SS AQUARAMA: QUEEN OF THE GREAT LAKES. - a Harrison Engle film (2021)
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- čas přidán 17. 02. 2021
- A tribute to the famed luxury ship S.S. AQUARAMA, which sped passengers across Lake Erie, between Detroit and Cleveland, in the 1950s and '60s. Directed by Harrison Engle, whose father was a g.m. of the line. Special thanks to Patrick McKee and to Sand Products Corp., builder of the AQUARAMA. 13 minutes. www.harrisonengle.com
- Krátké a kreslené filmy
What wonderful machines we used to build.
I experienced a trip on the ship from Cleveland to Detroit, as a 9 year old in 1959. We took our car with us. As a kid, it was a trip I never will forget. Living in Cleveland, it would be nice to have a service like that again!
I remember as a 9 year old taking a voyage on the Aquarama with my parents going from Detroit to Cleveland. We had a 1959 Galaxie convertable that we brought back from Detroit as we had just purchased it. We had the opportunity to take a cruise on the ship and it was very exciting. I learned how to play shuffleboard on the ship with a number of other young people traveling with their parents. I was a wonderful trip and I always wanted to do it again, but sadly we never had the change to repeat the adventure. It was a trip I have never forgotten. I am so happy that this video was produced to remind us of the great times we had back then and how sad those days are long gone.
During summer break from college I worked on the Milwaukee Clipper (1967 &1968 - in the engine dept.) which was docked next to the Aquarama at the Mart dock in Muskegon Michigan. I remember looking at the stern of the Aquarama and thinking how Aquarama was much bigger than the Clipper, which it was (The Clipper was 360 feet in length) . There were stories going around at that time saying the Aquarama was going to replace the Clipper in the route from Muskegon to Milwaukee. It never happened and she was towed to Turkey and scrapped.
My girlfriend Maureen Thatcher and I (two Windsor girls) had the pleasure of sailing from Detroit to Cleveland and back on the Aquarama in July 1959. It was a delightful cruise and we enjoyed a fun-filled new adventure. We were young and single and very impressed with all the amenities the ship had to offer. It is a cherished memory to look back on. Thank you for The S.S. Milwaukee Clipper Story. Mary Boldizar Jacko.
I sailed on the AQUARAMA in 1961 or 1962 as a child. We went from Cleveland to Detroit and took our 1957 Ford Ranch Wagon with us on the ship. Visited relatives in MI then drove back home. I remember going to the play room that had a ship's wheel in the middle of the room. I still have the gold metal pin that I got that day that is the profile of the ship with SS AQUARAMA in red like the one at minute 10:00
Streamline moderne? That’s almost an understatement. This looks like the 1950s-est thing I’ve ever seen. Fallout games would kill for the vibe this thing puts out.
Drove up from Columbus Ohio to catch an early morning sailing from Celeveland to Detroit. I was 11 or 12, I think. This brings back memories.
I was there in 1987 when she left Muskegon. We thought she was going to be refurbished and brought back as a hotel or floating casino or something like that. So sad that she ended up scrapped.
Never heard of her but by gosh she looked so much fun and elegant. And her passengers seemed to be having the time of their lives as the crew one big family. That looked a real golden summer of travel. Andy from Melbourne, Australia.
Neither have I, and I grew up on The Great Lakes.
My parents took us for a cruise down the Detroit River in 1961. I still have fond memories. Thanks for a great video.
Thank you for the time capsule. Just imagining my grandparents taking a cruise on this.
I am not a Lake boat guy but have been watching videos on these boats and it brings the same nostalgic feeling, and it is different one of old sailing ship made of wood, what a wonderful career, than a boat like this that existed in my life, sure it was worn out, but that makes me sad nostalgically. We should preserve some of these ships, the SS United Staes for one.
Seeing the sketches of couples sailing reminded me of my Dear Grampa an Gramma sailing to Havana. They always dressed so nice going out, anytime, not just for church ..my , my that was in the 50's when we were little kids. The Visa to Cuba was 2.50 for one passport an Grampa said well we're gonna break the bank. Just so enjoy everyones' work an time compiling all the different videos'.....Merry Christmas
A book is in the works.
