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Cristoforo Colombo

1954 – 1982.

When World War II was over, the Italian Line stood without their two most prestigious liners. All that remained of the former Blue Riband-champion Rex was a capsized, burnt out and derelict hulk south of Trieste. British bombers had finished her in 1944, while the Conte di Savoia had been set afire and destroyed by the Nazis the previous year. As Italy belonged to the states that had lost the devastating war, it would take a long time before the country, and for that matter the Italian Line, would recover.

The dust from the war did not seem to settle until the early Fifties. By then, the financial situation for most countries pointed upwards. The merchant fleets also seemed to regain power as the ships that had served their countries during the duration of the hostilities had been returned from their Admiralties to serve passengers, not soldiers. By this time, the Italian Line had started planning two new liners for the trans-Atlantic run. These ships were not to be the same size the Rex and the Conte di Savoia had been, or not as fast. Planned to be around 30,000 gross tons, these liners would catch attention because of luxury and style – two things the Italians certainly know how to deal with.

The first of the two sisters entered service in early 1953. She was called Andrea Doria after a famous Renaissance sea-hero. When she arrived in New York she received a gala in the harbour reception. Indeed, Italy and the Italian Line had recovered from the now more and more distant war.

The second sister was, just as the Andrea Doria, built at the Ansaldo Shipyards in Genoa. She was launched and christened Cristoforo Colombo in 1953, and completed and ready for her maiden voyage in 1954. On July 15, she cast her moorings and left Genoa for New York. She too was cordially welcomed upon arrival in America. She was the largest ship in merchant service in Italy – at 29,191 gross tons she precisely beat the Andrea Doria’s 29,093.

The most terrible blow to the Italian Line occurred on July 25, 1956. As the Andrea Doria was inbound to New York in dense fog, commanded by Captain Piero Calamai, another liner was outbound for a crossing to Göteborg. This was the Swedish American Line’s Stockholm that was under the command of Captain Gunnar Nordenson. The two ships spotted each other on the radar, but as they came closer they had decided to pass each other on two different sides. This resulted in the two vessels turning the same way, towards each other. In a cloud of sparkles, the two ships crashed together. The Stockholm seemed to remain afloat, but the Andrea Doria had immediately taken on a dangerous list to starboard. She was mortally wounded and sunk in the morning hours of the 26th.

The losses of life had not been heavy. All the people that had survived the crash were rescued by the Stockholm and the grand CGT-liner Île de France that happened to be in these waters. Still, the Italian Line was mortified. They had lost their fabulous lady of the seas, and the public had lost their faith in them. All that remained was the Cristoforo Colombo.

The Cristoforo Colombo was the bigger ship, but as Andrea Doria had came out first and set the new standards, the public seemed to be more attached to her. But she was just as luxurious as her sister with her grand first class ballroom and splendid dining room. One of the few ultra-luxurious suites – an ‘Apartment Deluxe’ – was prized at $1000 per person in peak summer times for an Atlantic crossing.

The Cristoforo Colombo soon settled in her own Atlantic career – without the Andrea Doria as her big brother, or ‘big sister’. Both passengers and crew became fond of her. The dockers at New York also appreciated this streamlined Italian marvel, even though they sometimes were on a strike, letting the ship dock herself – a procedure that could take hours and hours. On February 5, 1957 such a strike was on when the Cristoforo Colombo arrived at New York harbour. She had to go in-between the piers herself, using her engines with the finest precision. When she came in too close for engine manoeuvring, she lowered her anchor, attached it in the harbour bottom and pulled the chain in, thus moving the whole liner closer to the pier. She repeated this until the ship finally was safely moored. This was a time-consuming procedure, but as strikes were common, the officers had learned how to handle the problem quite quickly.

In 1960 the replacement for the Andrea Doria came. She was over 30,000 gross tons and was called Leonardo da Vinci. Again, the Italians could be proud to boast two express liners from the Mediterranean to New York. Cristoforo Colombo and Leonardo da Vinci were called express liners in spite of their 23-knot service speed. The required speed for the coveted Blue Riband of the Atlantic, which was held by the American liner United States, was approximately 35 knots. But there were many ships with a service speed below 20 knots, so 23 knots should be looked upon as quite fast, therefore the epithet ‘express liners’.

Four years after the introduction of the Leonardo da Vinci, the Cristoforo Colombo was given the most honourable task. In the spring of 1964, the ‘Pietà’ from the Vatican was carried on board her to New York for the World’s Fair. ‘Pietà’ was put in a crate that was filled with plastic foam. The crate was lowered onto a rubber base in the first class pool where least damage was likely to happen to it. Special safety precautions were made when the actual loading occurred as well. The Cristoforo Colombo had been put in dry dock so that she would not move an inch and thereby perhaps jeopardise the crate and its content. Only easily removable snap hooks secured the crate so that it could be released easily in case of accident. In case the Cristoforo Colombo would sink during the voyage, the crate had been floatable. When at New York it was lifted by a heavy-lift floating crane onto a barge that was put alongside the liner.

The Cristoforo Colombo and the Leonardo da Vinci were kept as the flagships and the prime Italian ships on the North Atlantic until 1965 when the brand new Michelangelo arrived. Shortly after, her sister Raffaello followed, and the Cristoforo Colombo was taken out of trans-Atlantic service. Instead, she replaced the two smaller Saturnia and Vulcania on the Adriatic trade. She was painted entirely white in 1966 in order to match with the other ships in the Italian Line who had abandoned black as hull-colour.

In 1973, the Cristoforo Colombo was taken out of the Adriatic service. She was supposed to go on the South American run to replace the Giulio Cesare that had suffered some serious mechanical problems. She stayed here until 1977 when it was realised that it was utter futility to keep the Cristoforo Colombo running. Ships like her had become very uneconomical to run. She was sold to the country of Venezuela, but they had no intention to keep her going, but used her as an accommodation ship for workers at Puerto Ordaz. In 1981 she was sold to Taiwanese scrappers. They towed her across the Pacific, but upon arrival at Kaohsiung they towed her to Hong Kong, hoping someone there would express interest in buying the ship. However, no one appeared and in the autumn of 1982 she was towed back to Kaohsiung where she was scrapped.

Specifications

  • 700 feet (213.8 m) long
  • 90 feet (27.5 m) wide
  • 29,191 gross tons
  • Steam turbines powering two propellers
  • 23 knot service speed
  • Passenger capacity of 1,055 people

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1927 – 1946 / An Italian ship on the South American run, the Augustus was also employed doing cruises during the hard times of the 1930s. She was converted into an aircraft carrier during World War II, but was damaged beyond repair in the conflict.

1932 – 1944 / Built to be the pride of Italy, the Rex was a greyhound that managed to capture the Blue Riband. Her career was however stifled by the second world war, during which she was bombed and sunk by British aircraft.

Conte di Savoia

1932 – 1950 / Another Italian showpiece, the Conte di Savoia was noted for her lavish interiors, which deviated from the modern trends of her era. Bombed and sunk during World War II, she was too heavily damaged to be salvaged, and was dismantled after the war.

United States

1952 – Present Day / The ocean greyhound to rule them all, United States was the last liner to capture the Blue Riband. However, her career was soon put on life support with government subsidies, and she was retired in 1969. Astonishingly, she survives to this day, although a sad shadow of her former self and with a very uncertain future.

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9 thoughts on “ Cristoforo Colombo ”

  • 9 Comments

My grandmother came to the US with my aunt and uncle in June 1956 on the Columbo from Napoli and I am trying to find the passenger list to show my Dad.

I was aboard the Christoforo Colombo one year after the Andrea Doria collided with the Stockholm. I was seven at the time. I remember the ship stopping early in the morning at a large white buoy south of Nantucket. Everyone on the ship was on the port side looking at that buoy as the sun rose, many weeping.

Is there anyway to get a manifest of the passengers from the Cristofer Colombo from August 1967 from New York to Naples?

I and my family emigrated to the States on the Cristoforo Colombo in 1956. Great adventure for a 16 yr. old kid. I’ll never forget the view of Manhattan as the ship entered the Hudson River. Sixty-six yrs. ago this year.

My family n I came here from Italy in 1954 . It was September. Wish I had some information about , was this the first trip to New York? Also I wish I had some pics! We use to travel back n forth to Italy every 2 or 3 years n it was always on this linear.

The Cristoforo Colombo continued in the Trans-Atlantic trade through at least 1968. I travelled from the US to Italy on her in both 1967 and 1968, returning to the US on the Leonardo DaVinci in 1967 and the Raffaello in 1968.

Can you tell me how much a ticket cost? My mother was on that ship from Genoa to NYC in the early 1960s and I’m really interested in knowing this.

Can you send me a few pictures of the Cristoforo Colombo for my dad? He came to America on that ship in 1957.

Your article claims that C. Colombo stopped travelling across the ocean in 1965.I came to Canada on that ship, Halifax, Nov.22,1967

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christopher columbus cruise ship

A new dawn may be coming to the SS United States , the fastest ocean liner ever, which has been tied up at a pier in Philadelphia since 1996. The ship is 990 feet long, more than a hundred feet longer than the Titanic.

The World’s Fastest Ocean Liner May Be Restored to Sail Again

Tied to a pier in Philadelphia for 20 years, the rusted, stripped, but still majestic S.S. United States could return to service as a luxury cruise ship.

In July 1952, on its maiden voyage, the S.S. United States shattered the record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a passenger ship, steaming from New York to Le Havre in less than four days. In 1969, when it went into dry dock in Newport News, Virginia, and its crew members left their belongings in their cabins, not knowing they’d never sail on it again, it still held the record. And it still does today—though it’s been retired for nearly 47 years, and motionless at a pier in Philadelphia for nearly 20.

enclosed observation deck where people were able to enjoy the view of the Atlantic

On the enclosed promenade deck, first-class passengers once strolled and lounged in deck chairs. First class was at the center of the ship, where the motion was gentlest; cabin class was at the stern and tourist class at the bow.

“The ship is a little worse for wear,” Susan Gibbs said not long ago as we toured the rusting hulk. She is the granddaughter of the ship’s designer, William Francis Gibbs. “But it’s important to keep in mind that she was so overbuilt, she’s still structurally sound. The bones are solid. So it’s not a pipe dream to imagine she could be resurrected.”

