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TS ''Leda'' was operated by Bergen Line between Britain and Norway as a
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
ferry for over 20 years from 1953. She was rebuilt in 1981 as a
cruise liner 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 "sho ...
and later became an accommodation vessel at a
penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...
for terrorists and members of
the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
. In 2002, whilst being broken up, she was boarded by
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
campaigners protesting about conditions in the
shipbreaking Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
industry.


Bergen Line ferry

TS ''Leda'' was a passenger and cargo vessel operating between 1953 and 1974 as a twice weekly
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
ferry between
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
,
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
and
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...
. Built by
Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...
for
Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab The Bergen Steamship Company ( no, Bergenske Dampskibsselskab) (BDS), was founded in 1851 by Michael Krohn to operate a shipping service between the Norwegian ports of Bergen, Stavanger, and Kristiansand and the German port of Hamburg with the pa ...
(Bergen Line), she was launched in 1952 by
Princess Astrid of Norway Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner (Astrid Maud Ingeborg; born 12 February 1932) is the second daughter of King Olav V and his wife, Princess Märtha of Sweden. She is the older sister of King Harald V of Norway and younger sister of the late Pri ...
accompanied by her father,
Crown Prince Olav Olav V (; born Prince Alexander of Denmark; 2 July 1903 – 17 January 1991) was the King of Norway from 1957 until his death in 1991. Olav was the only child of King Haakon VII of Norway and Maud of Wales. He became heir apparent to the Norw ...
. ''Leda'' replaced the ''Vega'' which had been sunk in the war and was important for the Bergen Line in operating the ferry service (the "Norwegian Royal Mail Route") that had started in 1890. The first Norwegian vessel to be built with stabilisers, ''Leda's'' powerful
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 made her quiet and good at sea. She was of a particularly elegant and, for her day, modern design with a raked
stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
, tripod mast and a single broad funnel.Leda of Bergen. Any information?part 2part 3
" ''Captain's Voyage - Bulletin board.'' 2006 - 2008. Archived fro
the original
on 2009-10-16
She had accommodation for 119 first class passengers and 384 tourist class. Up to 18 cars, lifted on and off by her own electric cranes, could be accommodated in three cargo holds. She ran two sailings a week in each direction. Throughout most of the 1960s she ran three round trips per week in the summer. The sailing took 17 hours to Stavanger; direct sailings to Bergen took 19 hours. On her inaugural cruise, with King Haakon on board, she ran aground in
Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...
but this only delayed her entering service by a few days. On 21 December 1957 when about 120 miles southwest of Stavanger ''Leda'' received a message from Stonehaven Radio Station saying that the Scottish freighter SS Narva was in distress. In winds gusting to severe gale ''Leda'' turned and went three miles to reach ''Narva'' which was rapidly sinking and which reported it had no lifeboats to launch. ''Narva'' herself had been going to assist another vessel in distress. ''Leda'' launched its lifeboat and the crew could hear ''Narva's'' crew but not see any of them. The ship sank at about 04:40 and ''Leda's'' lifeboat, despite further searching, found none of the 28 crew. The ''Leda'' stayed at the scene until morning. Despite sea and air searches, none of ''Narva's'' crew were rescued.


Later history

During her long and varied history ''Leda'' went through many changes of name, ownership and use. Englis
translation
/ref> In the oil crisis of the 1970s her lack of fuel-efficiency and the advent of
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ferries led to her being laid up in Bergen in 1974, then being chartered as a hostel for oil rig workers until 1979. She was purchased for use as a
livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
carrier but instead, as ''Najla'',
Lloyd's Register Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
also listed her as ''Nalja''.
she was again used for accommodation, this time in the
Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...
, Scotland. In 1980 she was purchased by Dolphin (Hellas) of
Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
, renamed ''Albatross'', and rebuilt at
Perama Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...
to become a cruise liner. The aluminium superstructure was extended, the funnel re-shaped and the mainmast removed. By the time the changes were complete in 1984 a swimming pool had been provided and there were 202 cabins accommodating 484 passengers. After some Mediterranean cruises in 1984, and temporarily renamed ''Alegro'', in the same year she undertook cruises in South America. The year 1985 saw Mediterranean, Atlantic and Norwegian cruises under the name ''Albatross''. In 1985 she was chartered to the American Star Line (Greek owned) and renamed ''Betsy Ross'' in honour of
Betsy Ross Elizabeth Griscom Ross (née Griscom;Addie Guthrie Weaver, ''"The Story of Our Flag..."'', 2nd Edition, A. G. Weaver, publ., 1898, p. 73 January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn an ...
who made the first
American Flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...
for cruises between
Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
. However, these were undersubscribed so instead she ran cruises between
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
and Piraeus until being laid-up. By this time her general condition was deteriorating and a charter for African cruises had to be abandoned after a short time. In 1989 she was chartered as ''Amalfi'', only to be laid up for debt at
Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400  ...
. She was purchased at auction in 1990 by Stargas, renamed ''Star of Venice'', and put under the
Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (french: link=no, République de Vanuatu; bi, Ripablik blong Vanuatu), is an island country located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of no ...
flag.Under the ownership of Valgas Trading. After a fire in 1991 she was repaired in
Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
only to become a floating police hostel in 1992 both at
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
For the Columbus International Exposition celebrating the quincentenary of Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas. and at
Pianosa Pianosa () is an island in the Tuscan Archipelago in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy. It is about in area, with a coastal perimeter of . Geography In Roman times the island was named ''Planasia'' (plain) because of its flatness – its highest poin ...
, Italy, at that time a maximum-security prison island which housed terrorists and members of
the Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
. Englis
translation
/ref> Once more she was laid up at Venice until being brought into operation for Mediterranean Cruises in 1998, with disastrous results stemming from her poor mechanical condition. In 2000 she was last used as a hotel ship at
Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...
.


Demise

In 2001 ''Star of Venice'' was towed to
Aliağa Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...
, Turkey, to be broken up. Shortly afterwards in 2002, and while she was being scrapped, the
Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...
vessel ''Rainbow Warrior'' arrived as part of a campaign against toxic waste and poor working conditions in the shipbreaking industry. One of the Greenpeace demonstrations took place on the ''Star of Venices hulk.


Notes


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leda Ships built on the River Tyne Ferries of Norway 1952 ships Steamships of Norway Passenger ships of Kuwait Steamships of Kuwait Passenger ships of Greece Steamships of Greece Passenger ships of Vanuatu Steamships of Vanuatu Passenger ships of Panama Steamships of Panama Ships built by Swan Hunter