I vaguely remember sailing on the Aquarama as a kid. I was probably around 5 or 6 years old. The story goes that I was running around playing up on deck and ran into another little girl, hitting our heads together. Apparently I was rather sick for the rest of the cruise. I'm sure it was only a day trip out of Cleveland. I still have a felt pennant souvenir and a letter opener. Thanks for this memory.
Mr. Engle! Thank you so so much, as you have given me a beautiful 2023 New Years Day present with my having discovered your outstanding 2021 production in gathering so many of the historic photos and films of the Aquarama! I went on this ship many times as a young lad with my Mom and family members. I went on to have a love for the Sea and Ships and Maritime Industry because of this Ship. And even at one point I was working with a group trying to purchase the ship for a Christian Education Semester at Sea college for credit program. when it was in Buffalo, however I did not manage to get the support necessary, and admittedly, that was a realm
I was not connected to. Seeing your videos and pictures, now finally I can share the story of the Aquarama and people will believe me! This Ship was real! Yu did a fantastic job in making the Aquarama unforgettable. Thank you so so much!
What a beautiful ship; her lines, her design, her career. What a lovely presentation of a great ship and I could really feel the love for this magnificent vessel.
WOW - I remember seeing Aquarama docked facing inland in Windsor, Ontario, Canada in the early to mid ninety ninties, when my parents and I crossed the bridge to watch the Freedom Festival Fireworks. She was there for a few years...I knew the origins and history of the ship before, but forgot until I saw this very impressive video. The drivers and theisr cars entering the ship, wow - it looks like they all had a great time! I did read years ago Aquarama was scrapped, sadly..
Great tribute to a grand vassal of a by gone era.
This ship design is beautiful and sleek
Nice video! I remember seeing AQUARAMA docked in the Buffalo area for many years. She was in a slip clearly seen from where Hwy 5 meets Tifft St., just south of the Tifft Preserve, along the Lake Erie shore just south of Buffalo. She sat there for years, right beside a large silo. She was eventually towed down the Welland Canal in July 2007 on her way to Turkey, where she was scrapped later that year.
I remember when the ship was scrapped. It was an unfortunate and unnecessary loss.
And it's surprising that an old WW II era C4 could be made this elegant and good looking.
I remember seeing this unique and spectacular looking vessel from the deck of the Fjell-Oranje Lijn passenger-cargo liner, ss Prinses Irene aboard which my family made a voyage from Chicago to Montreal in the summer of 1961. The ship stopped at Sarnia ON, Detroit and Cleveland before transiting the Welland Canal to the St. Lawrence Seaway. Whiled docked in Cleveland, I watched the Aquarama cast off from the pier and set sail on her lake voyage.
Merry Christmas Greetings Mr. Engle. I was watching this again, and can't thank you too much for what you have accomplished here, all in one video. This Ship changes my life. Even today,. I am starting a Marine Ministry with others from Ohio, based in Florida. Having been on the ship as a young child, and then just driving down the highway in Buffalo, seeing the Aquarama was surreal, just sitting there. At the time, I was working on a Mercy Ship the Caribbean Mercy that was in Buffalo, on a Great Lakes Tour stop. I would not have ever served with Mercy Ships, nor received my Masters License, were it not for my Mom taking mw on the Aquarama. They had to pull me off of th e ship crying LOL, so bad, I just did not want to leave : )
Beautifully done with perfect music! Sure makes you long for those days.
Always remember seeing this ship docked in Buffalo next to one of the massive grain elevators on the lakeshore for the longest time growing up, then one day gone. The area still looks weird without it there all these years later
Good job!
👍👊😎
Well when it was docked in Buffalo they had decided to turn it into a casino cruise but naturally the businessman in my lovely town I decided against it cuz they would take business away from the city so they ended up throwing it to India and scrapped it about loving years ago I used to go down there all the time and just hang out at the grain silos
I have one of those inaugural cruise souvenir programs. My good friend worked security for the ship when it was laid up in Windsor for some years. I found this out after the fact but he still had the book and gave it to me as he knew my love of lake boats and ships. Thank you for the video.
All the priceless paintings what were on the walls in that ship the priceless soda pop bars the auditoriums that ship was priceless and then plus it was in one of our wars it was an icon
Good video and the music was perfect. About the thumbs down I see on virtually every video I watch. Are there people with the sole purpose of turning thumbs down on every video on CZcams? The video was about a ship and time in history that many people have fond memories of so I don't understand the negativity.
