''Flandre'', later called ''Carla C'', ''Carla Costa'', and ''Pallas Athena'', was an
ocean liner
An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships).
Ca ...
and
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
that took passengers on transatlantic voyages and on
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
and
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
cruises from 1952 to 1994. She was operated by the
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT, and commonly named "Transat"), typically known overseas as the French Line, was a French shipping company. Established in 1855 by the Péreire brothers, brothers Émile and Issac Péreire under the ...
(CGT),
Costa Cruises
Società per Azioni, S.p.A. (), operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily ca ...
, and the
Epirotiki Line
Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels.
Foundation
Anastassios Potamianos began his first shipping venture in 1850 transporting cargo and passengers along the Danu ...
.
Building
Ateliers et Chantiers de France
The Ateliers et Chantiers de France (ACF, Workshops and Shipyards of France) was a major shipyard that was established in Dunkirk, France, in 1898.
The shipyard boomed in the period before World War I (1914–18), but struggled in the inter-war p ...
built her in
Dunkirk
Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.[tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the cargo-carrying capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on ''tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically ref ...]
s were and .
''Flandre'' had twin
screws
A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...
.
Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne
Ateliers et Chantiers de Bretagne was a French shipbuilding company of the late 19th and early 20th century, renamed from ''Établissement de la Brosse et Fouché'' in 1909. The shipyard often built destroyers for the French Navy.
References ...
built her original engines, which were two sets of
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s, four driving each screw.
[
CGT registered ''Flandre'' at ]Le Havre
Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...
. Her call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...
was FNRY.[
]
Career
CGT
''Flandre'' was the CGT's first new ocean liner since World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. She began her maiden voyage on .[ It was considered a failure, as she suffered mechanical failures throughout the voyage. First, impurities in her ]bunker oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
clogged her fuel lines. This rendered her essentially "dead in the water" for four hours while her fuel filters were cleaned out and her boiler furnaces restored to normal. This was repeated later in the voyage, after which 's captain chose to reduce speed for the remainder of the voyage.
On arrival at the Quarantine Station at New York, she suffered a short circuit in her main electrical switchboard causing a near-complete loss of power. Nearly three hours later, she had enough power restored to raise her port anchor. A further three hours were required to raise the starboard anchor for her to continue.
Unlike most ocean liners' maiden arrivals, where they receive the traditional fireboat welcome while sailing under their own power, arrived in New York Harbor
New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...
and received the traditional welcome while under tow by four Moran tugs, and running only one of her own twin propellers. Her funnel put out thick clouds of smoke, seeming to almost be straining as it was doing so. She was initially blowing her whistle as she arrived under tow, but after the whistle failed due to her limited power, the ship's siren was substituted. This lacklustre arrival garnered her the nickname "Flounder" by Manhattan dockers.
's return voyage was delayed to allow engineers to repair her engines. Following her return to France, all of her 1952 sailings were cancelled, and she returned to her builders for thorough repairs. Repairs would take six months, and she returned for the 1953 sailing season.
In her CGT career, her passenger configuration was changed several times, with running on the transatlantic route for nine months out of the year, and three months cruising with her near-sister . In 1967, she was withdrawn completely, and was sold to the Italian firm Costa Cruises, who renamed her ''Carla C''.
Costa Cruises
The first assignment for the newly refitted ''Carla C'' was a charter for Princess Cruises
Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company is incorporated in Bermuda and its headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California, Santa Clarita, California. As of 2021, it is the List of cruise lines# ...
, which marketed her as "''Princess Carla''" (the ship was not renamed). It was at this time that a set of producers originated the idea of the popular television-series ''The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...
'' aboard ''Carla C''. Consequently, the first scripts were written on board the ship.
The ship proved problematic at first, after problems were found with the boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...
s. In 1974 and 1975, Costa replaced the boilers with Stork-Werkspoor diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s and ''Carla C'' was returned to service around the Caribbean, where she served until 1992. In 1984, the ship underwent another major refit, to ensure safe travel for its passengers for many years to come. In 1986, ''Carla C'' was renamed ''Carla Costa''. No other changes occurred with the name change.
''Carla Costa'' was a common sight on the San Juan ship dock on Saturdays in that era, and her regularly scheduled route included Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
, Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
, Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
, Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
, and Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Saint Thomas ( da, Sankt Thomas) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea which, together with Saint John, Water Island, Hassel Island, and Saint Croix, form a county-equivalent and constituent district of the United States Virgin ...
.
Epirotiki Line
In 1992, ''Carla Costa'' was sold to the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Epirotiki Line
Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels.
Foundation
Anastassios Potamianos began his first shipping venture in 1850 transporting cargo and passengers along the Danu ...
, and renamed ''Pallas Athena'', after the Greek goddess Pallas Athene
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...
. For the Epirotiki Line, she ran seven-day cruises from Athens to the Aegean Islands and Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. On , ''Pallas Athena'' was destroyed by fire, which caused the superstructure and funnel to cave in on itself. She arrived at the Aliaga Company scrapyards on , one of only two surviving CGT ocean liners.
In popular culture
or ''Antilles'' appeared as stock footage in the 1964 ''Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...
'' episode ''Nautical Knot'', set near Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. The scenes on board were filmed on a studio set. P&O Line's equally popular also appears in the episode.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flandre (1952)
1951 ships
1994 fires in Europe
March 1994 events
Maritime incidents in 1994
Ocean liners
Passenger ships of France
Passenger ships of Italy
Passenger ships of Panama
Ship fires
Ships built in France
Ships of Costa Cruises
Ships of Princess Cruises
Ships of the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Steamships of France