001.

Läs brevet här.

Kommentar av Lars Hemingstam:
Jag var närvarande vid ett möte 2001 mellan motståndarna och representanter för Stockholms Hamn och politiker från Stockholms Stadshus. En ung arkitekt visade en tecknad nidbild där Gripsholm framstod som en grå betongkloss som skulle skymma hela utsikten över Stockholms Ström från Fjällgatan. Så lyckades motståndarna förhala beslutet medan Gripsholm bogserades mot sin undergång.

Read about Gripsholm's final voyage in 2001




Updated January 14, 2008

Chief Purser Hugo Billén

A new page has been created about
Chief Purser Hugo Billén.


Updated January 14, 2008

Midsummer on the Kungsholm

Thomasine in Norway has sent us photos from a
Midsummer celebration
on the Kungsholm in 1974.


Updated January 13, 2008

Photos from the WW2 Exchange Voyages

David W Smith has contributed unique pictures of the Gripsholm's exchange voyages during World War 2. View them here.

Read more about the repatriation and exchange voyages here.


Updated January 13, 2008

Kungsholms sista resa

Befälet på Kungsholms sista resa 1975 har identifierats. Läs mer här.



Updated December 7, 2007

Artikel om Kungsholm i GP

I Göteborgs-Posten den 7:e december, finns en artikel om hotellplanerna för MS Kungsholm.
Tack till Lennart Angelmo för detta tips.
Länk till artikeln

Läs mer om planerna att göra Kungsholm till hotell i Göteborg.


Updated December 2, 2007

The Architect's Vision

Early in 2007 Claes Feder, the architect behind the Kungsholm of 1966, made this "new" design for the ship. His vision was to turn the Kungsholm into a vintage cruise ship for the upscale cruise market. Read more here.

Updated December 2, 2007

War Bride on the Gripsholm

Denise has contributed photos from her mother's voyage to America as a war bride. Berthe Jardon, from Verviers, Belgium, came over on the M.S. Gripsholm in 1947.  She met Denise's father during WWII, waited, wrote letters, and then bravely sailed over alone. The photos are posted on the Gripsholm of 1925 page. Denise would like to get in touch with other passengers on that voyage, with arrival in New York on January 11th, 1947. Write to: salship@yahoo.com



Updated December 1, 2007

A New Page About the Lindblad Explorer
Archive photo by Hanna Owen

A new page has been created about the Lindblad Explorer, featuring the ship's background and deck plan.

Liberian flagged MV Explorer, ex Lindblad Explorer, sank in the Antarctic Ocean (Nov 23, local time), after colliding with an ice floe. An ice floe is a floating chunk of sea ice that is less than 10 kilometers (six miles) in its greatest dimension. (Wikipedia.) The ice was sharp enough to pierce the hull, and make a hole the size of a fist. Water came pouring in, and after some time the electric power for the pumps failed. The Lindblad Explorer was once owned by a company affiliated to SAL.

All 100 passengers and 54 crew were picked up by the Norwegian ship Nordnorge, one of the Hurtigruten ships. See photos from Nordnorge.



Bridge & Crew Pages Updated

A chart showing the ships' on board organization in 1959, and news about officers' appointments in 1957 and 1966, have been added to the Bridge & Crew Page.

 


The Stockholm in peril in 1920

Bearing in mind the fate of the Lindblad Explorer, Örjan Slätte, former Information Officer on the Gripsholm, reminds us that the Stockholm of 1915 was halted by ice and close to sinking on a return trip from New York in 1920. He wants to commend the crew which was able to save the ship, just eight years after the Titanic sank. The polar ice is as hard as granite, and can't be compared, for example, to ice in the Baltic Sea.



Updated November 20, 2007

News about the Kungsholm hotel plans

Mr Lars G Hallgren, the initiator of the project to convert MS Kungsholm into a hotel in Gothenburg in 2010, has informed us of the following: Because of proposed new building plans for the Free Harbor, other sites for the Kungsholm will be investigated. Alternate sites could be the northern pier of the Free Harbor, or Stigbergskajen, west of where the SAL ships docked 1915 - 1975.

Read more about the project here.


Återbesök på Kungsholm

Sven Hovne, f d hyttnisse, däckstewardsbiträde och nattsteward i MS Kungsholm samt däcksuppassare i MS Gripsholm, berättar om ett återbesök ombord.

 


Welcome aboard!
Welcome to this tribute to the Swedish American Line.
The Swedish American Line meant so much to so many people. SAL played an important part connecting Scandinavia and America during the 20th century, before the days of air travel. Up to the mid 1960's the passengers on the company's ships were emigrants, businessmen, and tourists from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Whenever you wanted to send a letter or package from Sweden to USA or Canada, it was important, especially at Christmas time, to know when the next SAL ship would sail from Göteborg. During the 1960's and 70's, the cruise sailings, which had started as early as in the 1920's, took over more and more.