On February 4, Crystal Cruises announced that it had signed an option to purchase the ship from the S.S. United States Conservancy , the nonprofit that Gibbs directs. Crystal—a subsidiary of a cruise-and-resort company called Genting Hong Kong —plans to spend this year studying the feasibility of restoring the United States as a luxury cruise vessel, which could cost as much as $700 million. In the meantime it will pay the $60,000 or so a month it costs to maintain the ship.

ballroom aboard the SS United States

In the first-class dining room you can still see the stanchions that fixed the tables to the floors. On the back wall there was a sculpture of nymph-like figures representing the Four Freedoms.

Last fall those monthly costs were threatening to doom the great ship to a sad fate: hauled out by its anchor chains onto some Texas beach and scrapped. “I thought she was going down,” said Gibbs. But the Conservancy launched a last-ditch appeal that brought new interest and enough cash from the ship’s many fans to allow it to hang on a few more months. Against all odds, it now has a chance to return to sea. The ship’s age will make that a challenge; all sorts of standards have changed.

Among the Conservancy’s FAQ on the ship, I found this entry: “How do I research whether one of my ancestors traveled on the S.S. United States ?” Since I myself crossed the Atlantic three times on the ship, that shivered my timbers a bit.

windows lining the stern of the ship at sunrise,

Paint is peeling in great shards all over the ship, but at the stern, the railing is also bashed in. An accident happened when a crane was removing one of the propellers some years back.

If the United States were a building, it would be a National Historical Landmark. If it were an airplane, it would be in the Smithsonian. Because it’s an ocean liner—and surely one of the most beautiful, with its gracile lines and stacks swept back as if by the wind—it’s tied up at a pier on the Delaware River, between freighters offloading fruit and cocoa. When you stand on its bow today, you gaze not at foaming Atlantic breakers but across Christopher Columbus Boulevard at a Longhorn Steakhouse and a Lowe’s home improvement store.

“Why does this nation forget its historical accomplishments?” Gibbs mused as we took refuge in the Longhorn restaurant from a blustery January day. “Why is this ship languishing in obscurity?”

ballroom floor still viewable with movie set  bar left after filming  in the background

In the first-class ballroom, imagine cocktail tables and red barrel chairs surrounding the linoleum dance floor, which is still there. The bar isn’t original; it was brought in a few years ago for a movie shoot.

Through the venetian blinds we could see its blade-like bow, ready to slice across traffic into our booth. The shape of the hull below the water line was one of the secrets of the ship’s tremendous speed—and it was a military secret, as the United States was designed to be converted into a troopship in time of war (though it never was).

Classified too, until the 1970s, were the ship’s four, 18-foot bronze propellers. They were designed by an engineer named Elaine Kaplan. According to A Man and His Ship , a biography by Steven Ujifusa , William Francis Gibbs couldn’t quite comprehend that an attractive woman could be an excellent engineer—but he prized excellence above all else, and so he lived with that paradox.

View of  one of the 3 anchors at sunset

Looking straight at the bow highlights the ship’s slender lines, which were made possible in part by the light-weight aluminum superstructure.

Gibbs himself, though he designed one of the greatest ships of the 20th century, as well as 2,700 Liberty ships during World War II, had no formal training in his craft. After getting a law degree from Columbia University, he’d lasted only a year as a lawyer. But he’d been drawing ships since 1894 when, as an eight-year-old boy, he’d watched the launch of a 550-foot steamship, the S.S. St. Louis, in the Delaware River, a few miles upriver from where the United States now floats.

In 1913, in his father’s attic, he began drawing what nearly four decades later would become the United States —a 990-foot ship intended, Ujifusa writes, “to be the fastest and best ever built, intended to surpass the ill-fated Titanic in every respect.” It was the year after the iceberg incident.

service hatchway  at the stern of the ship

This way to tourist class (just kidding). A service ladder descends into the bowels of the ship near the stern.

Decades later, when Gibbs finally got the chance to design his ship in reality, he divided it into 20 watertight-compartments so a mere iceberg couldn’t sink it. He made it close to fireproof—he’d watched the Normandie burn and capsize at the pier in Manhattan—in part by using no wood on board except in the Steinway grand pianos. And he made it lightweight by building almost the entire superstructure of aluminum, giving it a power-to-weight ratio the seas had never seen.

In sea trials the United States broke 38 knots. On its record-setting maiden voyage, operating at two-thirds of full steam, it averaged more than 35 knots, four knots faster than the Queen Mary ’s record. As it was breaking the speed record, passengers were dancing conga lines down the promenade deck.

a metal lined pool deep inside the SS United States

The swimming pool had large gutters to catch sloshing water as the ship rolled. First and cabin classes had access at different times; tourist class was out of luck.

Into the Depths

From that enclosed, sun-striped gallery, 400 feet long on each side of the ship, Susan Gibbs and I penetrated with flashlights into the engine room, to the edge of the swimming pool—back in its water-filled days you would slosh back and forth as the ship rolled—and even into the morgue, where the occasional unfortunate traveler was chilled until landfall.

All the furnishings, from the ship’s wheel to the silverware, were ripped out and auctioned off in the 1980s by a real estate developer. The next owner had the ship towed to Ukraine to rip out the interior walls: They were filled with that miraculous fire-retardant, asbestos. Today only the outlines of the cabins remain on bare floors; the toilet holes are the most recognizable feature. I was unable to locate the cabin where I had discovered seasickness.

boiler room controls

On the United States, eight boilers made steam to drive four turbines that could generate more than 240,000 horsepower. It shattered the transatlantic speed record without ever running at full steam.

After the maiden voyage, William Francis Gibbs never sailed on his masterpiece again—and yet “he was obsessively devoted to the ship,” said Susan Gibbs. When the United States was at sea he would call on the ship-to-shore radio every day for a status report. Every two weeks when she returned to New York, he would rise at dawn and have his chauffeur drive him out to Brooklyn so he could watch her steam through the Narrows—then race over to Pier 82 on the west side of Manhattan to be there when she docked. His wife Vera claimed he took pictures of the ship to bed. Vera had a separate bedroom.

anchor chain

In its storage room below deck the chain of one of the ship’s anchors disappears into the shaft that leads to the sea.

Susan Gibbs never sailed on the United States . Her grandfather died when she was five and she barely knew him, or of him. Her own father, Frank Gibbs, never spoke of the great man.

When Frank died, she went through his belongings hoping to learn more about him. But she mostly found memorabilia about her grandfather. There were profiles in Fortune and The New Yorker. There was his portrait on the cover of Time, which dubbed him a “technological revolutionist.” Something clicked; a diluted version of the obsession that had animated that strange aloof man passed to his granddaughter. She went to Philadelphia to meet the ship.

2nd class passenger lounge

Tourist class had its own theater toward the bow, flanked on either side by the first-class observation lounge—which you can now see into because the asbestos-laden walls have been removed. The three passenger classes were rigorously separated.

Gibbs anthropomorphizes the vessel now, she said—sees her as a woman, strong, tough, enduring, but in serious need of a little sisterly aid. The Queen Mary has become a hotel in Long Beach, California, the Rotterdam a hotel and museum in Rotterdam in the Netherlands. For a long time something of the kind was Gibbs’s dream for the United States . A return to sea seemed too much to hope for. And it’s far from a done deal.

The past few winters have gotten under the ship’s skin; the red-white-and-black paint is coming off in enormous flakes. “Every year I come, the funnels are a little lighter, there’s a little more wear and tear,” Gibbs said. “In 2016, it’s going to be a make or break year.”

water tight hatches run along the entire ship  as a safety against sinking

The ship was divided into 20 compartments that extended 40 feet above the water-line and was designed to remain afloat if as many as five of them were flooded. Water-tight doors separated the compartments.

Mind Your Wake

“When individual memory fails, we need reminders to help maintain our connections with the past,” the author David Macaulay has written on the web site of the Conservancy . Macaulay emigrated to America from Britain on the United States as a boy in 1957. It was the year before the first passenger jet crossed the Atlantic, sounding the death knell for ocean liners. My own first voyage on the ship was in 1964, and since then some member of my family—a sibling, a parent, a child—has always been on the opposite side of the Atlantic. That’s made me a big fan of jets.

But not of the experience of jet travel—of being sealed in a can in one world and poured out into another hours later. On the United States, during the days in between, you felt space passing as you stepped onto the deck and the wind caught your body like a sail; felt it as you watched the foam part at the bow and rush along the sides. You watched the broad roiling wake disappear to the horizon, and it was as if the medium of life had been rendered visible, as if time had become a tangible ether. I admit I wasn’t actually thinking that when I was seven or nine or even 12.

giant doors welded closed visable from the outside of the ship

“The last winter really beat it up,” says Ray Griffiths, a caretaker of the ship. In winter, water seeping under the peeling paint freezes and expands, accelerating the peeling.

Still, it’s one of my older brother’s first memories, from one of the first crossings of the United States , in 1952 (at least he thinks it was the United States) . He’s four years old and standing on the fantail with our father and our sister, then two. Each kid is holding onto Dad with one hand and has a balloon in the other. My brother lets his go and watches it veer and bank like a swallow into the distance, skipping off the winds, and what amazes him is how long he can watch it fly.

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HISTORIC ARTICLE

Aug 3, 1492 ce: columbus sets sail.

On August 3, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean.

Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, U.S. History, World History

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On August 3, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. With a crew of 90 men and three ships—the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria—he left from Palos de la Frontera, Spain. Columbus reasoned that since the world is round, he could sail west to reach “the east” (the lucrative lands of India and China). That reasoning was actually sound, but the Earth is much larger than Columbus thought—large enough for him to run into two enormous continents (the “New World” of the Americas) mostly unknown to Europeans. Columbus made it to what is now the Bahamas in 61 days. He initially thought his plan was successful and the ships had reached India. In fact, he called the indigenous people “Indians,” an inaccurate name that unfortunately stuck.

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October 19, 2023

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Related Resources

The Fourth Voyage of Christopher Columbus

The Famous Explorer's Final Voyage to the New World

  • History Before Columbus
  • Colonialism and Imperialism
  • Caribbean History
  • Central American History
  • South American History
  • Mexican History
  • American History
  • African American History
  • African History
  • Ancient History and Culture
  • Asian History
  • European History
  • Medieval & Renaissance History
  • Military History
  • The 20th Century
  • Women's History

Before the Journey

  • Hispaniola & the Hurricane

Across the Caribbean

Native encounters, central america to jamaica, a year on jamaica, importance of the fourth voyage.

  • Ph.D., Spanish, Ohio State University
  • M.A., Spanish, University of Montana
  • B.A., Spanish, Penn State University

On May 11, 1502, Christopher Columbus set out on his fourth and final voyage to the New World with a fleet of four ships. His mission was to explore uncharted areas to the west of the Caribbean in hopes of finding a passage to the Orient. While Columbus did explore parts of southern Central America, his ships disintegrated during the voyage, leaving Columbus and his men stranded for nearly a year.