Probably S.S. Badger fans.
To address Mr.Radtke's Comment, I would like to offer this to consider:
While I am Impressed with the Production of This video, and it's Purpose of Remembering this Ship, I also couldn't help but notice that nearly EVERYONE filmed was Caucasian.
Perhaps, the individual that left the Thumbs Down may not have been Caucasian... and one of the Ancestors of that Individual may have been employed by the Ship's Owners or Operators... perhaps as a Porter or Cook or other Position.
We tend to Glorify the Officers and Visible Crew...
... and neglect other Serving in the Kitchen or the Bowels of a Liner or Cruise Ship, who's Toil is just as Essential as that of a Ship's Master.
Perhaps they only lacked a Voice to Rise and ask that Those toiling to Serve...Unseen and Unappreciated during the Heyday of this particular Ship be Recognized as just as Essential as the Captain and the Officers.
They were... and they Still Are.
I would like to think You can Understand their Plight, too.
Bruno Biava ⚓
@@brunobiava4833 yawn. Really. I’m gay and didn’t see any gay people, but then I don’t have a chip on my shoulder and see the video for what it is; a reminiscence. Not a box ticking Pat on your back let’s try and include every group promotion.
@@andyrob3259 ... well, Happy AndyRob... What can I say? I have Gay and Lesbian friends, too... but, Pat doesn't ride my Back...
I did see Many Shades of Grey during this Video... couldn't You?😉⚓
I lived across Muskegon lake for years every time I stepped outside there it was,took our boat over to see it a lot what an incredible ship, I miss seeing her!
I sailed on the Aquarama back in the early 60's from Ludington Michigan, it was an adventure of a lifetime
What became of it
She never operated out of Ludington in the 60s. I believe you have confused her with the Milwaukee Clipper
Thank you for this incredible film. Brings back lots of memories of being at the beach in Amherstburg, Ontario and having to make sure you get out of the water or you would get “sucked” out!. Did not realize it was such a luxury ship in its day..way before its time! Thank you again for posting
My Mom told me stories about taking the boat trip to Detroit before I was born. I always hoped to see & learn more about it. This is fabulous history! Thank you!
Thank you from the McKee family- wonderful to see. I was on it as a little girl- got to go up to the captain's deck.
Such spectacular retro-futuristic stylings on this ship. Thanks for making this film.
Thank you for this very good film. Our Parents took us on a trip from Cleveland to Detroit with their 1954 Ford on-board. We were headed for Greenfield Village in Dearborn. My Sister and I were very young but this was such a memorable trip, I will never forget it. I have always wondered what happened to this great ship. Now I know. Thank you. You did a fantastic job.
I took a day cruise on this ship that went from Detroit as a kid in the 1960s. My mom was with me, but not dad. I guess he was working that summer day. I don't think it was headed to Cleveland that day because we weren't planning on being on that ship for an overnight trip. The only thing I can clearly remember is that it got stuck on a sandbar in the Detroit River for quite some time. Tugboats had to free us and we went back to Detroit. I think we were on our way back to Detroit when the ship got stuck.
in 1964, it was part of the Cleveland skyline when docked, overlooking lake erie and muni stadium
This thing probably looked like a spaceship back in the day to people of that era. Very art-deco.
Thank you for creating this fantastic homage to one of the most underrated passenger ships of all time. Her George Sharp design was brilliant. I spent a day on board in Buffalo before she was towed off and despite her sorry state, was so happy to have been able to walk her decks.
Wow cool did you get any pictures?
Never even knew about this part of history, glad I do now! Great video!
Wonderfully made, and a thoroughly enjoyable tribute.
That's a cool little piece of history. Never knew about this boat, and I'm from Cleveland. Never saw any pictures or mentions of it. The Distance between Cleveland and Detroit is not that long, I would have thought she would have been used on longer routes.
I never got to sail on her sadly, but being from and growing up in Cleveland I do remember seeing her when she was in port there. Sad ending for a beautiful queen. ❤
You didn’t support it, cheapskate.
What a beautiful tribute, I remember seeing her docked in Cleveland as a little kid and always wondered. Thanks for your great work putting this together.