Since 1998, when this site was launched, many friends of SAL, especially former crew members, have contributed information and pictures to make the nearly 100 pages possible. There is still a great deal of information waiting to be published. We all hope you will enjoy these memories of The White Viking Fleet and all "the happy ships, with the happy crew".
Lars Hemingstam
Webmaster
salship@yahoo.com


Donations
Maintaining this website since 1998 has been enjoyable and rewarding, through all the correspondence and friends I have obtained throughout the years. Although it is time consuming and there are some expenses involved, I intend to keep up the work for many more years to come. There are generations growing up who are very interested in finding information about their relatives' experience on board these ships. Any contribution to the development and maintenance of this site is welcome.

Bidrag
Att sköta dessa webbsidor sedan 1998 har varit roligt och berikande, genom all den korrespondens och vänner jag har fått genom åren. Även om det går åt mycket tid och innebär en del kostnader, tänker jag fortsätta i många år till. Nya generationer växer upp som vill veta mer om sina släktingars liv ombord på fartygen. Alla bidrag till utveckling och underhåll av webbsidorna välkomnas. Bidrag genom PAYSON.




A Champ On Board

Ingemar "Ingo" Johansson won the World Heavy Weight Championship fight vs. Floyd Patterson at Yankee Stadium on June 25, 1959, New York time (Swedish records often say June 26). Ingo and his fiancée Birgit Lundgren visited the Gripsholm at Pier 97.

Johansson, a native son of Göteborg, said:
"Being on board the Swedish American Line's beautiful ship is like feeling a breeze from my home town."
SAL-Nytt, Aug, 1959
From the Dawe collection

Johansson winning the heavy weight title was a big event for Swedes all over the world.

My father, Tage Hemingstam, born in Jonsered, a suburb of Göteborg, watched the fight being broadcasted live in a theater in Chicago, IL.
- Lars Hemingstam, Webmaster


Soccer Champions


The Kungsholm's soccer team won the Atlantic Cup in 1958.
SAL-Nytt, aug, 1959




Observation made by Chicago Sun-Times
Travel Editor, Wade Franklin, February 6,1966.
The Gripsholm world cruise lasted 88 days.


SAL Advertisement

A SAL ad from 1956 has been added.
From the Dawe collection.



A mysterious woman in an officer's cabin.
Who could it be?
Photo from the Curt Dawe collection

 


The Scholar Ship - ex Kungsholm

See a slideshow of life on board the Scholar Ship, ex Kungsholm.
(Scroll down the page to see the slideshow.)

Also, read about the future plans for the Kungsholm.


Mona Lisa will be back in 2008

Lord Nelson-Seereisen will operate the Mona Lisa, ex Kungsholm, during the summer of 2008, from May 1 to August 31, for cruises in Northern Europe. See the itineraries here.


More Folk Dance Photos added

A new page with photos of SAL's Folk Dance Teams
from the Curt Dawe collection has been added.



Pier 97 in New York City -
The Hudson River Park

Pier 97 at the end of West 57th Street, where the SAL ships docked, has for many years been a parking site for garbage trucks. It is now going to be restored and will be used primarily for active recreation and historic ships. Unfortunately, the building on the pier will not be reconstructed. The Hudson River Park Trust, a partnership between New York State and City is charged with the design, construction and operation of the five-mile Hudson River Park.Read more here. Also read about the Friends of Hudson River Park.

Pier 97


A new page has been created about Pier 97 in New York.

 


Drottningholm in NYC in 1940

See a film clip of the Drottningholm arriving in NY Harbor in 1940. The ship carried Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn (1880-1950), the Lubavitcher Rebbe, to freedom from war torn Europe. The film clip is from Lubavitch archives. Many thanks to David Shatz for contributing this link. Read about a "March of Time" clip further below on this page.

Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.


SAL Offices in 1968

A list of all the SAL offices in 1968
has been added to the About SAL page.


New updates to the Voyage of Mercy
The story of Floyd Randall Riebling, RN & MA
Registered Nurse on the Gripsholm in 1944
Spies on the Gripsholm?
Eugene Floyd Riebling has contributed additions concerning the event on September 11, 1944, when the Gripsholm was boarded by the German Navy and crewman Erik Schmidt-Hansen was abducted.
Read more about all the exchange and repatriation sailings during WWII here.


Returning Allied POWs on the Gripsholm, 26 Sept 1944. National Archives Photo

Many thanks to Eugene Floyd Riebling of Tucson, AZ,
for the permission to publish his father's story.


