| Content | • The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings.
• The hull is made of wood and painted. This model is not a kit and ready for display. The model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
• The specifications: 34.25L x 3.93W x 10.62H (inch) or 87L x 10W x 27H (cm)
• This is brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii, please contact us for extra shipping cost.
• Item ship from Houston Texas by Standard shipping USPS/ UPS/ FedEx ground
• International buyer pays any duty/ import tax if any.
HISTORY
SS Michelangelo was an Italian ocean liner built in 1965 for Italian Line by Ansaldo Shipyards, Genoa. She was one of the last ships to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic. Her sister ship was the SS Raffaello.
Design and construction
The Italian Line began planning new ships in 1958. Originally they were to be slightly larger than SS Leonardo da Vinci, which was then being built, but jet aircraft had not yet had a notable effect on the Mediterranean area and a pair of genuine superliners seemed desirable, both from a commercial point of view and to provide jobs to sailors and shipyard workers. It was decided that the new ships would be the largest built in Italy since the SS Rex in 1932.
It was decided that accommodations aboard the ships would be divided into three classes. For some reason it was also decided that the three bottom-most passenger decks would not have any portholes. It has been claimed that this made the ship's sleek hull shape, but that seems unlikely to be true as ships of similar length/width ratio have been built with windows along the entire hull. Whatever the shortcomings in their initial design, though, the new sisters were advanced on the technological side. The most striking feature in the ships was their Turin polytechnic-designed funnels, which consisted of an intricate trellis-like pipework (instead of the traditional even surface) to allow wind to pass through the funnel, and a large smoke deflector fin on the top. Although criticised, the funnel design proved to be highly effective in keeping smoke off the rear decks. The smoke deflectors became popular in ship design during the 1970s and 1980s, whereas the idea of allowing wind to pass through the funnel was picked up again in the late 1980s and is almost the norm in modern shipbuilding.
The Michelangelo's interiors were designed by naval architects Nino Zoncada, Vincenzo Monaco and Amedeo Luccichenti, who gave the ship a less adventurous, more traditional look than the designers of her sister Raffaello.
Service
After several delays the Michelangelo, under command of Senior Captain Mario Crepaz, was finally ready for service in May 1965. During the sea trials some vibrations were detected on the stern of the ship. Michelangelo was drydocked in December 1965 and received new propellers and some modifications to her transmission. She clocked 31.59 knots during her post-refit trials, making her the fifth-fastest passenger ship in the world at the time.
On Tuesday morning, April 12, 1966, five days after having departed Genoa, Michelangelo, under command of Senior Captain Giuseppe Soletti, was hit by an unusually large wave during a storm in the mid-Atlantic, which caused the forward part of her superstructure to collapse, or to be pushed backwards, and killed passengers Dr. Werner Berndt of Hamburg, Germany and John Steinbach of Chicago. One crew member, Desiderio Ferrari, died a few hours later and over 50 people were injured. Among the 1,495 passengers on board this crossing were Admiral Ernesto Giurati, President of the Italian Line and former Chief of the Italian Navy, Italian Chief of Protocol, Angelo Corrias, who was heading for a vacation in the States, German novelist Günter Grass and his wife Anna, as well as Bob Montana with his wife and four children. When repairs were carried out after the accident, the aluminum plating in the superstructure was replaced by steel plates. Similar reconstruction was carried out on the Raffaello and other contemporary ships such as SS United States and SS France.
In May 1972, Alfred Hitchcock took a voyage on this ship from New York to his screening of Frenzy at the Cannes Film Festival.
During the following years passenger numbers in the Transatlantic trade declined steadily due to competition from the air, and more and more ships were withdrawn. The Michelangelo spent more time cruising to warmer waters, but she made a poor cruise ship with her windowless cabins and three-class layout. She had large lido decks that were superior to even most purpose-built cruise ships of the time, but that was not enough to compensate for the ship's shortcomings, and Italian Line did not have enough funds to rebuild the ship to make her a more usable cruiser. Additionally, she was considered to be too large to be a cruise ship by that time's standards.
Epilogue
Italy's flagship SS Michelangelo made her last Atlantic crossing in July 1975, under command of Senior Captain Claudio Cosulich. Afterwards she was laid up at La Spezia alongside her sister. Several buyers (including Knut Kloster of Norwegian Cruise Line) inspected the ships but did not wish to buy them due to the costs required to modernise them to cruise ship standard. There was one serious buyer, Home Lines, who wished to buy the ships and keep them under Italian flag for cruising in the Caribbean. The Italian Line refused to sell the sisters, reportedly because they felt keeping the Italian flag would have associated the "embarrassing money-losers" with them.
