Lost Voyages … and Lost
Ships.
First, a very special
thank you to World Campus Afloat alumni Holly Beth Hennrichs-Dahms, as well as
Professor Robert J. Sager, for confirming this “Lost Voyage.” Holly did yeoman work over a two-year period
to finally track down the missing dates for the various ports of call for this
“unique” bit of history for Chapman College’s World Campus Afloat program. Thank you!
Thank you! Thank you!!!
Now to the Lost Voyage of
the Summer of 1974!!!
During the summer of
1974, Chapman College’s World Campus Afloat program made arrangements with the
Greece-based Chandris Line to share space on two of its regularly-schedule
passenger ships to run a month-long Upper-Division summer program (similar to
those run during the summer months of 1972 and 1973 aboard the S.S.
Universe Campus in the Pacific).
Rather than repeat the
Pacific Rim journey for yet a third summer in a row, Chapman College elected to
do a “Mediterranean Voyage of Discovery” program instead. Students flew to Milan, Italy and
subsequently joined the voyage program in Venice (via bus).
Dr. Hilton Bell served as
Dean, while Rex Tyner held the position of Associate Dean. Members of the faculty included Dr. Desmond
Bittinger, Dr. Susan V. Lenkey, Robert J. Sager and Joseph Cossman.
The Chandris Line ships
used for the Summer of 1974 Voyage were the TSS Regina Prima and the MV
Romanza, which were noted for their distinctive Greek letter Chi (X) smoke stacks.
The TSS Regina Prima departed
Venice, Italy on July 6, 1974 and returned On July 20, with port stops at
Katakolon (Olympia), Greece; Piraeus, Greece; Yalta, Ukraine (Soviet Union);
Odessa, Ukraine (Soviet Union); Constanza, Romania; Istanbul, Turkey; Mykonos,
Greece; Iraklion, Crete; Corfu, Greece and Dubrovnik, (Croatia) Yugoslavia.
Students remained on
board the TSS Regina Prima and then transferred to the MV
Romanza the next day, July 21.
Ports of call for the MV Romanza were Valletta, Malta; Sfax, Tunisia (with layover for bus trip to
Tunis); Palermo, Italy; Syracuse, Italy; Dubrovnik (Croatia); Yugoslavia and
Split (Croatia), Yugoslavia … returning to Venice, Italy on July 31, 1974.
About the “Lost Ships”
from the Summer of 1974:
TSS Regina Prima measured 493 feet by 64 feet
Originally built in 1938
as the S.S. Panama, the ship became an United States Army transport
ship (operated by the Merchant Marine with armed Coast Guard support) and was renamed
the USAT
James Parker (named in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Major General James Parker) in June of 1941. All of the passenger ship elements were gutted
(lounges, bars, etc.) to created triple-bunk military accommodations.
Of note, the USAT
James Parker was used after the end of World War II to transport both
war brides (and babies) and paintings and other works of art rescued from the
Nazis and made famous by writer Robert M. Edsel’s book, “The Monuments Men:
Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History” (and
subsequent film directed by and starring George Clooney).
After the war the ship
was renamed and refitted as a passenger ship, first as the President Hoover, then
the Regina
and finally in the 1973 as the TSS Regina Prima. With the Arab Oil embargo, coupled with its
size and age, it was docked in Piraeus, Greece in 1979 … where it remained
until 1985 when it was sold for scrap.
MV Romanza measured 459 feet x 60 feet
Originally built in 1938
as the MV Huascaran, it made only one voyage as a passenger ship
(spring of 1939) before being “acquired” by the German Navy for use as a
transport ship and eventually as a repair and tender ship (Norway theatre of
operations). She was captured by allied
troops in 1945.
The Canadian government
claimed the ship as part of the War Assets Program as reparation
for shipping losses that occurred during the war. She was renamed the MV Beaverbrae in 1948 and
served as both a passenger and cargo ship between St. John (New Brunswick) and
European ports (London, Antwerp and eventually Bremen, Germany on a regular
basis after the port was repaired).
She was renamed the MV Aurelia in 1954 and eventually
acquired by the Chandris Line in 1970 and refitted and renamed the MV
Romanza in 1970.
After the shared World Campus Afloat voyage, the ship
continued in service until 1997 when a fire broke out on board the ship (just
after leaving port in Cyprus) on Oct. 4. 673 passengers had to be rescued from the
burning MV Romanza. The hulk
was scrapped in 1999.
The two ships, over a 26-day period, covered 5,619 nautical
miles and made — for the Semester at Sea (aka: World Campus Afloat) program —
16 port calls, which included 12 first-ports.
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