Much had happened since Columbus’ daring 1492 voyage of discovery . After that historic trip, Columbus was sent back to the New World to establish a colony. While a gifted sailor, Columbus was a terrible administrator, and the colony he founded on Hispaniola turned against him. After his third trip , ​Columbus was arrested and sent back to Spain in chains. Although he was quickly freed by the king and queen, his reputation was in shambles.

At 51, Columbus was increasingly being viewed as an eccentric by the members of the royal court, perhaps due to his belief that when Spain united the world under Christianity (which they would quickly accomplish with gold and wealth from the New World) that the world would end. He also tended to dress like a simple barefoot friar, rather than the wealthy man he had become.

Even so, the crown agreed to finance one last voyage of discovery. With royal backing, Columbus soon found four seaworthy vessels: the Capitana , Gallega , Vizcaína , and Santiago de Palos . His brothers, Diego and Bartholomew, and his son Fernando signed on as crew, as did some veterans of his earlier voyages.

Hispaniola & the Hurricane

Columbus was not welcome when he returned to the island of Hispaniola. Too many settlers remembered his cruel and ineffective administration . Nevertheless, after first visiting Martinique and Puerto Rico, he made Hispaniola his destination because had hopes of being able to swap the Santiago de Palos for a quicker ship while there. As he awaited an answer, Columbus realized a storm was approaching and sent word to the current governor, Nicolás de Ovando, that he should consider delaying the fleet that was set to depart for Spain.

Governor Ovando, resenting the interference, forced Columbus to anchor his ships in a nearby estuary. Ignoring the explorer's advice, he sent the fleet of 28 ships to Spain. A tremendous hurricane sank 24 of them: three returned and only one (Ironically, the one containing Columbus’ personal effects that he'd wished to send to Spain) arrived safely. Columbus’ own ships, all badly battered, nevertheless remained afloat.

After the hurricane passed, Columbus’ small fleet set out in search of a passage west, however, the storms did not abate and the journey became a living hell. The ships, already damaged by the forces of the hurricane, suffered substantially more abuse. Eventually, Columbus and his ships reached Central America, anchoring off the coast of Honduras on an island that many believe to be Guanaja, where they made what repairs they could and took on supplies.

While exploring Central America, Columbus had an encounter many consider to be the first with one of the major inland civilizations. Columbus’ fleet came in contact with a trading vessel, a very long, wide canoe full of goods and traders believed to be Mayan from the Yucatan. The traders carried copper tools and weapons, swords made of wood and flint, textiles, and a beerlike beverage made from fermented corn. Columbus, oddly enough, decided not to investigate the interesting trading civilization, and instead of turning north when he reached Central America, he went south.

Columbus continued exploring to the south along the coasts of present-day Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. While there, Columbus and his crew traded for food and gold whenever possible. They encountered several native cultures and observed stone structures as well as maize being cultivated on terraces.

By early 1503, the structure of the ships began to fail. In addition to the storm damage the vessels had endured, it was discovered they were also infested with termites. Columbus reluctantly set sail for Santo Domingo looking for aid—but the ships only made it as far as Santa Gloria (St. Ann’s Bay), Jamaica before they were incapacitated.

Columbus and his men did what they could, breaking the ships apart to make shelters and fortifications. They formed a relationship with the local natives who brought them food. Columbus was able to get word to Ovando of his predicament, but Ovando had neither the resources nor the inclination to help. Columbus and his men languished on Jamaica for a year, surviving storms, mutinies, and an uneasy peace with the natives. (With the help of one of his books, Columbus was able to impress the natives by correctly predicting an eclipse .)

In June 1504, two ships finally arrived to retrieve Columbus and his crew. Columbus returned to Spain only to learn that his beloved Queen Isabella was dying. Without her support, he would never again return to the New World.

Columbus’ final voyage is remarkable primarily for new exploration, mostly along the coast of Central America. It's also of interest to historians, who value the descriptions of the native cultures encountered by Columbus’ small fleet, particularly those sections concerning the Mayan traders. Some of the fourth voyage crew would go on to greater things: Cabin boy Antonio de Alaminos eventually piloted and explored much of the western Caribbean. Columbus’ son Fernando wrote a biography of his famous father.

Still, for the most part, the fourth voyage was a failure by almost any standard. Many of Columbus’ men died, his ships were lost, and no passage to the west was ever found. Columbus never sailed again and when he died in 1506, he was convinced that he'd found Asia—even if most of Europe already accepted the fact that the Americas were an unknown “New World." That said, the fourth voyage showcased more profoundly than any other Columbus’ sailing skills, his fortitude, and his resilience—the very attributes that allowed him to journey to the Americas in the first place.

  • Thomas, Hugh. "Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire, from Columbus to Magellan." Random House. New York. 2005.
  • Biography of Christopher Columbus
  • The Third Voyage of Christopher Columbus
  • Biography of Christopher Columbus, Italian Explorer
  • 10 Facts About Christopher Columbus
  • The Second Voyage of Christopher Columbus
  • Where Are the Remains of Christopher Columbus?
  • The First New World Voyage of Christopher Columbus (1492)
  • Biography of Juan Ponce de León, Conquistador
  • Amerigo Vespucci, Explorer and Navigator
  • Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Explorer and Cartographer
  • Biography and Legacy of Ferdinand Magellan
  • Biography of Ferdinand Magellan, Explorer Circumnavigated the Earth
  • A Timeline of North American Exploration: 1492–1585
  • Biography of Juan Sebastián Elcano, Magellan's Replacement
  • Biography of Diego Velazquez de Cuellar, Conquistador
  • A Brief History of the Age of Exploration

Aboard the Niña: Columbus replica evokes glorious past

GRAND RIVERS, Ky., ON BOARD THE NIÑA – Sunrise, and from the blinding glare of the cloudless eastern sky a guy paddling a yellow kayak approaches from portside.

From his perspective, the black ships must be an imposing sight: mighty and mysterious relics lifted from the history books and plopped into a modern-day marina better suited for harboring houseboats, pontoons and runabouts than a pair of Old World caravels. The kayaker keeps a respectable distance. After a few clicks from a cellphone camera he backs away.

The Niña and her sister ship Pinta are, indeed, imposing and impressive rigs. They are also the showpieces of The Columbus Foundation  — replicas of two of the three ships that carried Christopher Columbus and his crew across the Atlantic more than 500 years ago.

Never mind that the admiral thought he’d landed off the coast of Asia, having missed his intended destination by more than 10,000 miles. The Niña and Pinta are real-life reflections of two of the most famous ships — and one of the most famed voyages — in history. Although no drawings or design plans of the original ships exist, the modern-day Niña is thought to be a near-mirror reflection of the ship Columbus claimed as his favorite.

It was launched in 1991, having been hand built of ironwood from the Brazilian forest using traditional tools and employing 15th-century methods by eighth-generation shipwrights in Valenca, Bahia, Brazil. The Niña was originally built as part of the quincentenary celebration of Columbus’s New World arrival.

“I think if Columbus were walking on the dock and saw her he’d recognize her as the Niña,” says 22-year-old first mate Mallory DeLapp.

The ships are fully functional floating museums. They spend a month or so at a Mobile, Ala., shipyard for dry dock inspection, maintenance and any needed repairs. But they otherwise tour continually: on the Gulf, along the Eastern seaboard, on the Great Lakes and up and down great American rivers. This day they were headed up the Tennessee River/Kentucky Lake to the next tour port, in Clifton, Tenn., with a layover in New Johnsonville, Tenn. I was granted passage for a day trip.

Standing on the deck of the Niña — which is about the size of an efficiency apartment — it’s little wonder that Columbus’ men grew anxious to the point of near-mutiny after plowing thousands of miles through uncharted seas and into the unknown in the early fall of 1492.

Living in close quarters

The Niña’s modern-day crew, all volunteers, live below decks in what can only generously be described as close quarters. Each is afforded a bunk and little else in terms of personal space. No one seems to mind.

“Everything we need is down here,” said deckhand Gunner Duncan, who, along with the rest of his shipmates (sans the captain, who has private, though tightly cramped, quarters) emerged from the hold to prepare the Niña for departure, a procedure that basically involved freeing the moorings and securing the yardarms.

Actually sailing the Niña is a treat the crew rarely gets to enjoy. Both the Niña and Pinta are fitted with auxiliary power (diesel engines).

The day’s weather — warm, sunny and windless — is nearly ideal for almost anything outdoors except sailing a square-rigged mast ship geared with 500-year-old mechanics.

“On waterways like this we have to concentrate on staying inside of the channel,” says DeLapp. “When we get the chance to, we sail. But it’s not often. We sailed on Kentucky Lake the last time we were here. But it was windy. We will sail on the Gulf, the Atlantic, the Great Lakes. It’s fun.”

I later learn that during a West Coast trip several years ago the Niña had her seaworthiness tested against 20-foot waves and near gale force winds.

Amid the business of preparing to leave the dock a lean, muscular man with a full head of dark, thick hair and dressed in a black T-shirt and black shorts appears, briefly speaks to DeLapp, then vanishes into the shadow of the poop deck — Capt. Stephen Sanger.

The engine quietly growls and, aided by a small tow, the Niña turns to port and begins to move toward the breakwater. The ship is 65 feet long with an 18-foot beam and a 7-foot draft. Her displacement is nearly 80 tons. You’d expect a wooden ship to creak, its timbers to groan. But the Niña moves silently, yielding barely a ripple. Solid. Stately. Every eye in the marina is glued to it.

The ship is guided with a wooden, hand-controlled rudder. The tiller, hip-high to the captain, extends more than 6 feet over the deck. Capt. Sanger takes a baseball umpire stance: hands on the tiller and eyes shifting continually from the line of narrow buoy markers curving toward the river channel to the GPS navigation electronics then back to the water. Even armed with modern navigation electronics, guiding a 15th-century caravel through a channel cut for a pontoon requires fierce concentration.

The Pinta follows us out. The guy in the yellow kayak, drifting near a channel buoy, watches respectfully.

Still an adventure

Moving upstream on the Tennessee River the Niña was clipping along at about 8 miles per hour. In Columbus’ day the ship’s speed would have been gauged by dropping something from the bow and measuring how long it took to reach the stern. The Niña’s speed is tracked by satellite.

