Matthew R. Boswell
Member
Kronprinzessin Cecilie badly Disguised as Olympic
- Thread starter Matthew R. Boswell
- Start date
Matthew R. Boswell
Member
Also any info on what happened with the whole "disguise" ordeal would be appreciated
Dave Gittins
Member
The funnels were in pairs to allow a big saloon to be placed between them. Other ships used very complicated furnace uptakes to lead the fumes around the accommodation.
Kronprinzessin Cecilie was at sea, heading for Europe when Britain declared war on Germany. The story goes that some rich Americans on board wanted to get to Europe so badly that they offered to buy the ship, hoist the US flag and sail on, safe from the Royal Navy.
The captain decided that instead he would crudely disguise the ship as Olympic and return to the USA, which he did, to the wonderment of the folk in the small port of Bar Harbor.
Somebody with a better memory can finish the yarn. I think the ship ended up in US hands.
Kronprinzessin Cecilie was at sea, heading for Europe when Britain declared war on Germany. The story goes that some rich Americans on board wanted to get to Europe so badly that they offered to buy the ship, hoist the US flag and sail on, safe from the Royal Navy.
The captain decided that instead he would crudely disguise the ship as Olympic and return to the USA, which he did, to the wonderment of the folk in the small port of Bar Harbor.
Somebody with a better memory can finish the yarn. I think the ship ended up in US hands.
Daniel Klistorner
Member
Matthew,
There was a really good article about the whole ordeal in the Titanic Commutator a few years back. You can probably still get a copy of it from THS or even order the magazine itself, or hold out for one on ebay. It was issue 153:
http://secured.titanichistoricalsociety.org/shop/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jplnooi0
Regards,
Daniel.
There was a really good article about the whole ordeal in the Titanic Commutator a few years back. You can probably still get a copy of it from THS or even order the magazine itself, or hold out for one on ebay. It was issue 153:
http://secured.titanichistoricalsociety.org/shop/tek9.asp?pg=products&specific=jplnooi0
Regards,
Daniel.
Michael H. Standart
Member
>>What were they thinking? She looks NOTHING like Olympic!<<
True, she doesn't, but not everybody knew exactly what the Olympic looked like beyond her being a four funneled steamer. The ruse didn't have to be perfect. It just had to work long enough for the ship to reach a safe haven.
Apparently, it did.
True, she doesn't, but not everybody knew exactly what the Olympic looked like beyond her being a four funneled steamer. The ruse didn't have to be perfect. It just had to work long enough for the ship to reach a safe haven.
Apparently, it did.
Dave Gittins
Member
Another account is in pages 400-405 of The Sway of the Grand Saloon. The ship was moved to Boston and was interned until she was commandeered by the US in 1917. She became the troopship Mount Vernon.
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
A novel was also written on this topic called The Magic Ship, by Sandra Paretti. She is well-known in Germany where she is known as "the writing daughter of Alexandre Dumas". The Magic Ship was the #1 best fiction novel in 1977 in Germany. In the U.S. Paretti is best known for other historical novels such as the Rose and the Sword, and The Drums of Winter. Her characters are engaging, and she has done her homework on the amazing tale of how a German crew was adopted by a town during the war and quarantine of the ship. The book is usually easy to find through bookfinder services online- a seamless blend of fact and fiction-and a superb premise for a film- somebody call Cameron!
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
For a long time the Cecilie's bell and a large sepia portrait of her crew hung at the Fall River Maritime Museum at Battleship Cove, Massachusetts. Sadly, that is now gone, someone there said they thought it had gone to Kings Point, N.Y. She was scrapped in the back bay of my hometown, Baltimore-and I wonder if there is anything left of her lovely interior fittings, china and silver service, and the glorious oil portrait of the Kronprinzessin herself. I hope to be in Bar Harbor Tuesday, and plan to have a good look into this fascinating story which has captured my imagination for 30 years.
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
The bio of the Crown Princess published in Berlin in 2001 now has an English edition, but so far Amazon can't get it. The ISBN is 3733803043 and the author is, I think, Erinnerungen. If any of our German ET folks are out there-maybe they can see if it is still available. Great dustcover- the postcard with her image and the ship is my favorite. So much nicer naming vessels after people! Beautiful ship- beautiful lady.
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
A sad end-
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
Some good links about the ten million in gold in her hold, and an interesting, but not terribly well-translated bio of the Crown Princess, I can see the word insane seems to emerge as "nut" when passed through those online translators!
Shelley Dziedzic
Member
Just back from Bar Harbor and a visit to the local historical society there. Among items from the ship on view including a section of railing when she was the Mount Vernon, a large photo display of the ship, and an inkwell, there was a magnificent oil portrait of the ship itself, from the ship. This can be easily missed as it is hung on the wall going up the staircase which is not used by the public. The granddaughter of Captain Pollack and a German cousin visited Bar Harbor just last week, for the first time, and came to the historical society to discover more about the amazing tale of the ship's quarantine and the town's adoption of the crew. This is still well-remembered in the town. The Magic Ship is also in a new paperback reissue and is on display in the local bookstore window. Beautiful place, Bar Harbor, no wonder so many of the Gilded Set flocked there.
David F. Smith
Member
Granted the funnels were not spaced out the same as on the Olympic, but the "description" would be the same. If locals called the authorities they would say a large liner with four stacks that were beige with black tops. Anyone who wasn't there to actually see the spacing of them would assume it was the Olympic as well. A good ploy until a real ship buff arrived on the scene.
Monika E. Simon
Member
It's now almost a year later, but anyway:
According to my quick look around the net, the book mentioned above seems to have been published or perhaps republished in 2004, but only in a small print run (if that is the right expression), when there was an exhibition about the Princess in Potsdam. I haven't found it second hand either in English or German.
The author is called Iselin Gundermann and seems to specialize in books about Prussian royalty. According to Amazon.de the ISBN of the English edition is: 3935231563.
I didn't know about the transformation of the Prinzessin Cecilie into the Mount Vernon before (not that this is surprising). I will probably check out the book by Paretti, sounds interesting.
Best wishes from Munich
Monika
According to my quick look around the net, the book mentioned above seems to have been published or perhaps republished in 2004, but only in a small print run (if that is the right expression), when there was an exhibition about the Princess in Potsdam. I haven't found it second hand either in English or German.
The author is called Iselin Gundermann and seems to specialize in books about Prussian royalty. According to Amazon.de the ISBN of the English edition is: 3935231563.
I didn't know about the transformation of the Prinzessin Cecilie into the Mount Vernon before (not that this is surprising). I will probably check out the book by Paretti, sounds interesting.
Best wishes from Munich
Monika
Jim Kalafus
Member
Here is an "unpublished" of her disguised as the Olympic, that I found in a child's travel journal kept between 1914 and 1920.
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