In 1976 a buyer was found that agreed to the terms sought by Italian Line. The Shah of Iran purchased the ships, to be used as floating barracks. The ships that had cost $45 million each were now sold at the price of $2 million per ship. The Michelangelo ended up in Bandar Abbas where she was to spend the next fifteen years.
In 1978 plans were made to reconstruct her as the luxury cruise ship Scià Reza il Grande (in honour of Rezā Shāh). However, an expert team sent from Italy to inspect the ship came to the conclusion she was too badly deteriorated to make rebuilding a viable option. Similar plans were made again in 1983, but they too fell short. Finally, in June 1991, an end was put to the Michelangelo's suffering when she was scrapped in Pakistan.
| • The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings.
• The hull is made of wood and painted. This model is not a kit and ready for display. Model is built to scale 1:250
• Model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
• Specifications: 31.10L x 4.72W x 10.23H (inch) or 79L x 12W x 26H (cm)
• Brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii, please contact us for shipping cost.
• Item ship from Houston Texas by Standard shipping USPS/ UPS/ FedEx ground
• International buyer pays any duty/ import tax if any.
Return/ Exchange Policy
• For some reasons if you wish to return the item, please consider not to open the item out of the wooden crate or open the item out of the styrofoam. You can open the carton box, lift up the whole wooden crate and check the models that are packed in wooden crate. For the items are packed in solid styrofoam, you can open the carton box, lift up the top part (styrofoam lid) and check the model. Please do not cut any strips or take the model out of the wooden crate or out of the styrofoam. It is very risky of damages to the item when you return if you open or remove the item out of the wooden crate or the styrofoam. We only accept and refund in full when the model return in good shape.
• Returned or exchanged products must be in brand-new, original condition, and have all original packaging, materials, and accessories .
• Buyer pays return shipping.
• 15% restocking fee might apply.
|
- The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings.
- The hull is made of wood and painted. The windows are cut and see through. Model is built with lights and ready for display.
- Model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
- Specifications: 40.15L x 4.72W x 11.81H (inch) or 102L x 12W x 30H (cm)
- Brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii please contact us for extra shipping cost.
- Oversea buyers pay any import tax.
Return/ Exchange Policy
- For some reasons if you wish to return the item, please consider not to open the item out of the wooden crate or open the item out of the styrofoam. You can open the carton box, lift up the whole wooden crate and check the models that are packed in wooden crate. For the items are packed in solid styrofoam, you can open the carton box, lift up the top part (styrofoam lid) and check the model. Please do not cut any strips or take the model out of the wooden crate or out of the styrofoam. It is very risky of damages to the item when you return if you open or remove the item out of the wooden crate or the styrofoam. We only accept and refund in full when the model return in good shape.
- Returned or exchanged products must be in brand-new, original condition, and have all original packaging, materials, and accessories .
- Buyer pays return shipping.
- 15% restocking fee might apply.
|
- The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings. This model is made of wood and dazzle painted. The windows are cut and see through. Model is built ready for display.
- Model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
- Specifications: 37.79L x 3.93W x 11.81H (inch) or 90L x 10W x 30H (cm)
- Brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii please contact us for extra shipping cost.
- Oversea buyers pay any import tax.
Return/ Exchange Policy
- For some reasons if you wish to return the item, please consider not to open the item out of the wooden crate or open the item out of the styrofoam. You can open the carton box, lift up the whole wooden crate and check the models that are packed in wooden crate. For the items are packed in solid styrofoam, you can open the carton box, lift up the top part (styrofoam lid) and check the model. Please do not cut any strips or take the model out of the wooden crate or out of the styrofoam. It is very risky of damages to the item when you return if you open or remove the item out of the wooden crate or the styrofoam. We only accept and refund in full when the model return in good shape.
- Returned or exchanged products must be in brand-new, original condition, and have all original packaging, materials, and accessories .
- Buyer pays return shipping.
- 15% restocking fee might apply.
|
- The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings.
- The hull is made of wood and painted. The windows are cut and see through. Model is ready to display.
- Model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
- Specifications: 40L x 5.11W x 11.81H (inch) or 100L x 13W x 30H(cm)
- Brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii please contact us for extra shipping cost.
- Oversea buyers pay any import tax.