In 1492, everything would have happened on deck: eating, sleeping and cooking, along with the never-ending chores of sailing the ship. Belowdecks were reserved for livestock and supplies.

I clambered down not to find cattle, horses and hogs (which would have been suspended by slings to prevent broken legs when the ship rocked and rolled) but former Navy man and ship cook Mike Doss. At 74, Doss is the senior crew member. He had planned on spending a month on the Niña but had now decided to stay six weeks.

Doss was busy readying breakfast, where the barely 5-foot-high galley didn’t quite fit his lanky 6-foot frame. “You have to duck. But I don’t mind,” he said.

Doss delivered a plate to the captain. The rest of the crew was summoned to the galley.

“Only the captain eats on deck,” DeLapp explained.

Aside from Doss, the rest of the crew — DeLapp, Duncan, Kat Wilson and Ryan Nelson — are college-age. Duncan recently turned 20. Wilson is 22 and Nelson is 18. Wilson, who is from St. Marks, Fla., had some sailing experience but not much. For DeLapp, Duncan and Nelson it’s been on-the-job training.

All agreed that every day on the water is different. During the trip up the Tennessee to New Johnsonville, the crew rotated through two-hour shifts at the helm and worked on an area of the deck that needed re-painting before the next tour stop opened to the public.

“There’s always something to do,” DeLapp said while chipping away flecks of loose paint.

A block and tackle rig allows the ship to be steered with a rope from the poop deck (the wheel wasn’t added until a couple hundred years after Columbus). Wilson took an early stand at helm.

Like her crewmates, Kat Wilson, a senior deckhand who has been a crew member just over a year, had her own reasons for volunteering to serve the Niña. It’s a duty that includes endless travel, practically zero privacy while on board — which is practically all the time — and a near-equal share of back-breaking work, tedious chores and boredom. She pulled the half inch-thick rope less than an inch to the left and the ship turned slightly to port. Caravels were considered light, fast and nimble in their day.

“’Niña’ means ‘little girl,’” she said. “Smallest of the fleet. Smallest of the family. There were much larger ships during the time of Columbus. But this type of ship was popular for more than 150 years for coastal trading.”

A bass boat pulled even with the Niña. The passenger waved and snapped some photos. The Niña might be the most photographed ship afloat.

“It’s nice and calm out today,” Wilson said. "But on a bad day we tend to bob around like cork in a bathtub.”

Duncan, who is from Dixon, Ky., has been on the Niña about five months and is beginning to map out his future. “Basically, you work to travel,” he said. “It’s fun. We’re going to the Great Lakes next year. After that I’m going into the Navy.”

Nelson’s future isn’t quite so clear cut. Like many young men at sea, he takes things a day at a time. He is finishing his second month on the Niña.

“I really didn’t have anything else to do,” said the Wisconsin native.  “The ships came to Hudson (Wis.) and I talked to one of the crew members. I had some plans but they didn’t work out. So I figured this would be a great place to figure out what I wanted to do. I love it.”

When DeLapp offered a turn at the helm I accepted with reservations. Kentucky Lake is being lowered to winter pool. Wide swathes of the 160,000-acre lowland impoundment wouldn’t clear the Niña’s 7-foot keel. Fortunately, the buoy markers are fairly easy to read and the Niña was surprisingly responsive.

“Pull the rope the direction you want the ship to turn,” DeLapp explained. “It doesn’t take much.”

It didn’t. The ship shifted with a slight slide of the rope.

The first mate, casually and comfortably dressed like the rest of the crew, removed her shoes to reveal gold-trimmed, turquoise-painted toenails — a crew adornment not likely seen in Columbus’ day.

Aside from the captain, DeLapp is currently the longest-serving crew member, although her tenure is likely nearing its end. She is an artist and painter and anxious to return to her artwork.

DeLapp said she was enjoying an afternoon with friends near her Lincoln Park, Mich., home when she discovered the Foundation ships.

“I went to go fly a kite one day with friends at the local park,” she said. “There were two big pirate ships there (on the Detroit River) so my friends and I went to check out the pirate ships. But they were the Niña and the Pinta and not pirate ships at all!” A “crew wanted” sign caught her attention. “I talked to a couple of people and looked around. I filled out an application. They gave me a call and said, ‘Can you be ready in four days to go?’ That was it.”

Seeing the ships

The Niña and Pinta typically make 30 to 40 tour stops annually. The tours are popular but the public is not allowed to travel with the ships between ports of call. For more information, including the tour schedule, details on joining the crew, and why there are no plans to include a replica of the Santa Maria, Columbus’ flagship on the 1492 voyage, go to TheNiña.com , call 787-672-2152 or email [email protected] .

christopher columbus cruise ship

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Christopher Columbus

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 11, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

Christopher Columbus

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not “discover” the so-called New World—millions of people already lived there—his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of exploration and colonization of North and South America.

Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery

During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of several European nations sponsored expeditions abroad in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”

Starting in about 1420, small Portuguese ships known as caravels zipped along the African coast, carrying spices, gold and other goods as well as enslaved people from Asia and Africa to Europe.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus was not the first person to propose that a person could reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. In fact, scholars argue that the idea is almost as old as the idea that the Earth is round. (That is, it dates back to early Rome.)

Other European nations, particularly Spain, were eager to share in the seemingly limitless riches of the “Far East.” By the end of the 15th century, Spain’s “ Reconquista ”—the expulsion of Jews and Muslims out of the kingdom after centuries of war—was complete, and the nation turned its attention to exploration and conquest in other areas of the world.

Early Life and Nationality 

Christopher Columbus, the son of a wool merchant, is believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. When he was still a teenager, he got a job on a merchant ship. He remained at sea until 1476, when pirates attacked his ship as it sailed north along the Portuguese coast.

The boat sank, but the young Columbus floated to shore on a scrap of wood and made his way to Lisbon, where he eventually studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. He also began to hatch the plan that would change the world forever.

Christopher Columbus' First Voyage

At the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and encounters with hostile armies were difficult to avoid. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by taking to the sea: They sailed south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope.

But Columbus had a different idea: Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent? The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed it was; accordingly, he believed that the journey by boat from Europe to Asia should be not only possible, but comparatively easy via an as-yet undiscovered Northwest Passage . 

He presented his plan to officials in Portugal and England, but it was not until 1492 that he found a sympathetic audience: the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile .

Columbus wanted fame and fortune. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the same, along with the opportunity to export Catholicism to lands across the globe. (Columbus, a devout Catholic, was equally enthusiastic about this possibility.)

Columbus’ contract with the Spanish rulers promised that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, along with a noble title and the governorship of any lands he should encounter.

Where Did Columbus' Ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, Land?

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña , the Pinta and the Santa Maria . On October 12, the ships made landfall—not in the East Indies, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands, likely San Salvador.

For months, Columbus sailed from island to island in what we now know as the Caribbean, looking for the “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever” that he had promised to his Spanish patrons, but he did not find much. In January 1493, leaving several dozen men behind in a makeshift settlement on Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left for Spain.

He kept a detailed diary during his first voyage. Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather to the moods of his crew. More troublingly, it also recorded his initial impressions of the local people and his argument for why they should be enslaved.

“They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells," he wrote. "They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Columbus gifted the journal to Isabella upon his return.

Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages

About six months later, in September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas. He found the Hispaniola settlement destroyed and left his brothers Bartolomeo and Diego Columbus behind to rebuild, along with part of his ships’ crew and hundreds of enslaved indigenous people.

Then he headed west to continue his mostly fruitless search for gold and other goods. His group now included a large number of indigenous people the Europeans had enslaved. In lieu of the material riches he had promised the Spanish monarchs, he sent some 500 enslaved people to Queen Isabella. The queen was horrified—she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved—and she promptly and sternly returned the explorer’s gift.

In May 1498, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over.

Meanwhile, the native Taino population, forced to search for gold and to work on plantations, was decimated (within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island). Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

In 1502, cleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish crown to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.

Legacy of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the “New World.” (Viking explorer Leif Erikson had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century.)

However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets. 

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered.

christopher columbus cruise ship

HISTORY Vault: Columbus the Lost Voyage

Ten years after his 1492 voyage, Columbus, awaiting the gallows on criminal charges in a Caribbean prison, plotted a treacherous final voyage to restore his reputation.

christopher columbus cruise ship

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Navigation-cruising and maritime themes, cristoforo colombo, one of the nicest ships ever built.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Dear Vitor, I remember "Cristoforo Coloombo" when he was in Azores in the years 60. In that time many people from Azores traveler to and from USA on board of ships of Italian Line. I have 2 photos of "VULCANIA" and "SATURNIA" anchors in Ponta Delgada in 1939.

My mother in law came over on the SS Saturnia. Can you email pictures? [email protected] She wanted film footage. Do you know where we might get any?

christopher columbus cruise ship

Hi Antonio, thanks for your comment, Italian passenger liners were unbeatable for me in terms of design, I used to go on board C COLOMBO between 1974 and 1975 and she was something..... Amazing liner, ships like her are always with me All the best Vitor

Do you have any manifest info my family emigrated to Canada aboard this ship in 1965?

Hello , My father came to America on this ship in 1954 from ,gioia Calabria ,Italy. He says it was a very nice ship but was sick most of the way here lol . but had great storys about the cruze.....thank you Anthony.

Thank you for your comment Tony, she was a brilliant ship, one of the best looking passenger liners of all time in my opinion BR

hello nice to see this post i came from calabria on this ship with my family i was 10 years old in 1969 boarded in messina to palermo,napoli,malaga,lisbon,passed the azores and halifax then to toronto by train what great memories just today my mother showed me a picture of us departing from messina on the ship thats how i found this blog we came from monsoreto calabria my name is bartolomeo manfre

Was it in October of 1969? Because I believe I was on the same sailing except we boarded in Naples

I was on this ship with my family in December of 1971 I was 12 yrs old. We boarded in Palermo Sicily to Naples, Malaga, Lisbon, Halifax to New York. I Can't seem to find a passenger list.

Thank you for your comment Bartolomeo :)

In 1958, at the age of 4, I came to America with my mother. I have very vague memories of the journey but remember that my mother was always sick and the stewardesses took care of me and a young boy. They let us deliver the newspapers and place them under the doors of the cabins while yelling "posta!"

In1958 I also made the journey from Genoa to New York. I was 10 years old. I don't remember where we were checked in since Ellis Island was closed would you know

Thanks for the comment above, unfortunately don't know where people used to check in apart from Ellis Island

thanks for your comment Rose

My father came to the USA in 1954 on the Cristoforo Columbo , he always talked about how beautiful it was. He came from L"Aqulia Abrussi made the trip 3 times married my mother the first time then came back for good. Always loved his stories about his trips , I miss him dearly....

