End of the line for the Love Boat: MS ex-Pacific Princess beached at Aliaga for scrapping (UPDATE#2)

[Cooley Hurd]

Last edited Thu Aug 15, 2013, 05:39 PM - Edit history (4)

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/love-boat-makes-final-run-to-scrap-heap.aspx?pageID=238&nID=52222&NewsCatID=345

The MS Pacific, a cruise ship made famous by its appearance in the popular U.S. 1970s television show “The Love Boat,” has sailed its final voyage to a ship-breaking yard on Turkey’s Aegean Sea coast, a shipping group said.

Called the Pacific Princess when it was on the long-running comedy, the iconic 13,500-tonne, 171-m-long (561-foot-) vessel will be stripped for its metal and parts, said Ersin Çeviker of the Ship Recyclers’ Association of Turkey.

Aaron Spelling’s “The Love Boat,” starring Gavin MacLeod as the ship’s captain, ran on the U.S. television network ABC from 1977 to 1986. The show was set on board the Pacific Princess, which mainly sailed from California to the Mexican Riveria.
</snip>

Before being beached, she took on a significant list while in transit to Turkey:


Video of the actual beaching:

The ship in much better days:


...and now comes the earworm for the weekend:

Rest in peace, old girl!

UPDATE: Sadly, two scrapyard workers lost their lives shortly after her arrival in Aligia:

http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/12/travel/love-boat-accident/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

The ship, which had just completed its final voyage and was scheduled to be dismantled, was damaged while entering the port of Aliaga in Turkey's Izmir province and began taking on water in a storage area under the main engine.
Crews on Saturday began work to drain the water, deploying electrical pumps. Engine-exhaust buildup led to the toxic exposure, according to Izmir Ship Recycling Co., the firm that recently purchased the ship for 2.5 million euros (about $3.33 million).
Six other people were injured and were released from the hospital after receiving treatment, according to Izmir Ship Recycling.
The Aliaga attorney general's office has launched an investigation, but investigators haven't been unable to reach the accident site. Izmir Ship Recycling has to finish removing water and turn the ship off its side so authorities can continue the probe.
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Jeebus... she's not going without a fight.

UPDATE #2: She's turning turtle - in danger of rolling on her side:

http://maritimematters.com/2013/08/ex-pacific-princess-heeling-over/

<snip>
Selim San reports that ACIF (ex SEA VENTURE, PACIFIC PRINCESS, PACIFIC) is now in danger of capsizing as the ship continues to hemorrhage at a scrapyard in Aliaga, Turkey.
</snip>

She is giving up. She simply wants to roll over and sleep forever.

[Cooley Hurd]

2. Me too.

I've always been a ship-geek (even before the show), so this show was like candy to me. The writing didn't suck and the recurring characters were likable.

I had a brush with the old PP when I sailed my boat down to NY harbor from Albany in 2002. It was her last year in Princess Cruises livery, and she looked as if they just got done filming an episode. She was replaced later that year by a new Pacific Princess and went to work for a Mediterranean cruise line (Pullmantur Cruises) . She was passed to a third cruise line (Quail Cruises) that promptly ran her into the ground. Sad end for such an iconic ship.

[cascadiance]

3. Yeah, it wasn't too bad, even if Fred Gandy, who played Gopher later became a Republican congressman

... in the state of Iowa later... Too bad he couldn't have been more like Cooter from the Dukes of Hazard and become a Democratic congressman instead...

Looking at a link from Gandy's wiki page it seems interesting that he had an incident when filming the Love Boat in Turkey where he and Lauren Tewes horribly burned their hands there in a taxi. Perhaps a vision then for the end of the PP there?

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20055113,00.html

I myself had a "ship accident" when I was a kid getting on to a ship from the Turkish coast that went to the Greek Island of Rhodes... As we were getting on and going up the stairway from the dock to the ship my thumb got pinched between the handrail of the stairway and the ship when the ship drifted in to the dock and I thought it was going to get broken or worse. Fortunately it was only badly bruised.

[RudynJack]

13. Honestly

How do you live like that? When a simple thread about an iconic ship from 70s TV immediately makes you fret over how a lesser character was a Republican?

How do you get through a day? It must be wearing.