A lost era... great memories.
Can you imagine the people in 2023 they would love to take a cruise on a icon like that Muskegon water became historical go to Milwaukee go to the Chicago come back to Muskegon it would have been beautiful ❤️
Ahhhh..back in the days when people didn’t leave the house unless they looked tip top.
Sure was a lot easier then to tell who the bums were
It’s called self respect. A virtue we are sadly in need of today.
Whenever leaving the house is a STRETCH but definitely when traveling.
@@mattbrown9484 might want to see the era first.
@@WitchKing-Of-Angmar - I most certainly did.
A wonderful presentation of a beautiful ship and crew, what a loss, so many of these historic ships are gone. See what the US Park Service let happen to the SS Wapama, the LAST of her kind. Luckily i was aboard her twice when the Wapama was towed to Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco, before the Park Service let her rot away on a barge AFTER the funding had been allocated to restore her. My grandfather was an engineer on those costal Steam Lumber Schooners.
Back to the Beautiful SS Aquarama, 2500 passengers + crew total?? I only count 4 lifeboats how come?
Even to this day cruise ships are required to only have lifeboat capacity for 75% of the passengers. Even ocean-going ones. The remaining 25% of passengers and crew are accommodated by inflatable life rafts.
Magnificent !!
Sad ending. My parents went from Detroit to Cleveland and back on the Aquarama 60 years ago.
That ship sat for 20 years in Muskgon and was ignored but when plans were announced for it to be towed away suddenly a "save the Aquarama" movement started but didnt go anywhere. when it was announced that public tours were going to be held before the ship left my family and i went onboard and took a tour. all the decor was Kennedy era . They auctioned off a VW campervan that had been used to move luggage from the car ferry deck to the elevators and had only 60 total miles on the odometer
That ship was an icon it was used during the war time too it deserved a little bit more than that
Lovely days.... good times
Thank You so much. I don't think I remember this ship. My parents used to take us "kids" down the Lorain Ohio ship building site and see huge ships. I remember the Roger Blough ( sic idk long a go and away). This was awesome, all my praise for you. Subbed and range that bell. Arigato Sensei.
Well done!
I did a day trip with my best friend and our mothers about 1958. We broke the escalator horsing around and ran off before getting caught. I guess the statute of limitations has passed by now!
What's your address? ;)
We had a boat docked at E55th St Marina from 1974-1979, and we saw tons of freighters, but never saw this cruise ship. I don't know how we missed it !!
I thought I remembered that the Aquarama docked near the Bob-Lo Boats. The image at 3:59 proves that my memory is correct because you can clearly see one of the Bob-Lo boats at its Detroit dock in the image.
This is insane ! I started looking for information on the Ship. My Dad took me on this ship to Cleveland. Why just me I’m not sure, I was small kid . Storm in the lake ppl were sick as dogs . I’m so glad you made this film . I’m still trying to figure out when the trip took place since I was so small .
Bobb Grimley missing a few upstairs. You obviously do not understand usage of “Insane as Excited , Glad “
Sometime in the summer of 1988 I was in Port Huron and could see this ship docked across the St. Clair River in Sarnia. It looked very run down. I assumed then that it was waiting to be scrapped.
Great looking ship would have loved to taken a cruise. You could almost put 2 of her inside the freighter Paul J Tregurtha at 1013 ft. the largest ship now on the Great Lakes
They would have never had to change anything on the inside of that take a cruise on the queen back in time it would have been fun I would have been one of them
I noticed only four life boats? I can’t imagine that they could hold 2600 passengers plus crew. I saw her in, I believe, Baltimore or Boston just before she was towed for scrap. She was beautiful. Sorry she and some of the other classics are gone.
Wow, that boat was moored up in Muskegon Michigan at her end. We actually climbed up a spring line and checked it out when I was a teen. I always wanted to convert that to a hotel.
In about 1957 my friend's family took it between Detroit and Cleveland... it was a big deal... He showed me some pictures or a brochure. What struck me were the colors... In june, 1993 I saw a large aqua ship in rough condition... looked it over and saw the name.... It was berthed in Sarnia, Ontario. Unbelievable..