For many fans of the Cristofo Columbo cruise liner one can revisit the past and actually see the ship on film. The ship including the famous port in New York filled with Italians can be seen in a remarkable DVD digitally remastered film called ROME ADVENTURE with Rossano Brazzi, Suzane Pleshette (her film debut) and Troy Donohue. http://www.amazon.com/Rome-Adventure-DVD/dp/B001QYOY3S This is a truly beautiful film with spectacular scenes of Rome and many locales in Italy. But for fans of the famous Cristofo Columbo cruise liner this is THE FILM where you can see the famous cruiseliner one more time. It was truly one of the most elegant cruise liners of all times. There is a 15 to 20 minute segment that is filmed on the ship including the cruise back to New York harbor from Naples. Enjoy the film and a flash back to a time of our parents and relatives who came to America on the Cristofor Columbo. ENJOY!

Thank you for your comment Anthony, she was a remarkable ship indeed

I came to NYC with the Cristforo Colombo in 1969 I believe October. The voyage was very shaky and it lasted almost 2 weeks because of strikes in different ports. Anyone come on the same voyage? Would love to touch base

My parents and me (I was 7) were on that voyage. I remember very well how rocky that voyage. My mom was sure we were going to die. My mom was telling me that the crew was crying. But we made it.

Marilyn, thank you for your comment

Where can we get some memorbilia for Cristoforo Columbo, I want to put together a scap book of my father, and I want to include the ship pictures. Any models made of this ship??

Anthony, thank you for your comment, memorabilia I suggest you visit ship shows, for model of the ship suggest www.scherbakshipmodels.com

My husband and I are watching the Titanic Blood and Steel, series. Which led us to research the Olympic cruise ship and brought us to your blog. We further decided to look up my wife's trip to the US on the Cristoforo Columbo in June of 1959. We sailed out of Marseilles and arrived in New York on June 9. Thank you for the wonderful memories. The ship was luxurious. We also were sick as many other people seemed to indicate. I would love to see pictures from the interior. Again, thank you. Fabienne

In 1962, it must have been December, my dad, who wouldn't fly, took us from NY to Italy aboard the C Colombo. I was 11 years old and I'll never forget the voyage; at one point the waves were seemingly the size of "skyscrapers" and the ship handled them magnificently. I am so grateful to see some pictures of her and read these other posts. Thanks. Paul

thanks for your comment Paul, please continue to visit this blog, as I will be posting new photos of CRISTOFORO COLOMBO BR Vitor

I sailed on the Columbo in 1971 as a 9 year with my Grandmother. I have many kodak pictures. I have the first class menu from that cruise and the passenger list plus the fold out map of the ship level by level.

Sailed on that ship in July-Aigust 1972. Naples to New York I was 10 Would love to see some of the interior pics of this beautiful liner [email protected]

thanks for all the comments above

we came over in Dec. of 1963 with my parents i was 9 yrs old, this year celebrating 50th anneversary in the new world,going back to New York, any one know the pier that Cristoforo Colombo docked

Pier 84, Hudson River, NYC

I traveled with my mother and aunt on the Cristoforo Colombo in 1960. We were returning from Europe and boarded the ship in Gibralter. It was winter - we crossed at the end of January - but I loved everything about the crossing. I remember the afternoon concerts and a men's chorale singing "Cristoforo Columbo" each day at the concert. I still have some daily menus from that cruise.

I came on the Cristoforo Colombo in November 1954 I was 6 yrs old. I came with my Mother and Father and sister and brother.I remember very little about the ship,only that eveyone was sick,except my dad and I. I remember going to dinner with him.We landed in New York and took the train to Oakland Calif.

How can I find out about a specific voyage from Gibraltar to New York in March 1964?

I was 9 years old when my mother & 2 sisters came to America on January 29th 1958, we left from Naples. Being a kid with no responsibilities I had a great time on board roaming the whole ship. One day I was caught in the captain's cabin & the captain gave me a tour of the ship, places most people don't see regularly. We didn't have the best accommodation but that didn't matter, to me it was a great adventure. During the voyage we hit a very bad storm & I remember grabbing onto a table leg that was drilled on deck & she was really rocking, I had a great time. At this age now I would have been petrified but as a kid it was great! To this day I can still remember how I felt when I saw the Statue of Liberty & the American flag for the first time, truly amazing. I don't believe that American born citizens appreciate it like I do. I googled to find a passenger manifest but am not having much luck, I would appreciate any direction given me. This past Christmas my nephew gave me a large matted picture frame with several pictures of my ship that he purchased on e-bay, it brought tears to my eyes.

Hello.. thank you for setting up this blog. My father was 19 when he came to America from Italy in April 1962. So you have any passenger lists from that year. It would be so amazing to show my children of their grandfathers voyage. Looking forward to your response.

I traveled on the CRISTOFORO COLOMBO to America from Naples Italy & arrived in NYC on 1/30/58. I have searched numerous websites trying to locate the ship's manifest, menu, etc for that trip. I would like to share this very special voyage with my 2 grandchildren. If anybody out there can help me with either copies or perhaps a website where I can obtain these items, it would make me very happy. Thank you in advance. Thank you so much for setting up this wonderful blog, I truly enjoy it.

Hi Carmela, I've also been trying to find passenger lists from the SS Cristoforo Colombo's 1958 voyages, but haven't been able to locate any. Unfortunately, the National Archives only has passenger lists up until 1957. Have you found any information since your last post?

Hi, Nice to see your post & unfortunately have no additional information other than what I wrote on my previous posts, not for the lack of trying. I was also able to find that the National Archives only has passenger lists up until 1957. I was able, however, to find information on the Archives for my father, brother & sister who immigrated July 1956. Please keep me in mind should you find any information for January 1958.

Hi Carmela, I spoke with National Archives and they said that the 1958 to 1964 records should be available on Ancestry.com within the next two years. Although they have been legally available for some time now (the 50 year privacy period having expired) they were kept from public use because of their poor condition and no second copies available. Apparently, the microfilm is so fragile that if placed in a viewer it would almost certainly break. Ancestry has sole use for 4 years at which time the records become more widely available. Because of budget cuts it's unlikely that the National Archives will have them ready for public use before Ancestry, which is privately funded through subscriptions. They may not be arranged by name as are the prior records, but by port of entry. Apparently, the National Archives had arranged the previous records prior to Ancestry receiving them. Hope this helps. Daniel

Daniel, Thank you so very much for the information you provided me. Although I cannot retrieve the records now, at least I know they will be available in a couple of years. I'd like to know why these years are in such poor condition, since prior years have been kept in better condition & available without any delay. I've waited this long, I guess I can wait another couple of years. Daniel, again I thank you for sharing your research, it is most helpful. I'm curious, were you a passenger on the SS Cristoforo Colombo's January 1958 voyage or are you searching for someone else. Thanks again, it's nice to hear from you.

My name is Vincenza Ilardi and I was just turning 5 years old when we arrived in New York from Italy ( maybe Palermo) in 1969, May 2 nd to be exact. I also remember my family feeling seasick. I believe we were inoculated on the ship. Was anyone else on the ship during that specific time? Is there a list of names somewhere of the passengers?

MAY 1958,MY FAMILY AND SAILED FROM NAPLES ON THE CRISTOFORO COLOMBO

I sailed from New York to Gibraltar in 1963 on the Chrstofo Columbus. I was 20 years old. What an experience for a girl from a small town of 10,000 in NW Florida. I was embarking on a 2 month tour of Europe. Wonderful memories.

My brother and I took a brief tour of the ship (Colombo) while it visited Boston one time. Still remember the loud banter between the officers on the bridge and the longshoreman below while it was being tied up at Commonwealth Pier. Fun.

Both my Parents came to America in 1955 on The SS Cristoforo Colombo. I have The Programma Della Giornata and their boarding passes from when they were on the ship displayed in a beautiful frame. My mother was 9 months pregnant and she said she spent most of the time in the infirmary, she said the ship made her so sea sick, that is was NOT a smooth ride at all. she said one year later the Sister ship of The SS Cristoforo Colombo they had called the Andrea Doria sank! I found records on Ancestry.com and their signatures when they signed the Passenger log. I think you might want to check Ancestry.com, their Archives seem to be in order there, but you have to be a member to look at them.

I was on that liner in early summer of 1972 as a 14 year old travelling to Italy ,- Trieste I believe. Are there passenger lists online to confirm - searching is proving difficult. It was an amazing trip to say the least - NY , Lisbon, Malaga, Messina, Palermo , Athens and finally Trieste ...

Hey, I was on the same voyage in April 1972. I was 6 years old. We went from NY to Athens with those stops on the way. It was an amazing trip. I remember at the New York dock they dropped a car while loading it on deck. It was smashed on the pier. At sea, it seemed as kids we had free run of the ship. I had so much fun exploring the lower decks. The lower you went the louder the engine. We had a dog so I was always looking to visit him down below - there was a special hold for live animals. There were different lounges on the upper decks. There was a magician and a guy who did card tricks. For dinners I seem to only remember eating spaghetti bolognas. It became my favourite food. For easter they threw a costume party for the kids. It was a beautiful ship. The crew were friendly and kind.

In early 1962 we boarded the Cristoforo Colombo in Napoli to NY an 8 day trip.since we left late February we had a great 3 day trip until we went past the straits of Gibraltar into the Atlantic Ocean. We then had 5 days of high seas where everyone was seasick myself include. We finally made it to NY where I saw my first snow and the Statue of Liberty.

1958 week of May 7 left Naples en route to NYC to live in CT. Best friend left Italy same year and we have been friends all that time.

Thanks for this site. In summer 1956 my mom, younger brother and I (age 6) travelled from New York city to Genoa, with a brief stop in Naples on the way. I have many wonderful memories of this amazing experience. We had the cheapest cabin, windowless, but I had no idea of the other classes, so I was happily ignorant. I marvelled from the deck railing at the departure hubbub and festivities, with people cheering, shouting and waving goodbye, streamers and confetti being thrown, and several small but powerful tugboats pulling the liner away from the Manhattan pier. Our mother made my brother and me wear bright orange life vests because she was a super-cautious mom and she knew that we would be uncontrollably running around the decks. I remember being fascinated watching shotgun skeet-shooting when the ship was out on high seas. Certain passengers would have fun shooting at clay pigeons off the rear deck, using the shotguns and equipment provided by the ship's entertainment team. Occasionally an empty shotgun shell cartridge would bounce off the deck in our direction and we would pocket it as a souvnir. After docking for a day in Naples, there was a tour of the Amalfi coast and Pompeii available to passengers so we three got on a bus and enjoyed the tour. The next day the ship continued to Genoa where my mom's brother in law picked us up.

