Aegean Star [Atmah, Aegean Star]

[Nicholas Peppas]

Aegean Star was a Greek passenger ship in the 1947-1950 period with an extensive schedule across the Mediterranean Sea. She belonged to teh Chagris Steamship Co which was a subsidiary of the Goulandris Holdings in London

Here is for example, her schedule for a 20-day period as announced on June 22, 1947

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Regrettably, she did not have a good reputation as the comments of an Israeli passenger in 1947 indicate

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[Nicholas Peppas]

So what was this ship before she came to Greece? Frankly, one of the most famous ships in the world. She was Atmah, the personal yacht of Baron Edmund Rothschild who was living in Le Havre, France and in England, and -after 1914- also visiting often Palestine was he was a major philanthropist and contributor to what eventually became Israel.

Atmah was a mega-yacht, an incredible vessel of 1,428 tons with a length of 88.2 m and a width of 10.4 m. As if that were not enough, in 1902 she was lengthened to 91. 6m with a tonnage of 1,538 tons. And by 1947, when she was transformed to a passenger ship her tonnage was 1,937 tons!

Her Miramar entry is

IDNo: 5601069 Year: 1898
Name: ATMAH Launch Date: 5.5.98
Type: Yacht Date of completion: 7.98
Flag: FRA Keel:
Tons: 1428 Link: 1556
DWT: Yard No: 403
Length overall: Ship Design:
LPP: 88.2 Country of build: GBR
Beam: 10.4 Builder: Fairfield
Material of build: Location of yard: Govan
Number of screws/Mchy/ Speed(kn): 2T-
Subsequent History: [1901 Lg to 91.6 m, 1538 g]
[1947 cv to passenger ship] - 47 AEGEAN STAR
Disposal Data: BU Spezia 30.12.50

Name Tons Change Starke Ref. Registered Owner Port
ATMAH 1898 1428 Baron de Rothschild
AEGEAN STAR 1937 1947 Goulandris Bros

Clydebuilt http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuil...hip.asp?id=766 lists her as having been an Admiralty ship during both World Wars I and II.

She was retired in 1950, age 52...

And here are several Atmah postcards and photos, none of them as Aegean Star
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This one is from the Marine Engineer of 1898 when she was built!
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A few more details here
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This is probably the nicest Atmah postard
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One more from the 1920s
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[Nicholas Peppas]

Ωραιοτατη καρτποσταλ του Atmah, γιωτ του βαρωνου Rotchild, και αργοτερα επιβατηγου Aegean Star

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[Nicholas Peppas]

Atmah, in Venice

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[Nicholas Peppas]

Μεγαλη αγγελια του Aegean Star στις 9 Μαιου 1947 οταν οργωνε την Μεσογειο.... Αλλα 3.500 τοννων δεν ηταν... Παντως θα πρεπει να ηταν μεγαλοπρεπες... Μαζι του και το Κομνηνος

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[Ellinis]

Mια περιγραφή ενός ταξιδιού από την Μασσαλία στη Χάιφα το 1948 με το AEGEAN STAR που άφησε πολύ καλές εντυπώσεις στον ταξιδιώτη:

The Aegean star was a passenger ship carrying mainly tourists from Marseilles to the Middle East. […] But, unlike the massive immigration on ships unsuitable for human transportation, (many of them were caught by the British and deported to Cyprus.) we were among the few lucky families who came as tourists, with false documents. [….] We had a very pleasant trip, with plenty of delicious food, […] the meals were a real feast. The whole atmosphere in the dining room was so elegant. There was a waiter for every table, holding out silver plates with delicacies for us to put on our saucers.
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Και μια περιγραφή ενός ακόμη ταξιδιώτη που το αναφέρει ως σκουριασμένο παλιό που κουνούσε στη χειμωνιάτικη θάλασσα:

On a November morning in 1947, I boarded a rusting steamship called the Aegean Star, bound from Marseilles for Haifa. Lined up on the cobbled wharf was a procession of gray, matchstick women, men, and children, ill-clad and disheveled. They were being herded into steerage by thick- muscled stewards, under the scrutiny of the ship's Greek captain, who was clad in starched whites as immaculate as milk.

At sea, his old vessel throbbed, quivered, and rolled as she moved, so that only the most intrepid risked the shipboard games. By far the most bracing was a ping-pong tournament on the lower stern deck, where the steerage refugees had set up a warped table between rusting anchor chains, lines of gray laundry and cast- off deckchairs…
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Με την ευκαιρία να δούμε και δυο σχέδια του πλοίου ως θαλαμηγός ATMAH
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αλλά και μια φωτογραφία όπως ήταν όταν υπηρετούσε εξοπλισμένο κατά το β' παγκόσμιο.

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[Nicholas Peppas]

To AEGEAN STAR σημερα στο E-bay

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/SHIP-PHOTO-P...item5420277c52

11/5/1947 Καθημερινη
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6/11/1947 Καθημερινη

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[Ellinis]

Σε μια φωτογραφία από τα τέλη της δεκαετιας του '40, του ιστορικού φωτογράφου Κώστα Μεγαλοκονόμου, φαίνεται στο βάθος ένα άσπρο επιβατηγό παροπλισμένο στη Σαλαμίνα. Ψάχνοντας ανάμεσα στα επιβατηγά της εποχής τελικά κατέληξα οτι πρόκειται για το AEGEAN STAR.
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Και κάποιες λεπτομέρειες από ιστοσελίδα για τους Rothschild στους οποίους ανήκες ως θαλαμηγός:

TSY Atmah saw long and distinguished service. Launched on the 5th May 1898, Atmah was a steel screw steamer 2 masted yacht built by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Govan, at the Fairfield Yard, No. 403. The vessel initially sailed under the flag of France.

A substantial vessel, Atmah's tonnage was 1428 grt /1746 tm, with a length of 289.5 ft, breadth of 34.2 ft and depth of 19.1 ft. In 1901 the vessel was lengthened by Beardmore at Govan to 314.1 ft, increasing the tonnage to 1573 grt. The engine builder was Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, and the engine was a 2-screw, twin triple expansion engine, capable of 508nhp 3000ihp, 16 knots.

Atmah’s first owner was Baron Edmond, and the first port of register was Havre. The vessel was registered to Edmond's son, James Armand de Rothschild (1878-1957) in 1940. During the First World War, Atmah reported on Admiralty service, and in July 1940 was purchased by the Admiralty as a target yacht and attached to the Fleet Air Arm for flying training, serving from 1944 as an accommodation ship, ‘HMS Atmah’. In 1947, Atmah was sold to the Chagris Steamship Co Ltd (Goulandris Bros.), London, and converted to a passenger ship. Renamed ‘Aegean Star’, she sailed for a further for three years, until withdrawn from service. In December 1950 she arrived at La Spezia for breaking by Cantieri di Portovenere S.p.A.

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