Gripsholm in NYC in 1944
Watch a video of the Gripsholm as a repatriation ship,
arriving in New York in 1944

The Gripsholm appears in the second part of the newsreel, from the US National Archives.




Göran Forsén, 3rd Engineer 1959-60 on the Kungsholm of 1953,
has contributed photos, and a story (in Swedish).




Parts of the deck plan of the Third Class accommodation
on the Kungsholm of 1928 have been added.




Several new images have been
added to the Kungsholm of 1953 page.



Several new images have been added to the Stockholm page.
Soili Lindholm, passenger on the Stockholm on July 25, 1956,
has kindly contributed photos from the voyage.


Program sheet for The Kungsholm follies, October 20, 1938,
a show performed by passengers and cruise staff.
This program has been added to the Kungsholm of 1928 page.
Reunion Memories

A new page has been created about SAL Reunions.


More SAL advertisements from 1922 to 1925 have been added


Dance Instructors


A bio of SAL dance instructors Marlene and Michael Pekala
has been added to the Entertainers' Page.


More Kungsholm Memories in Print


More memories of Kungsholm cruises have been contributed by Gary McDonough.


Film clip showing Drottningholm arriving in NYC

A link to a "March of Time" film clip, showing the Drottningholm arriving in the U.S. in 1942 with diplomatic officers leaving Axis nations, has been added to the Drottningholm page. The link connects to the Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive at USHM.
Many thanks to Susan Pentlin for this tip.


Gripsholm in Stockholm 1975

Richard Jacob has recently contributed
a high resolution image of
the Gripsholm in Stockholm 1975


Kungsholm Visiting Stockholm 1975

Great new photos of
Kungsholm in Stockholm 1975
contributed by Richard Jacob


Gripsholm Photos

Carl-Gustaf Edhardt has contributed new images from
the Gripsholm Around the World Cruise 1966


New Photos

During the recent weeks, we have received several photos from passengers and crew members of the SAL fleet. The pictures have been added to the corresponding pages on this site.
You will find the links below. Many thanks to all of these contributors.


Sven Fürst, Cashier on the Gripsholm
1966-1968, has sent us these photos
from the Gripsholm World Cruise 1966.



Ingrid Bergman visits the Gripsholm


The Folk Dance Team 1966


Ed Murphy, passenger on the Kungsholm,
has contributed photos from a
Caribbean Cruise in 1935.


Birthday party


Kungsholm visiting Curacao


Sean Fisher has contributed
photos of the Drottningholm,
from his great grandfather's
voyages from USA to Denmark.

Fred Claessen maintains a website about
cruise ships that he has traveled on,
and has sent us this photo of the Gripsholm.



From Kungsholm to Götheborg

Bengt-Göran Nilsson with visitor on board the Götheborg

Bengt-Göran Nilsson is now the Chief Engineer on the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg, on her way back to Sweden from China. Bengt-Göran served his first time as a 2nd engineer on the MS Kungsholm's maiden voyage in 1966.

Bengt-Göran has been at home in Sweden for a short visit, and is now flying to China to represent Götheborg at a tea-festival. On April 15, he will join the ship in Nice, France, for the last two legs of the voyage to Gothenburg, via London. The Götheborg is planned to arrive in Gothenburg on June 9.

Read more about the Götheborg

Many thanks to Bengt-Göran Nilsson for these photos.



Drottningholm and Gripsholm During WW2
During World War 2 Drottningholm and Gripsholm were used
as exchange ships and made 33 voyages to exchange prisoners of war,
diplomats, women and children, between the warfaring nations.

There is a growing interest in the exchange voyages. I receive many emails from relatives of the passengers, and there are several entries in the guestbook on this subject. If you have information or stories about these voyages, I will be very honored to publish them on the website.


Read about the exchange voyages here.


OFFICIAL U.S. NAVY PHOTO
Many thanks to Susan Pentlin for contributing this photo.

 


Vintage SAL Movie Clips Online
SVT, Swedish Television, has made public several vintage film clips showing KUNGSHOLM and GRIPSHOLM cruises. Among other scenes, there are great views of the NYC harbor, as well as amusing on board scenes from a cruise during the prohibition.

The online instructions are in Swedish. Select anyone of the red links in the righthand table. By clicking on "Extern spelare" above the small display screen, the clips can be viewed full screen in an external player, such as Windows Media Player or Real Player. If you have any questions concerning how to view the clips, don't hesitate to send me an email to
salship@yahoo.com Many thanks to Jan Leonard for this tip!