Nice story. Nice memories. Thank you

My grandfather took me this beautiful ship in 1963 when I was 15 and we had beautiful first class cabin the ship was wonderful and I made friends with a lovely 14 year old Italian girl we had a wonderful cruise and we stayed friends for 50 years until her passing, many treasure memories 😊😍🇮🇹

No argument about one of the most beautiful ships built!! Sadly, post Andrea Doria disaster, she seemed to be the ship Italia wanted to keep quietly in the shadows. The twins and the New Da Vinci became their big photo opportunities. None of them were slouches in the looks department, but the fine balanced lines of Cristoforo Colombo definitely took to the back seat. She was even demoted to the Adriatic Route with many stops in Boston. I think she was one of the last of the North Atlantic ships to to be disposed of. I consider Augustus to be a South American Liner, even though she was indeed the last Italia Liner to go.. .<3. Thank for sharing these love photos.. The one is Venice is perhaps one of the most beautiful pics of her ever taken.. Perfectly captures her lines and curves!!!

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The Santa Maria

This magnificent replica of Christopher Columbus’s flagship “SANTA MARIA” was built in Madeira island at the small fishing village of Câmara de Lobos. Along with seven local craftsmen,Mr. Robert Wijntje, a Dutchman who has made his home in Madeira, realized his dream when he started building the Santa Maria in July 1997. The construction took one year finishing in July 1998. In that same year the“SANTA MARIA DE COLOMBO” represented the Madeira wine at the Expo 98 in Lisbon, where in just 25 days was visited by 97,016 people.

Come and join us and feel how Christopher Columbus felt in his trip headed into the unknown.

christopher columbus cruise ship

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

The best available evidence suggests that Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. He is commonly described as the discoverer of the New World — America. Although Columbus was in search of a westward route to Asia by sea, the discoveries he did make were more important and valuable than the route he failed to find.

In 1485, Columbus took his son and went to Spain; there he spent almost seven years trying to get support from Isabella I of Castile. He was received at court, given a small annuity, and quickly gained both friends and enemies. An apparently final refusal in 1492 made Columbus prepare to go to France, but a final appeal to Isabella proved successful. An agreement between the crown and Columbus set the terms for the expedition.

And on August the 03rd 1492, Columbus and his fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña, set sail across the Atlantic. Ten weeks later, land was sighted. On October the 12th, Columbus and a group of his men set foot on an island in what later became known as the Bahamas. Believing that they had reached the Indies, the newcomers dubbed the natives ‘Indians’. Columbus landed on a number of other islands in the Caribbean, including Cuba and Hispaniola, and returned to Spain in triumph. He was made ‘admiral of the Seven Seas’ and viceroy of the Indies, and within a few months, set off on a second and larger voyage. More territory was covered, but the Asian lands that Columbus was aiming for remained elusive. Indeed, others began to dispute whether this was in fact the Orient or a completely ‘new’ world. He died in May 1506.

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Trip Advisor

9 Real Stops On Christopher Columbus’s Voyages

By editorial staff | oct 6, 2015.

istock

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue … and totally missed his mark. His journey may not have gone exactly as planned, but there were some interesting detours along the way.  

1. THE CANARY ISLANDS  

When Columbus set sail from the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492, he already had his first pit stop planned. The  Niña , Pinta , and Santa Maria headed to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco for last-minute preparations and restocking. It's a good thing, too. By the time they arrived, the Pinta 's rudder had disconnected and the ship was taking on water. (Columbus suspected some of the crew had second thoughts about the voyage and sabotaged the vessel.) There was talk of leaving the ship behind—but what were they going to do, order another one online? The men repaired the Pinta during the layover and officially headed west on September 6. 

2. SAN SALVADOR ISLAND  

We know Columbus—or perhaps a sailor on the Pinta named Rodrigo de Triana—first spotted land on October 12. But what we don't know is where exactly they were. Not that there's anything wrong with that—Columbus thought he was in the East Indies! The island was definitely in the Bahamas and already inhabited by the Taino people, who called it Guanahani. Columbus named it San Salvador and recorded that it was "very flat and with very green trees" with a surrounding reef and laguna in the middle. A number of islands fit the description, but many scholars later agreed that it was probably what used to be known as Watling Island. The Bahamanian government renamed it San Salvador Island in 1925. 

Columbus didn't stay put for long. After naming the small surrounding islands Santa Maria de la Concepcion, Fernandina, Isabela, and Las Islas de Arena, the fleet took off again. On October 28, Columbus and his men arrived in what they believed to be China—but was, in fact, Cuba—most likely through the Bay of Bariay. Columbus christened the island Juana after Queen Isabella's son and soon discovered the joys of tobacco. Long before Cuban cigars, the Arawaks smoked with Y-shaped nostril pipes.

4. HISPANIOLA  

After China, which was actually Cuba, Columbus set off for Japan. The trip was no pleasure cruise: On Christmas Day, the Santa Maria ran aground after hitting a reef. Columbus ordered his men to dismantle the ship and build a temporary fort called Villa de la Navidad with some "help" from the locals. Columbus headed back to Spain on the  Niña a few weeks later, leaving 39 sailors behind on La Isla Española, with his mistress's cousin Diego de Arana acting as governor. When Columbus returned a year later, the fort was destroyed and all of the men were dead. Today, Hispaniola is one of only two shared Caribbean islands, split between Haiti and the Dominican Republic. 

5. SANTA MARIA ISLAND

The journey back to Spain was miserable. After a number of storms, the crews of the Niña and Pinta disembarked in the Baía dos Anjos on Portugal's Santa Maria Island around February 15. Columbus set off seeking boat repairs while half his crew went to church (presumably to thank God they were still alive). Alas, the locals were wary of strangers after numerous pirate attacks and quickly arrested the sailors. So first Columbus lost the ship Santa Maria , and then he almost lost half his crew on Santa Maria. Fortunately, he was able to reason with the Portuguese to get the sailors released, plus to get some boat repairs. Then they finally headed home.   

6. DOMINICA  

Columbus didn't have much to show for his adventures when he returned to Spain, but he quickly secured funding for a second voyage. Returning to the fort on Hispaniola was his first priority, but he got a little distracted. On November 3, 1493, Columbus spotted a heavily forested island and had to take a look-see. The Kalinago natives weren't very welcoming—and the Europeans thought they were cannibals—so Columbus quickly named the island Dominica and headed out to explore the neighboring tiny islands, including modern-day Antigua and Montserrat. Why did he call this new place Dominica? Because it was Sunday ( Domingo in Spanish) and, if you haven't noticed by now, Columbus wasn't especially original in the naming department. 

7. JAMAICA  

Columbus was horrified when he finally returned to Hispaniola and found La Navidad in shambles. He and his men built a new settlement called La Isabela, which was later struck by two of the earliest hurricanes ever observed in North America in 1494 and 1495. But before the natural disasters, Columbus made his own trouble by mistreating the locals and alienating his fellow sailors, who were hungry, sick, and mutinous. When they failed to find gold, Columbus headed back to Cuba and soon found his way to St. Ann's Bay in Jamaica. The Taino natives were hostile, so Columbus continued exploring and landed at Discovery Bay, Montego Bay, and Portland Bight. He didn't find gold in Jamaica, either, so he went back to Hispaniola before returning to Spain.

Columbus later returned to—well, was shipwrecked in—Jamaica on his fourth voyage in 1503 after losing his four-boat fleet in a series of storms. He and his men were stranded for a year, until captain Diego Mendez rowed a canoe to Hispaniola. By that point, Columbus wasn't even allowed to visit Hispaniola, and it took months of negotiations before Mendez could charter a rescue caravel.

8. TRINIDAD

Back to the chronology! The King and Queen allowed Columbus to go on a third voyage in May 1498 to resupply the colonists on Hispaniola (before he was blacklisted) and find a new trade route. The six-ship fleet split up: three went to Hispaniola and three went to new islands. Columbus chose the latter, of course. He and his men had almost run out of drinking water when they spied three peaks in the distance. Columbus named the land Trinidad and quenched his thirst in the Moruga River.

9. VENEZUELA  

Contrary to what many people believe, Columbus did not discover America. But he did reach South America on August 1, 1498. As he and his men gathered water in Trinidad, they spotted the coast of South America. They explored the Gulf of Paria for eight days, discovering the "Pearl Islands" of Cubagua and Margarita and reaching the Orinoco River in Venezuela. Ever wrong about geography, Columbus admired this verdant new land and concluded he'd reached the Garden of Eden. Sigh.

The Niña and Pinta

National Museum of the Great Lakes

The Christopher Columbus – Winter 1967

~ the great lakes… 84% of the continent’s fresh water… a different story in every drop..

By Ernest H. Rankin 

christopher columbus cruise ship

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

Captain Alexander McDougall’s whaleback were a great departure from the conventional type of bulk cargo carriers on the Great Lakes, but the Christopher Columbus was unique, for she was the only one of this type to be built as an excursion steamer. Launched at Superior, Wisconsin, on December 3, 1892, she was the twenty-eighth whaleback built between June 1888 and July 1898. In the Spring of 1893 she went to Chicago and was engaged during the Summer in carrying passengers between the Municipal Pier and Jackson Park, the site of Chicago’s first World’s Fair, the Columbian Exposition, a distance of about six miles. She had been built expressly for this purpose.

For many years after, she was engaged in passenger service between Chicago and Milwaukee, and during the winters she was apparently laid up at Superior or Duluth. However, in the spring and fall, before going on her Lake Michigan run, she ran excursions out of Hancock and Marquette to Isle Royale, Huron Bay, Granite and Stannard Rock Lighthouses, and Pictured Rocks.

In one of her excursions out of Marquette a scraggly lad of eight formative years dropped the lunch basket which he had carried for his mother down the steep hills of the town to Spear’s merchandise dock, clapped his hands to his ears and howled! The Christopher Columbus, lying alongside the dock, gaily bedecked with long strings of banners and flags flying, had let forth a mighty blast from her deep-toned whistle, all too close to the ears of the excited boy who was so anxious to get aboard, for this trip had been his dream for a full week. But the whistle did not emit the short blast to hurry the townsfolk down to the ship, as the mate intended when he pulled the cord. The valve had stuck and its earsplitting din, with the escaping steam rising high into the blue sky, lasted for a full half-hour until the difficulty was corrected. Meanwhile, the thoughtful mother picked up the basket and led her frightened son, his hands still glued tightly to his ears and rivers of tears streaming down his cheeks, over the gangplank and into the hold of the vessel.