[cascadiance]

16. I was joking... I used to live in Iowa so was very aware of Gopher's later venture...

I also loved Babylon V as a television series, even if Jerry Doyle (Garabaldi) later went on to become a conservative talk show host. But the creator of the series J. Michael Straczynski is more of a hard core progressive like we are. I've always found this post of his to usenet pretty amusing, which perhaps revealed some of the show's tensions between different political perspectives of those on it, but perhaps what lead it to be a very creative sci fi series in addition to a good social commentary on our culture as well and political conflicts that were involved in it.

http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-16688

Bruce had been at the White House about a month ago, in the company of wife
Melissa Gilbert, president of the Screen Actors Guild, for a discussion with
some of the functionaries there concerning acting roles moving north of the
Canadian border.

As they're talking, in a long conference room, in the middle of the meeting the
door oens and Karl Rove -- main strategist for the Republican Party and power
behind the White House throne -- comes in. He says (paraphrased from memory)
to Melissa, "I hope you'll forgive me, but I actually here to see Bruce."

He then tells Bruce, "I just wanted to tell you that I'm a big science fiction
fan, and that Babylon 5 is the best science fiction television series *ever*."

Then there's a pause, and he adds....

"And the President thinks so too."

Upon hearing this, I went to lie down for a spell, but I fully expect to be
back on my feet by Spring, latest.

jms

Yeah, I know that Love Boat was far more of an escapist fun series, but this is a political discussion board. Sometimes these discussions bring up political memories too...

[Vinnie From Indy]

26. WTF?

Dude, ease up on the caffeine or something! The poster was merely relating their thoughts on the show. Different than yours they may be, but still valid and on topic.

Cheers!

[RudynJack]

27. I need to ease up?

You responded to a post from five days ago.

[Phentex]

6. Corny but fun!

and something different for the times. It was fun to see which stars would make cameos.

[Aristus]

4. It's pretty much a rowboat in size compared to the newer ships afloat these days.

Farewell to the PP, bad TV and all...

[Rhiannon12866]

5. This is really very sad. You'd think they could do better for an American icon

[Cooley Hurd]

10. Sadly, we can't save them all. Our efforts regarding iconic ships should be directed here:

http://www.ssusc.org/

This is the famous ship that didn't sink.

The SS United States emerged in the wake of World War II as a combination ocean liner and convertible troop ship. Because of this dual role, she was built to rigid U.S. Navy standards by the legendary Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Since the ship was built with an all-aluminum superstructure from the largest single order of aluminum yet placed, the vessel's weight was kept to a minimum compared to similarly-sized vessels such as Cunard's Queen Mary or Queen Elizabeth, each having displacements of greater than 77,000 long tons. By comparison, her aluminum superstructure reduced the SS United States' dead weight to a significantly lower 45,400 long tons, which combined with a maximum 247,785 horsepower rating (approximately 60,000 shaft horsepower greater than either of the Queens) gave the vessel a tremendous horsepower to weight ratio compared to its rivals.

The genius of naval architects Gibbs & Cox's design included dual engine rooms built as a precaution against the ship being rendered powerless during an attack. The vessel could travel in reverse at over 20 knots and it was later revealed that the ship's top speed during sea trials was in excess of 43 knots-an extraordinary achievement for its size. An efficient hull design, incorporating a knife-like stem, tiny bulbous bow and rounded cruiser and transom stern combination, coupled with a revolutionary propeller configuration, contributed to the liner's incredible speed. Capable of carrying 14,000 troops over 10,000 nautical miles without refueling, the liner's accommodations were thought to be somewhat austere. All furnishings and fittings were custom-designed from glass, aluminum and other non-flammable lightweight materials and built to ensure adherence to rigid Navy fire standards. Consequently it was a well-known publicity fact that the only wood aboard appeared in the ship's pianos and butcher blocks.
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[Buns_of_Fire]

11. $500,000 short-term, $250 million long-term...

In these days of multi-billionaires, it seems like such a piddling amount.

http://www.thereporteronline.com/article/20130702/LIFE01/130709905/ss-united-states-in-danger-of-losing-her-race-against-time#full_story

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. Excellent story. Thanks!

[Cooley Hurd]

21. You have to hand it to the SS US Conservancy - they're working their butts off...

...to save her. I really hope they do.