I have a aqua Rama t-shirt originally from back then it's totally awesome I toured on that ship before I left Muskegon it was so beautiful I can't believe it that Muskegon left that ship slip between our fingers it would have been far better than the lake Express the aquarama was a sister ship the queen of lake Michigan
It was Milwaukee. Muskegon Lake is the deepest, biggest harbor on the Great Lakes. Milwaukee, however, has a skinny shallow river for a harbor and they wouldn't pay to dredge it to accommodate the Aquarama.
As a Milwaukee native, we had our own gem, the Milwaukee Clipper. If I remember correctly, it was proposed that the Aquarama replaced the retired Clipper, but it would have meant dredging the channel to the Lake Michigan dock by 2 feet, but the city council thought it was too expensive. Too bad, it would have been nice to see her in a new home. As for the Clipper, I've never understood why they didn't turn it into the center of a maritime museum, as there is so much great history on Lake Michigan.
You are correct
other than 8 years in the Air Force, ive lived in Michigan for 56 years. i just heard of her recently at the Port Huron Museum. funny, i never heard anything of her in the 70s and 80s...
great vision to convert a troop ship to a passenger liner. with a capacity of 2,500 guests, how were those 4 lonely lifeboats supposed to support that number?
great looking boat and the styles of the times certainly were nicer than today's sweatpants and t-shirts...
Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 ❤
It happens all too often. People have grand ideas but not the proper funding. This ship should not have ended up being scrapped. This is what happened to the St.Clair. buy a ship with grand heritage and restore her. They don't factor in mooring costs, actual restoration costs and labor. They buy them with good intentions only to see them destroyed due to lack of funding. She was a very beautiful ship. Sad to hear it gone to scrap.
Want a beautiful ship. I remember her speeding up the Detroit channel creating a huge wake washing away the Amherstburg shoreline.
The one thing it was designed to conquer will become its undoing. -Water
I can't understand why Muskegon left that ship slip through their fingers it was a beautiful ship and it had so much to offer you step aboard you're walking a bored a time capsule it would have been awesome to take a cruise on that thing it is an icon
Very nice video. I am curious, as there only appears to be 4 life boats. Was this common practice then?
Mike
I had the same observation. With 2500 passengers plus crew, they sure weren’t all going to get in those four boats! Likely there were collapsible boats stored someplace.
I grew up in Chicago in the 50s but never recall hearing about this ship. I guess after initial stop in Chicago she became a Milwaukee to Muskegon and Detroit to Cleveland ferry. There didn’t seem to be any overnight accommodations for all those passengers so I guess it wasn’t a real cruise ship, just a day sailor.
Has a slight savannah ship feel to the front super structure.
Looks very civilized
#79 Steam Ship, Aquarama, was an effort to revive the Great Lakes Passenger Service. She was too large and was blown about by the wind. She had no bow thruster. Unlike the SS Badger, she could not handle truck or special freight. Her days of operation were numbered. It is sad, but smaller, passenger vessels with one or two trips a year on the Great Lakes, are more desirable. The SS Badger was built as a Railroad Ferry with Ice Breaking Ability for Winter use. She was repurpose to handle all sizes of road freight---Tractor Trailers, Motor Homes, Cars, Trucks, and large Specialty Freight. Plus Good Passenger Services. Coal Fuel is cheaper than bunker oil fuel, another advantage!
A larger passenger cruise ship just docked in Detroit today. It is 665' long. The Viking Octantis. I heard it's sold out. I guess the Aquarama was just 60 years ahead of its time.
I found a deck of cards from the Aquarama in the trunk of a car in a junk yard.
I love seeing the crew at work. Passengers not so much.
It’s a shame she wasn’t saved
another proud accomplishment of caucasian civilization!
I used to go down to the dock all the time when it was here in Buffalo New York for 20 years and then one day went down and they took it away to be cut up in alang India
That aqua Rama ship would have put Muskegon on the map if they would have thought it through but instead we got the lake Express that cost so much just to get on it and go to Milwaukee the aquarama they could have set up cruises to go all the way to lake Huron it would have been perfect
Are there any similar cruising opportunities on the Great Lakes nowadays, 2022?