Below decks, the frightening noise of the whistle was dimmed considerably, the youth regained his composure, the sympathetic mother wiped away the tears with her handkerchief, paid their fares to a man at a window — fifty cents for herself and a quarter for the boy — and his upset world gradually returned to an even keel.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Inside the CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

However, as the whistle continued its infernal racket, the boy remained below decks exploring the depths of the hold, except where barred by “No Admittance Except for Crew” signs. The town’s music-makers, “The Ideal Orchestra,” were busy getting their instruments ready near the upright piano in a far corner of the main saloon, for many took advantage of the excursion just to enjoy dancing. A narrow passageway led to an open steel walkway on either side of the engine- room, a pipe railing permitting an excellent view of the massive vertical cylinders of the steam engine which would turn the huge propeller. Another passageway led to a hole with a round entrance barely a yard across, and a vertical, iron ladder which disappeared into the depths of the hold. Here, when the fire doors were opened, the boy got a glimpse of half-naked, red-bodied “demons” shoveling coal into the roaring fires under the boilers. He was reminded of the ghastly pictures in Dante’s Inferno, a book forbidden to him, and remained watching for just a moment, as the rising heat, the acrid odors, the clanking of the doors and shovels, and the strangely lighted bodies, gave him an eerie feeling.

Eventually, the whistle ceased its shrill outburst just as suddenly as it had blown its first blast, evoking a deep silence and bringing a great relief to the lad. He went up on deck just in time to see the last of the holiday- makers rush down the hill and disappear over the gangplank into the interior of the vessel. These were the people from “up the road.” They had arrived on a special train from Negaunee and Ishpeming and other inland towns — the railroad depot was only a block away in the old, shabby Tremont House at the corner of Front and Superior Streets. And as the last rosy -checked, smiling straggler panted aboard with her ample lunch basket, followed by the gangplank, the lines were cast off and the Christopher Columbus slowly backed out into the harbor.

The youth, his fears completely conquered with the task and excitement of getting the ship under way, watched every move of the crew as they took in the lines, laid them in neat coils, and made everything shipshape for the cruise. Forward and aft and athwartship he went — there was no officer on board the boat more active than he! Well out into the harbor he turned the ship around, got her on her eastward course towards Laughing Whitefish Point, Grand Island and Pictured Rocks and telegraphed the chief engineer, deep in her hold, “Full speed ahead.” That very morning before they had left, his mother had given him fifty cents to buy the cap of a ship’s officer, the emblem at its peak marked “Captain,” and he wore it with pride.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Open air steering station aboard the CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS

The blood of a sailor was in his veins, for had not his grandfather, as a young man, sailed on the high seas and been blown skyward when the boiler of the propeller Independence exploded shortly after midnight on November 23, 1853, a few minutes after she left the Soo for her last trip of the season to Ontonagon on Lake Superior? He knew the story by heart, for his mother had told it to him many, many times.

With all things snug on deck the young officer returned below to the engine room and, leaning over the rail, checked the performance of the engine as it turned the propeller shaft, pushing the boat onwards. The valve mechanisms, with their polished steel arms and rockers, kept time with the steady beat of the engine, fascinating the boy. He watched an oiler, as he moved about the powerful machine, placing a drop of oil here and there from his long-spouted can and wiping away, with a handful of waste, the excess oil in order that every moving part might be spotless and clean. Finding everything shipshape and to his fashion below, he waved to the oiler, receiving in return a similar greeting and a friendly smile. He liked the warm, oily odor which came from the engine, and its steady rhythm was music in his ears.

However, the time came when the usual pangs of hunger were experienced, as is normal for boys of eight. He followed the passageway to the saloon, dodging the waltzing couples as he zigzagged across the felt slippery floor, the softness of the carpet as he ascended the grand staircase to the upper deck, and eventually found his mother sitting in a shady nook where she could watch the changing scenery of the distant shore as the ship sped on its way.

This mother had a store of tales, for she had been born and had spent her life in the vast wilderness spread along the south shore of Lake Superior. She knew the few Indians of the area who traded in her father’s store, and during her girlhood was as inquisitive about their ways of life as her son was about boats.

christopher columbus cruise ship

INDEPENDENCE

After the explosion, which had totally wrecked the Independence, her father became a merchant and went into storekeeping. However, he did not give up sailing entirely for he owned a small, schooner-rigged yacht, and had named her Carrie for this mother, the youngest of his daughters. In this boat she sailed with him many a mile along the coast, camping here and there, and she knew the shoreline as well as the Indians did who travelled along it in their birch bark canoes. The Indians had called the early Lake Superior steamers ishkote-nabikwans, or “fire vessels.” As the boy sat beside his mother and stowed away an incredible amount of food, she entertained him with tales of the past — Indians, camping and boats. He would be a sailor!

This sailor still recalls that there were thick ham sandwiches on freshly baked, soft rye; hard-boiled eggs and an envelope of salt; sweet pickles, bananas, and a richly frosted chocolate cake, freshly made for the occasion. There were other things too, for his mother, brought up in a frontier village of stumps, far from the great towns “below,” had been taught by her mother to be prepared for almost any emergency. Had the Christopher Columbus been wrecked upon a desert island in the middle of the Lake there would have been food for everybody. If necessary, they could have caught fish, for in the depths of her reticule there was sure to be found a length of fishing line wound around a small stick, and a few hooks, their barbs imbedded in a cork! She could prepare all manner of fish and small game for the pan or pot, and if necessary, “dress-out” and skin a deer. She was a true daughter of a Lake Superior pioneer.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Laughing Whitefish Point

As the Christopher Columbus sped by Laughing Whitefish Point, which lay about two miles south of her course, the mother told her son the source of its name. This point, some eighteen miles distant, as seen by the Indians from Sauks Lookout, a prominent headland near Carp River, when reflected as a mirage, appeared to them to be a giant white- fish with its head sticking out of the Lake, and laughing. They called it atik-a-meg-baptit, or “the whitefish laughs.”

Around Laughing Whitefish Point was Shelter Bay where the family had camped on the shore when she was his age, for there was a safe harbor for the Carrie. Farther on were Au Train Bay, Island, River and Lake where she had also camped. The location was called Au Train by the French fur traders, denoting the place of the dogsled team, or “traineaus.” Au Train River was one of the principal waterways used by the Indians to cross the peninsula in their canoes, its headwaters being very close to those of the White Fish River which flows south into Little Bay de Nocque, requiring a very short portage. The boy inquired as to its Indian name, but the mother did not know that answer.

The excursion ship passed close to Grand Island, the kitchi niniss, “great island” of the Indians, where they came in the spring in large numbers — as many as five hundred at a time — with their winter’s take of furs, and they stayed to hunt, fish and pick berries. In the fall they took to their canoes and followed the waterways south to the warmer climate of Lake Michigan. They camped at the southern end of “Kitchi Niniss,” for here was shelter, and the four small log cabins of the traders where they disposed of their furs. The cabins were still there — the mother had visited them only a short time previously.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Pictured Rocks

The highlight of the cruise was, of course, Pictured Rocks, a place of several names. The Chippewa Indians called them the “sea gull rocks,” or gai-ash-kabi-kong. Others knew them as sch-kuee-arch-ibi-kung, “the end of the rocks,” and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, the Indian Agent, knew them as ish-pa-beta, the “high cliffs.”

The skipper of the Christopher Columbus held a course as close to the wave-sculptured rocks as possible, so that all aboard might enjoy this handiwork of Mother Nature at her best. Even the dancers and the orchestra left their merriment to enjoy this scene of beauty. The ship slowed down to half-speed ahead, and the boy could hear the jingle of the bell as its pleasant sound came up through an engine room ventilator, and the reply in the pilothouse. As they passed along, his mother told him of Miners Castle, the Amphitheatre, Sail Rock with its several facets, the Chapel and the Grand Portal, its low, wide entrance leading into mysterious darkness where Mennibojon lived deep in the caverns. Some day, when he had a ship of his own, he would explore it to its very depths.

His mother, a versatile artist with story, pen and brush, held her son in rapt attention as the miles passed behind them. She called his attention to the beauties of nature — the lights and shades of the colors — and even a lad so young in years was impressed with all that he saw and heard.

Memories of the delightful hours spent on the Christopher Columbus with his mother, sailing over the blue, placid waters of Lake Superior would be remembered forever.

All too soon the Christopher Columbus rounded the end of the breakwater in Iron Bay. The young captain signaled for “ahead slow” and then “stop” and after a minute or so, “astern” and “stop” again, easing the mighty ship alongside the dock with never a bump! The crew, in their white ducks, tossed the coils of light lines of the hawser cables to the waiting dockmen, who caught them as they flew through the air.

The steel cables, as they emerged from the hawseholes, looked like snakes as they splashed into the water. Hand over hand, the dockmen hauled the dripping cables in, dropping the bights over the dock pilings. The slack disappeared into the ship, and the cables, now taut, held the Christopher Columbus fast, and the gangplank slid out onto the dock. Not till then did this embryo navigator, his imaginative duties finished, go to find his mother. He waved to the officers in the pilothouse, and left with the other tired excursionists, barely able to climb the steep hills to his home and to tumble fully dressed into his own “berth.”

Read More of Inland Seas Online

About the Author: Did this young lad, with the love of the sea filling his mind and heart, later become a sailor? The answer has to be “no!” By the time he had reached the age of decision he had chosen another means of transportation, which somewhere along the way had captivated his imagination But this time the attraction lasted for 45 years! Specializing for the greater part of this period in the safe operation of high speed trains, he became proficient in the field of railway signaling.

During these years he also acquired an interest in local history and historical writing, a pursuit to which he has devoted full time since retirement. The author of this article is Executive Vice President of the Marquette County Historical Society and Editor of its quarterly Publication, Harlow’s Wooden Man.

Learn more about our award-winning Inland Seas© journal and become an Inland Seas member

christopher columbus cruise ship

EXPLORE THE MUSEUM

Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus

Film Details

  • Articles & Reviews

Brief Synopsis

Cast & crew, david macdonald, fredric march, florence eldridge, francis l. sullivan, linden travers, sir arthur bliss, technical specs.

Columbus seeks and receives the patronage of the Spanish court for his voyage to the west.

christopher columbus cruise ship

Stephen Dade

Cyril roberts.

