MV Astoria

Stockholm as built

She was ordered in 1944, and launched 9 September 1946, as Stockholm by Götaverken in Gothenburg for the Swedish America Line (SAL). She was the fourth ship named Stockholm for Swedish American Line, but the second of the four to actually sail under the name. (See: MS Stockholm (1941)) Proceeds from the sale of the Stockholm III to the Italians were used to finance the construction of the ship. [4] The ship was designed by the established Swedish American Line designer, Eric Christiansson, who worked as the technical director at parent company Broström.[4]

At 525 feet (160.02 m) with a gross register tonnage of 12,165 register tons, Stockholm was the smallest passenger ship operating on the North Atlantic route at the time.[5] However, she was the largest passenger ship built in Sweden at the time, with the largest diesel propulsion unit ever built in Sweden.[6] Originally designed to carry a total of 395 passengers, divided between first and tourist class, and a cargo capacity of 3,000 tons. Interiors were completed by some of the best known Swedish artist, including Kurt Jungstedt.[7] When delivered, the ship would replace the aging SS Drottingholm, and run an alternating transatlantic service with the MS Gripsholm.[6]She made her maiden voyage in February 21, 1948, under the command of captain Waldemar Jonsson, from Gothenburg arriving in New York on March 1.[8]

Model of MS Stockholm, displayed at Sjöhistoriska Museet in Stockholm

The Stockholm would continue to sail the transatlantic route, later joined by the new MS Kungsholm(1952). A 1953 refit expanded Stockholm's capacity to 548 people by infilling the outdoor aft and forward end of "A" Deck with passenger cabins. Due to the small size, and not handling the North Atlantic seas very well during the colder months, the Swedish American Line scheduled it on occasional cruises starting in 1953 out of Morehead City, North Carolina cruising to Havana, Nassau, and Bermuda. [9] A later refit in 1956/57 added a cinema to the deck forward end of the main superstructure, and an outdoor pool aft.

With both the MS Kungsholm and new MS Gripsholm(1957) sailing, the smaller Stockholm was started to be seen as too small and not meeting the current standards of the line. The ship was sold in May 1959, to at the time, an unidentified German company. The ship would finish out the year sailing with Swedish American Line to New York, before being transferred in 1960 to the new company.[10]

26 July 1956: After colliding with Andrea Doria, Stockholm with severely damaged prow, heads to New York.

Damaged MS Stockholm entering port of New York

Damaged bell from the bow of the m/s Stockholm, salvaged from the wreck of the Andrea Doria and currently displayed onboard the Astoria

On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 pm, in heavy fog in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, Stockholm and Andrea Doria of the Italian Line collided in what was to become one of history's most notorious maritime disasters.[11]

Although most passengers and crew survived the collision, the larger Andrea Doria luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. Owing to the collision, 50% of Andrea Doria's lifeboats were unusable. However, a number of ships, including the SS Ile de France, responded and provided assistance, which averted a massive loss of life.[12]

Five members of Stockholm's crew were killed instantly, and several more were trapped in the wrecked bow. Despite its having lost about 3 ft (0.9 m) of freeboard, the crippled Stockholm helped in the rescue and ended up carrying 327 passengers and 245 crew members from Andrea Doria, in addition to her own passengers and crew.[13]

After the ships had separated, as Stockholm crew members were beginning to survey the damage, a miraculous discovery was made. On the top deck of Stockholm, one of the crew came across Linda Morgan, who had been thrown from her bed on Andrea Doria as the two ships collided and landed on Stockholm's deck, suffering moderate but not life-threatening injuries.

After Andrea Doria sank, Stockholm sailed to New York City under her own power and arrived on July 27. There, the crushed bow portion was repaired at a cost of US$1 million three months later at Bethlehem Shipyard in Brooklyn, NY.[14]

An inquiry followed the events, with a settlement reached after 6 months between the Italian Line and Swedish American Line.

The ship in 1961, sailing as Völkerfreundschaft

On 3 January 1960, Stockholm was transferred to the East German government, which renamed the ship Völkerfreundschaft ("friendship between nations") operating under the line Deutsche Seereederei (German Shipping Company), a precursor to Aida Cruises.

The Völkerfreundschaft made its new maiden voyage on February 23, 1960, and was home-ported in Rostock, Germany eventually operating in tandem with the newly built Fritz Heckert. [15] When the Berlin wall went up in 1961, all ports were restricted to communist countries only, which greatly limited its routes. The ship made trips to Cuba, and would be one of the two ships that was en route to Havana during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where it was suspiciously watched by U.S. military planes and vessels.[15] The ship was already halfway to Havana, and it was necessary to continue to resupply and refuel, before quickly turning around back to East Germany.

In 1964 the ship was put under the management of the Free German Trade Union Federation, but would be chartered out to western European countries for a majority of the year. This would be expanded in 1967, with Stena Line chartering the ship for Swedish passengers for half of the year, doing within annually until the ship was sold in 1985.[16]

In 1985 she was transferred to a Panamanian company, Neptunas Rex Enterprises. Her name was reduced to Volker, and by the end of the year she was laid up in Southampton, England. In 1985 the ship was renamed Fridtjof Nansen was later used as a barracks ship in Oslo for asylum seekers in Norway.

Conversion into a cruise ship at a Genoa shipyard in 1993

As Italia Prima In Genova, Italy, in 1994

In 1989 the ex-Stockholm was officially sold to the Italian Star Lauro Lines who intended to convert the liner into a luxury cruise ship. The ship was still under charter as the Fridtjof Nansen, so it remained in Oslo until 1993.

The ship was towed to a shipyard in Genoa, Italy, Andrea Doria's home port; but when she arrived, the press called ex-Stockholm the "ship of death" (La nave della morte) due to the collision with Andrea Doria.[17] It was discovered that the ex-Stockholm was in a very good condition. She was completely gutted on the interior, and rebuilt from the promenade deck up. A new diesel engine was installed, and a new bridge was built, extending the super structure forward. The aft decks were built up, giving it a more modern cruise ship profile. A large ducktail was added that significantly altered the stern appearance.

Although not very recognizable from her original appearance as the Stockholm; many elements such as the bow & anchor, hull window arrangement, passenger lifts and stair locations, and the distinct double porthole dining room windows, are all relics still visible from the original Stockholm design.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IMO 5383304.

• Film: MS Stockholm Maiden Voyage
• Tribute to Swedish American Line
• Classic International Cruises' page on Athena
• Goldberg, Mark H. (2002). Ship Profile - MS Caribe
• The Great Ocean Liners MS Stockholm. Ljungström, Henrik. Stockholm.
• ssMaritime: MS Stockholm Ship History
• MV Athena
• Film: 1964 Documentary “Survival! Andrea Doria”