My trip on "GUGLIELMO MARCONI"

                       "MARCONI" at Lisbon in 1976, copyright Luis Miguel Correia

My trip on "MARCONI" is something I will never forget, I was only 18 back in 1976 already a ships enthusiast, well more than that really, she represented everything a passenger ship meant to me, beautiful, sleek, fast, cosmopolitan and romantic, my passion for ships and the sea in just one word "MARCONI". We left Lisbon 10.5.1976 late evening, the ship had a late arrival in the Portuguese Capital due to bad weather, "MARCONI" being a fast ship recovered travelling at 22.5 knots so our arrival to Barcelona was on time on the 12.5.1976. I went ashore, this was my first visit to Barcelona, remember falling in love with this incredible city, the weather was perfect, the passenger ships in those days docked a lot closer to the city centre so my home away from home was always in sight and what a spectacle she was sparkling in the sunshine. We departed on time, the weather changed during the night strong winds hit the ship, officers on the bridge commented how stable she was at sea, we anchored at Cannes the following morning on time, this time I stayed on the bridge and paid my first visit to the engine room, those massive turbines could be kept working for an year, they could last forever on the other end boilers could become an issue any time. Genoa was the next port of call, we steamed at 22 knots it only took about six hours for the ship to get to the first of the two Italian ports scheduled for these ITALY/SOUTH AMERICAN trips, we stayed for nearly 48 hours, Genoa was beautiful and very warm, our home always there with excellent food to be savoured during various times during the day. After Genoa, Naples would be the final port of call the next day, the ship was late due to boiler problems, as if they were expected we only managed 17/18 knots, I remember a lot of black smoke coming out of her beautiful funnel, for me the most beautiful I have ever seen to this day, strong competition from the FRANCE's though. We stayed for five days, plenty of time to visit Naples, I was invited to visit Rome by some new friends met on board, this would be my first visit to the Italian Capital. I went back to Lisbon via the same ports of call spending most of the time on the bridge, engine room and with officers and crew, talking about my favourite ship and subject, Ocean Liners. All photos my collection apart from the one highlighted

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" at Lisbon in 1976

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" in Lisbon by Luis Miguel Correia during some of her calls in Lisbon during 1976 and early 1977, the short-lived employment with ITALIA LINE on the Europe/Brasil/River Plate route
Photos Copyright

"MARCONI" during the ITALIA LINE years

 Front cover of the ITALIA LINE brochure introducing MARCONI and first postcard with the new colours

The first brochure in detail above, produced by ITALIA LINE to promote their new ship "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" who joined CRISTOFORO COLOMBO on the Europe-Brasil-Argentina route in January of 1976.

"GALILEO GALILEI" in Lisbon for the last time as a LlOYD TRIESTINO ship

Historic momentum caught on camera by Luis Miguel Correia, the last call of "GALILEO GALILEI" in Lisbon as a Lloyd Triestino liner, the date 3.6.1975, she was at the end of another voyage around the World, she continued sailing for Lloyd until 1977, after a period of two years laid-up she returned to Lisbon in 1979 on her maiden voyage flying the I.C.I. colours after being converted to a full time cruise ship. Photos of that particular historic call coming here soon. Photos above copyright Luis Miguel Correia

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" at Lisbon by Luis Miguel Correia

Seen here during some of her calls in Lisbon, "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" by Luis Miguel Correia, photos taken in 1976 and 1977, further to my previous "post", she was a regular visitor to the port of Lisbon during her ITALIA LINE service from Europe to Brasil and Argentina. All photos Copyright, a special thank you to L.M.C. for allowing me to upload them here

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" transferred to ITALIA LINE

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" at the end of 1975 was transferred to ITALIA LINE to operate on the Brasil/Argentina service together with CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, she started the new employment in January of 1976, after a refit she turned up in Lisbon looking brand new, sleek, shining and to die for, I remember seeing her for the first time from onboard a local tug with other friends and colleagues, later we would step on board for the first time to know the new ship and get acquainted with the crew. Her new route started in Napoli, than Genova, Cannes, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, returning home exactly via the same ports of call, at the time we were expecting this new service to be long lasting, that or course was not to be the case, in fact this new service for MARCONI lasted less than two years, the decrease in passenger numbers using transatlantic liners was more than evident , all these liners were doomed, people would fly and would get to their destination in hours not days/weeks, our ship was designed for emigration, she needed emigrants and they were lacking in numbers month after month. After all these years I still remember clearly that comparisons with the other ships were inevitable, CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, was a one off ship, AUGUSTUS who MARCONI came to replace was a traditional ageing liner compared to the new ship, so the majority of first onlookers was favourable to the old duo, for me MARCONI was splendid, looking younger with a design created for speed, her funnel and mast incredibly beautiful, I completely fell in love with the new ship and can't describe how pleased I was to know that she would be a monthly visitor to Lisbon, remember thinking, I have to travel on this ship, only 18 at the time, first job was to persuade family to let me go, in those days 18 years old was very much a child and children woud not go to sea on their own. Four months later I was on board MARCONI as a passenger. First two photos above, the very first brochure of the ship distributed to the new overseas agents, bottom image, our ship at Genoa with the new ITALIA LINE colours. With these simple words I hope I have expressed what I felt about "MY NEW SHIP", since then I've developed a truly great admiration for her, today nearly four decades on, I can quite categorically state, she was "MY SHIP", one of my favourites ever

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" the end of the immigration career

Since the end of the Second World War, AUSTRALIA welcomed around a million immigrants per decade, on the aftermath of WWII the Country established the Federal Department of Immigration in order to sustain the urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of development and also defence. The immigration boom lasted until the mid seventies, ships like the GALILEO GALILEI and "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" were by the mid 70's travelling far from full passenger capacity, a significant percentage of their passengers were tourists taken opportunity of this billed "Voyages Around the World", I remember meeting a very wealthy passenger on MARCONI that had been on both ships for over a year, travelling around the World on GALILEO and than in mid 1976 this remarkable gentleman was on board MARCONI travelling to Brasil and Argentina. "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" was eventually withdrawn from service in 1975 and "GALILEO GALILEI" in 1977.

"GALILEO GALILEI" in Drydock

"GALILEO GALILEI" in Drydock, her formidable front and ship's particulars. Dry docks are used for Building, maintenance and repair of all sorts of vessels, older ships normally require a visit to dry dock every two years, as for newer ships they could go on what is usually called a "refit" between 3 to 5 years, but of course all depends on the ship. During the process of dry docking ships are taken out of the water so that all surfaces and external machinery can be repaired, worked on or just monitored, today an average dry docking lasts for two weeks.

"MARCONI" back in Genova at the end of her World Voyage

 "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" has ended this morning at Genoa her World Voyage, a trip started in the same city back in August on the 25.8.2012

"MARCONI" in Naples today

"MARCONI" is at Naples today, the ship docked at 08.00 and will depart this afternoon at 17.00 to Genoa, where she will dock tomorrow at 08.00, the end of her World Voyage. Above photo of "GALILEO GALILEI" at Naples in 1965