Click here to view the movie clips

 


Restaurants

Many of the Swedish American Line chefs and cooks now have their own restaurants.
Here are some examples:
Jimmy's Marina & Steakhouse, Stockholm
Sepp & Ulrike Zirngast, Camping Gasthof Restaurant Austria

Gripsholm home page

Gert Pedersen has made a home page about the Gripsholm 1968-69,
with many interesting photos.



Other sites with information about SAL:s ships

This site is not about refurbishings, altered doorways, or funnel colors. The purpose of the site is primarily to describe the life and people on board the "White Viking Fleet" - the emigrants, the tourists, and the business passengers who crossed the stormy North Atlantic to reach America, - and the cruise members, sailing smoothly from port to port in a world of luxury, many of them coming back for a new cruise, time and time again. And, of course the crew, who worked and lived on the ships for months and years - in some cases decades - regarding them as their homes.

For a more detailed technical description of the ships, however, we recommend the following fine sites:
Kommandobryggan, which also features a fleetlist, and photos of SAL's freighters,
Fakta om fartyg,
and The Great Ocean Liners.






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News
Oct 15
Kjell Smitterberg
Commander

Claes Feder
Architect &
Ship Designer

C-O Claesson
On the Bridge
1923-55
Maurits and Anna-Greta Lindblad
Ship's Doctor and Nurse
               
 
Nils Haggård
Gripsholm and Kungsholm
Third Officer Inter

Lars Helmer
Second Engineer
Göran Forsén
3rd Engineer
Leif Vickberg Officer's Apprentice
About SAL
& SAL Timeline
About Us
Life as a Crew Member
Torsten Torstensson's webpage about the Swedish American Line   Exchange and
Repatriation Voyages
During WWII
Rune Dahlstrand
Gripsholm Barber
During WWII

Torkel Tistrand
Sea Personnel Manager
Sune Edensvärd Chief Radio Officer Bridge & Crew Page

Reunions

Curt Dawe
Chief Purser
Carl-Gustav Kruse
Chief Purser
Hugo Bilén
Chief Purser
Evert Eriksson
Chief Purser
Poul V Lange
Chief Purser
Lennart Angelmo
Second Purser
Jörgen Areskough
Second Purser
Ingvar Torstensson
Second Purser
T Odenlund Cashier L-E Jansson
Information Officer
Asko Salkola
Purser's Office
Stigbergskajen
Göteborg
Pier 97,
New York
The SAL Office in New York The SAL Office in
Chicago
David Chisling
Cruise Staff
Hanna Owen
Singer
Anita Poli Olsson
NK Shop
Anthony Bloomfield
Photographer
The Entertainers
Dining Room Menues   Stig Lundgren
Chief Steward
Gerhard Kummer
Chief Steward
C-G Quant
Chief Steward
Volker Roloff
Chief Steward
Ingwar Gemzell & Rolf Mayer

 

Karl-Gunnar Johansson
"Kalle-Kli"
Bartender

Karl-Gösta Ekblad
”Kalle Tårta”Baker,
Col Buffet Manager

 
 
Franz Havranek
Wine Steward
Juan Martinez
Waiter
Patrick Zeller
Waiter
Gustav Weber Petterson
Waiter

Otto Friedrich, Cabin Steward

Lars Warlin
Assistant Waiter
Tommy Stark
Deck Waiter
Hans "Hasse" Gustafsson
Deck Waiter
C-G Edhardt
Assistant
Deck Steward
Johan Jarekull
Hyttnisse, Assistant Deck Steward
Håkan Askman
Assistant
Deck Steward
Björn Wallde
Crew member
Claes Lindstrom
Crew membe
 
B-G Nilson
and the
SAL Freighters
  Anna Karin
Lundström
Nurse


Berit Jacobsson (Svensson)
"Babs"
Beautician

Lene Mikkelsen
Beautician
The Women of SAL Lois MacNeil
Stewardess
Lis Brokmose
Stewardess
     
The Tenders SAL Ads SAL Trivia
FAQ News
Archive
        SAL Literature Home          
.
The Passenger Area
    The Hemingstam
Family, Gripsholm and Kungsholm
The Lindholm Family,
Stockholm
The McDonough Family,
Kungsholm
The Neilson
Family, Gripsholm and
Kungsholm
The Sandholm Family,
Gripsholm
The Storck-Petersen Family,
Gripsholm and
Kungsholm

Clive Harvey,
Passenger in the Post-SAL Era
Passenger
Database
 
.

More than 250 web pages developed and maintained by Lars Hemingstam ©1998-2023
Hasse Gustafsson and Tommy Stark have interviewed crew members and contributed many of the stories.

Email us

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The New SAL Guestbook

Since the new guestbook can take some time loading, it has been moved to a separate page, and is not being displayed at the bottom of every page.

Read the new guestbook here.