[EX500rider]

14. My vote is to save the USS Olympia..

...Commodore Dewey's Flagship for the Battle of Manila Bay in 1898 and the oldest surviving USN steel hulled ship.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Olympia_(C-6)

[Cooley Hurd]

20. I think she's safe now - two groups are vying to move her to their cities:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Olympia_(C-6)#The_TAPP_Process

The TAPP Process
As a result of the summit, the Independence Seaport Museum (ISM) in Philadelphia is seeking another non-profit organization to assume stewardship of Olympia to provide for her maintenance and restoration. On 6 March 2011, the ISM published a Transfer Application (TAPP) similar to a Request for Proposals. Those who qualified to apply for the TAPP include domestic governmental organizations and not for profit organizations with valid 501(c)(3) (charitable) IRS status. There are several organizations from the East, Gulf and West Coasts who submitted applications to preserve and display Olympia. Only four were found to be acceptable from Pennsylvania, California, South Carolina, and Washington DC.

One TAPP applicant, an independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation known as Friends of the Cruiser Olympia, was organized in 2009 with the goal of preserving Olympia and opening her to the public as a floating historic and educational museum that would preserve Olympia's structure, history, heritage, and tradition as a national treasure. The Friends of the Cruiser Olympia hosted a dinner on 23 June 2011, in the historic Mike Mansfield Room of the U.S. Capitol to raise awareness of their efforts to save, restore and preserve the Cruiser OLYMPIA from destruction by neglect. Participants included representatives of the U.S. Navy, Department of Defense, Navy League, Naval Historical Foundation, US Naval Academy Alumni Association, key Congressional staff from the House and Senate Armed Services Committees and the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation, the US defense industry, and the international community. With their support, the Friends submitted their TAPP application in September 2011 expressing their intention to keep her. The Friends application was found acceptable and the organization has begun preparations for Phase II of the TAPP process.

On 7 May 2011, the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) set up a national donation repository to allow donations received through it to be used directly for the much needed temporary and future hull repairs. The Independence Seaport Museum, although it is committed to giving up the vessel, will manage any repair work undertaken, should funds become available.

On 19 August 2011, the Mare Island Historic Park Foundation located at the closed Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California submitted an expression of intent to acquire Olympia. The Mare Island Historic Park Foundation has been operating for 18 years and currently operates two mansions, the oldest non-denominational chapel in the Navy, and a 50,000 square foot museum in the oldest building on the former shipyard. The Mare Island Historic Park Foundation intends to display the ship out of water in Mare Island's Dry Dock 1, a national historic landmark adjacent to the museum. By displaying the ship out of water, Mare Island Historic Park Foundations feels that future corrosion concerns with the hull will be eliminated and the venue will be enhanced by the ability to view not only the ship, but a historic graving dock as well.

On 13 October 2011, a bill was introduced in the House of Representatives that would require production of silver dollars commemorating Olympia. The cost of each coin would include a surcharge of $10, which would be used for the restoration and preservation of the ship.[51][52] The bill, HR 3180, names the Friends of the Cruiser Olympia as participants in the coin design and recipients of the funds raised to ensure Olympia's ongoing restoration and preservation.

As of May, 2013, only two organizations remain in the TAPP process: the Mare Island Historic Park and one from Beaufort, SC.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. Good news!

Even people who aren't ordinarily enamored of ships should be interested in seeing this one.

[B Calm]

7. The navy ship I was stationed on is now an

artificial reef on the bottom of the ocean.

[roamer65]

8. The Oriskany?

[B Calm]

17. USS Yosemite AD19

[Cooley Hurd]

19. Isn't she too far down to be an effective reef?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Yosemite_(AD-19)#Final_disposition

On 18 November 2003, Yosemite was expended as a target, sunk at a depth of 2340 fathoms (14,040 feet; 4,279 meters).

[Cooley Hurd]

9. ...or the Spiegel Grove (LSD-32)?

[Bryn]

15. I went on this cruise ship in 1971

when it was the Sea Venture going to Bermuda from NYC for 7 days before it became 'Love Boat'. Great memories.

RIP

[Cooley Hurd]

18. That must've been wonderful!

Her first year - did she still smell of fresh paint?

[Cooley Hurd]

22. Kicking for the update

[Cooley Hurd]

24. Kicking for a new update - a fascinating and sad end for the ex-Pacific Princess

[Rhiannon12866]

25. This is so sad - really hard to watch.

[Raine]

28. That's a sad sight to see. :-( nt