Return/ Exchange Policy
- For some reasons if you wish to return the item, please consider not to open the item out of the wooden crate or open the item out of the styrofoam. You can open the carton box, lift up the whole wooden crate and check the models that are packed in wooden crate. For the items are packed in solid styrofoam, you can open the carton box, lift up the top part (styrofoam lid) and check the model. Please do not cut any strips or take the model out of the wooden crate or out of the styrofoam. It is very risky of damages to the item when you return if you open or remove the item out of the wooden crate or the styrofoam. We only accept and refund in full when the model return in good shape.
- Returned or exchanged products must be in brand-new, original condition, and have all original packaging, materials, and accessories .
- Buyer pays return shipping.
- 15% restocking fee might apply.
|
- The model is 100% scratch built with planks on frame construction method from the drawings.
- The hull is made of wood and painted. This model is not a kit and ready for display.
- Model comes with a display base and a brass name plate as shown photos.
- Specifications: 43.30"L x 5.11"W x 14.56"H or 110L x 13W x 37H (cm)
- Brand new product. Buyer from Alaska, Puerto Rico or Hawaii, please contact us for extra shipping cost.
- Item ship from Houston Texas by Standard shipping USPS/ UPS/ FedEx ground International buyer pays any duty/ import tax.
History
SS George Washington was an ocean liner built in 1908 for the Bremen-based North German Lloyd and was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States. The ship was also known as USS George Washington (ID-3018) and USAT George Washington in service of the United States Navy and United States Army, respectively, during World War I. In the interwar period, she reverted to her original name of SS George Washington. During World War II, the ship was known as both USAT George Washington and, briefly, as USS Catlin (AP-19), in a short, second stint in the U.S. Navy.
When George Washington was launched in 1908, she was the largest German-built steamship and the third-largest ship in the world. George Washington was built to emphasize comfort over speed and was sumptuously appointed in her first-class passenger areas. The ship could carry a total of 2,900 passengers, and made her maiden voyage in January 1909 to New York. In June 1911, George Washington was the largest ship to participate in the Coronation Fleet Review by the United Kingdom's newly crowned king, George V.
On 14 April 1912, George Washington passed a particularly large iceberg south of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and radioed a warning to all ships in the area, including White Star Line ocean liner Titanic, which sank near the same location. Throughout her German passenger career, contemporary news accounts often reported on notable persons—typically actors, singers, and politicians—who sailed on George Washington.
At the outbreak of World War I, George Washington was interned by the then-neutral United States, until that country entered into the conflict in April 1917. George Washington was seized by the United States and taken over for use as a troop transport by the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as USS George Washington (ID-3018), she sailed with her first load of American troops in December 1917.
In total, she carried 48,000 passengers to France, and returned 34,000 to the United States after the Armistice. George Washington also carried U.S. President Woodrow Wilson to France twice for the Paris Peace Conference. George Washington was decommissioned in 1920 and handed over the United States Shipping Board (USSB), who reconditioned her for passenger service. SS George Washington sailed in transatlantic passenger service for both the United States Mail Steamship Company (one voyage) and United States Lines for ten years, before she was laid up in the Patuxent River in Maryland in 1931.
During World War II, the ship was re-commissioned by the U.S. Navy as USS Catlin (AP-19) for about six months and was operated by the British under Lend-Lease, but her old coal-fired engines were too slow for effective combat use. After conversion to oil-fired boilers, the ship was chartered to the U.S. Army as USAT George Washington and sailed around the world in 1943 in trooping duties. The ship sailed in regular service to the United Kingdom and the Mediterranean from 1944 to 1947, and was laid up in Baltimore after ending her Army service. A fire in January 1951 damaged the ship severely, and she was sold for scrapping the following month.
Return/ Enchange Policy
• For some reasons if you wish to return the item, please consider not to open the item out of the wooden crate or open the item out of the styrofoam. You can open the carton box, lift up the whole wooden crate and check the models that are packed in wooden crate. For the items are packed in solid styrofoam, you can open the carton box, lift up the top part (styrofoam lid) and check the model. Please do not cut any strips or take the model out of the wooden crate or out of the styrofoam. It is very risky of damages to the item when you return if you open or remove the item out of the wooden crate or the styrofoam. We only accept and refund in full when the model return in good shape.
• Returned or exchanged products must be in brand-new, original condition, and have all original packaging, materials, and accessories .
• Buyer pays return shipping.
• 15% restocking fee might apply.
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