Yeah we got the Milwaukee clipper but that'll never see the lake Michigan and that will never transport people back and forth it would be nice if they would it would be a beautiful thing
I was never on the Aquarama but I did see her when she was laid up in Sarnia. She was going to be refurbished to be a floating restaurant or some other ill conceived plan. Needless to say that didn’t work out. It was sad to see.
Interesting, but a bit more of its history would be nice.
I grew up in Windsor and remember it as having mixed reputation. It was a converted Liberty Ship, these were so cheaply built during the war that they were considered disposable if they were not sunk by a U-boat. Having a single screw and no bow thrusters limited its maneuverability and it kept on hitting the opposite shore. I much more enjoyed the SS Columbia and SS St. Claire. They were built in 1902 and 1904. The St. Claire burned, but there is an attempt to restore the Columbia.
This was not a Liberty ship, it was a C4-SB5 fast troop transport ship designed to outrun submarine attacks and very solidly built with powerful engines to boot. It had a top speed of 25 MPH. Like most ships of the era, it was single screw with no bow thrusters. “Kept” hitting the opposite shore? It hit the “opposite shore” in Windsor exactly once, but it was front page news.
Sand Products Corporation purchased three of these C4s after WWII for commercial use on the Great Lakes including the Aquarama. The other two C4s were converted into self-unloaders and are still afloat to this day -76 years after they were built. Hard to call them disposable ships.
@@Patrick-thesandman I stand corrected. The reputation I remember was that of a Liberty ship, and why did they do this.
@@Patrick-thesandman I had heard that the Aquarama's single screw did indeed limit its maneuvering and that it had a habit of sometimes striking or scraping the wharf or pier it was to dock against leading some to call it the "Aqua-Rammer."
@@WAL_DC-6B Like almost all ships of its day, it had a single screw. It did hit 3 docks. Of course, it also made 100s of dockings without incident. Most of the problems were in the first year of operation. Once the rudder was modified after the first year and Captain Morgan Howell took over, there were no problems with maneuverability at all according to him. But, those incidents were already big news, plus it’s fun to have a nickname like Aquarammer. People like it. Capt Howell did have one incident in Cleveland though, where he scraped the USS Macon. Just a nudge, but it was front page news again. He intimated it may have been done intentionally because the Macon was encroaching on the Aquarama’s docking berth and refused to move.
@@Patrick-thesandman If that’s true he should have had his license revoked, no Captain should EVER intentionally strike another vessel!
This was before completion of st. Lawrence seaway in 1956
Sure. Came up the Mississippi and then Illinois waterway, Chicago Sanitary Canal and out the Chicago River to Lake Michigan like the other C4's
When short sighted, unimaginative, spendthrift types drain off and take for themselves far too much and accept no responsibility for their ineptitude the loss is immense. 🎉
What exactly are you saying, Harold? That is quite an accusation. My dad was GM of the Aquarama... I know some of the short comings, but they need to be considered along with the vision. Please speak a bit more openly.
Why only 4 lifeboats on a ship that could carry 2,500 people? That was approximately the number of passengers the Titanic carried. She had 20 lifeboats if you count the 4 collapsible lifeboats and even THAT number wasn't even nearly enough. Obviously the regulation about lifeboat space for each passenger wasn't always strictly adhered to. There is no way the 4 lifeboats I see on this ship can possibly accommodate 2,500 people. The Titanic sailed in 1912 and the regulations were quickly changed right after that, so when the Aquarama sailed even as the WWII ship, those regulations were in place. How was this ship exempted?
Leave at that Muskegon locked the aquarama slipped through their fingers that would have been a beautiful ship to sail through the Great lakes Muskegon water been on the map Muskegon would have made millions
F Muskegon water refurbished the aquarama it would have been a nice ship for the Great lakes
Everyone was always smartly dressed in these days , and i do not mean just in the USA .
Poor girl spent more time tied up in Windsor then she ever did under power
That would have been a beautiful cruise ship take your automobile with you wherever you go
I still can't believe it that Muskegon let the queen of lake Michigan slip through their fingers now look what we have a lake Express the the queen lake Michigan would have been 100 times better
Aaaah……. I now really want time travel to be invented! No fat people ( well…the saxophonist was a bit cuddly) , no one “sporting” tattoos, no one wearing black (other than in the evening) , no clothing with writing on it…..and….obviously….no one in a hurry .