Christopher Columbus

Miscellaneous Notes

Released in United States 1949

Released in United States on Video October 1992

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Christopher Columbus ship replica tours back on despite tribal objections

by Lynne Fort, Bangor Daily News

The town of Bucksport appears to have restarted the event. (Santa Maria){p}{/p}

( BDN ) -- Two days after announcing that a controversial Christopher Columbus ship replica would cease holding tours on the Penobscot River, the town of Bucksport appears to have restarted the event.

A Facebook post on the town’s page states that the Santa Maria started doing tours at 10 a.m. on Sunday and will continue through Wednesday morning. There was no explanation for the change.

[State Fire Marshal's Office investigating cause of structure fire in Washington]

The ship was originally set to come up the Penobscot and visit various ports as part of a Maine bicentennial event. After outcry from Maine tribes over the inclusion of the replica of a ship sailed by Christopher Columbus, whose arrival in the Americas paved the way for the colonization of those continents, the ship’s tour was cancelled on Friday night.

Dick Campbell, a former Republican state legislator from Orrington and lead organizer of a tall ships festival put on by the Penobscot Maritime Heritage Association, explained the initial cancellation in a statement.

“In our interest to celebrate Maine’s maritime heritage and bring masted ships to the Penobscot basin and upriver to Bangor, we failed to appreciate the symbolic significance of bringing the replica of the Santa Maria to port,” Campbell said. “We are now much more aware of the impact having that vessel here has on those whose histories pre-date Maine statehood. We apologize to those who have been offended by our error.”

[Maine senators join push to fund low-income college students]

Maulian Dana, tribal ambassador for the Penobscot Nation, said in a Facebook post that having a ship that is a replica of one sailed by Columbus was disrespectful and a desecration of a river that the Penobscot hold sacred.

“The Penobscot Nation is disappointed and disheartened that any group would use a replica of a ship used by Christopher Columbus to celebrate the heritage and statehood of Maine,” tribal leaders said in a statement on Friday afternoon. “While offensive in numerous ways, as well as historically inaccurate, it is also deeply harmful to the Wabanaki Nations as well as the descendants of all Indigenous Nations.”

christopher columbus cruise ship

IMAGES

  1. c Columbus Cruise ship

    christopher columbus cruise ship

  2. The Christopher Columbus, an oddly shaped "whaleback" style passenger

    christopher columbus cruise ship

  3. Replicas of Christopher Columbus' ships to visit Muskegon Aug. 25-28

    christopher columbus cruise ship

  4. CMV Columbus Ship Review

    christopher columbus cruise ship

  5. Christopher Columbus's Ship Santa Maria Photograph by Library Of

    christopher columbus cruise ship

  6. Christopher Columbus' lost ship, the Santa Maria, may have been found

    christopher columbus cruise ship

VIDEO

  1. Christopher Columbus Ships: A Vessel that Discovered "America"

  2. Columbus Day: Christopher Columbus Sets Sail

  3. Christopher Columbus' Ships Were Sleek, Fast, and Cramped

  4. Take a tour of Columbus' ships "Nina" and "Pinta"

  5. Ep.6 The Voyages of Christopher Columbus

  6. Replica Christopher Columbus ships sail into Chattanooga

COMMENTS

  1. SS Cristoforo Colombo

    The Cristoforo Colombo was built in Genoa at the Ansaldo Shipyards. The Andrea Doria was already built by the time Cristoforo Colombo was completed. She was launched in 1953 and was ready for a 1954 maiden voyage. When launched, the Cristoforo Colombo was larger than the Andrea Doria. Hence, the ship was the largest merchant ship in Italian ...

  2. SS Christopher Columbus

    The SS Christopher Columbus was an American excursion liner on the Great Lakes, in service between 1893 and 1933.She was the only whaleback ship ever built for passenger service. The ship was designed by Alexander McDougall, the developer and promoter of the whaleback design.. Columbus was built between 1892 and 1893 at Superior, Wisconsin, by the American Steel Barge Company.

  3. Santa María (ship)

    Christopher Columbus on Santa María in 1492, oil Colombo monument One of Santa María ' s alleged anchors on display at Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien Ship model at Fort San Cristóbal, San Juan, Puerto Rico. La Santa María de la Inmaculada Concepción (Spanish for: The Holy Mary of the Immaculate Conception), or La Santa María, originally La Gallega, was the largest of the three ...

  4. The Ships of Christopher Columbus Were Sleek, Fast—and Cramped

    On August 3, 1492, Christopher Columbus and his crew set sail from the port of Palos in southern Spain on three vessels: la Santa Clara (Niña), la Pinta and la Santa Gallega (Santa Maria). Two of ...

  5. Cristoforo Colombo

    Cristoforo Colombo and Leonardo da Vinci were called express liners in spite of their 23-knot service speed. The required speed for the coveted Blue Riband of the Atlantic, which was held by the American liner United States, was approximately 35 knots. But there were many ships with a service speed below 20 knots, so 23 knots should be looked ...

  6. The World's Fastest Ocean Liner May Be Restored to Sail Again

    Tied to a pier in Philadelphia for 20 years, the rusted, stripped, but still majestic S.S. United States could return to service as a luxury cruise ship.

  7. Columbus Sets Sail

    Caravels of Columbus. Columbus set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. On August 3, 1492, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus started his voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. With a crew of 90 men and three ships—the Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria—he left from Palos de la Frontera, Spain.

  8. Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus - Explorer, Voyages, New World: The ships for the first voyage—the Niña, Pinta, and Santa María—were fitted out at Palos, on the Tinto River in Spain. Consortia put together by a royal treasury official and composed mainly of Genoese and Florentine bankers in Sevilla (Seville) provided at least 1,140,000 maravedis to outfit the expedition, and Columbus supplied more ...

  9. Christopher Columbus' Fourth and Last New World Voyage

    On May 11, 1502, Christopher Columbus set out on his fourth and final voyage to the New World with a fleet of four ships. His mission was to explore uncharted areas to the west of the Caribbean in hopes of finding a passage to the Orient. While Columbus did explore parts of southern Central America, his ships disintegrated during the voyage, leaving Columbus and his men stranded for nearly a year.

  10. Aboard the Niña: Columbus replica evokes glorious past

    For more information, including the tour schedule, details on joining the crew, and why there are no plans to include a replica of the Santa Maria, Columbus' flagship on the 1492 voyage, go to ...

  11. Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus. Christopher Columbus (born between August 26 and October 31?, 1451, Genoa [Italy]—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain) master navigator and admiral whose four transatlantic voyages (1492-93, 1493-96, 1498-1500, and 1502-04) opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas.

  12. Christopher Columbus

    The explorer Christopher Columbus made four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. His most famous was his first voyage, commanding the ships the Nina, the ...

  13. SS Columbus (1922)

    SS. Columbus. (1922) Scuttled by crew to avoid capture by Royal Navy, 19 December 1939. Columbus was a German ocean liner laid down before the start of World War I. The vessel was originally to be named Hindenburg. However, her then- sister, originally named Columbus, was handed over to British government and then sold to the White Star Line ...

  14. CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, one of the nicest ships ever built

    CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, one of the nicest ships ever built. - January 22, 2012. Cristoforo Colombo. Antonio Silva January 22, 2012 at 3:18 PM. Dear Vitor, I remember "Cristoforo Coloombo" when he was in Azores in the years 60. In that time many people from Azores traveler to and from USA on board of ships of Italian Line.

  15. Early career and voyages of Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus, Italian Cristoforo Colombo Spanish Cristóbal Colón, (born between Aug. 26 and Oct. 31?, 1451, Genoa—died May 20, 1506, Valladolid, Spain), Genoese navigator and explorer whose transatlantic voyages opened the way for European exploration, exploitation, and colonization of the Americas.He began his career as a young seaman in the Portuguese merchant marine.

  16. Santa Maria de Colombo

    The best available evidence suggests that Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in 1451. He is commonly described as the discoverer of the New World — America. ... And on August the 03rd 1492, Columbus and his fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria, the Pinta and the Niña, set sail across the Atlantic. Ten weeks later, land was sighted. On ...

  17. 9 Real Stops On Christopher Columbus's Voyages

    1. THE CANARY ISLANDS. When Columbus set sail from the Spanish port of Palos on August 3, 1492, he already had his first pit stop planned. The Niña, Pinta, and Santa Maria headed to the Canary ...

  18. The Niña & Pinta

    Welcome to Sanger Ships LLC and our two Columbus replica ships - our original Niña, the most historically accurate replica of a Columbus Ship ever built, and our newer Pinta. Deck length - 65', Beam - 18', Draft - 7'. Tonnage - 75, Sail Area - 1919 sq ft. Deck length - 85', Beam - 23', Draft - 7.5'. Tonnage - 101, Sail Area - 3800 sq ft.

  19. Christopher Columbus

    Christopher Columbus (l. 1451-1506 CE, also known as Cristoffa Corombo in Ligurian and Cristoforo Colombo in Italian) was a Genoese explorer (identified as Italian) who became famous in his own time as the man who discovered the New World and, since the 19th century CE, is credited with the discovery of North America, specifically the region comprising the United States.

  20. Pinta (ship)

    La Pinta (Spanish for The Painted One, The Look, or The Spotted One) was the fastest of the three Spanish ships used by Christopher Columbus in his first transatlantic voyage in 1492. The New World was first sighted by Rodrigo de Triana aboard La Pinta on 12 October 1492. The owner of La Pinta was Cristóbal Quintero. The Quintero brothers were ship owners from Palos.

  21. The Christopher Columbus

    Captain Alexander McDougall's whaleback were a great departure from the conventional type of bulk cargo carriers on the Great Lakes, but the Christopher Columbus was unique, for she was the only one of this type to be built as an excursion steamer.Launched at Superior, Wisconsin, on December 3, 1892, she was the twenty-eighth whaleback built between June 1888 and July 1898.

  22. Christopher Columbus (1949)

    In a further effort to block Columbus's journey, Bobadilla uses the beautiful Beatriz (Kathleen Ryan) to distract him from his mission. It is finally three years later that the Queen agrees to finance Columbus's triumvirate of ships, the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. With the backing of the Queen, Columbus finally sets off on his journey.

  23. Christopher Columbus ship replica tours back on despite tribal

    Christopher Columbus ship replica tours back on despite tribal objections. by Lynne Fort, Bangor Daily News. Sun, July 11th 2021. The town of Bucksport appears to have restarted the event. (Santa ...