Advertisement

August’s Mystery Ship Answer

The Mystery Ship is Flying Cloud, as originally named, which was built by the Orlando Naval Shipyard in Livorno, Italy. She was completed for the Duke of Westminster and launched in 1927. In 1932 the Duke sold her and she changed hands several more times and was renamed Fantome. She was laid up at the start of World War II and remained so until 1956, when she was purchased by Aristotle Onassis.

He had her towed to Kiel, Germany, where she stayed until 1969, when she came into the hands of Mike Burke of Windjammer Barefoot Cruises fame. He had her sailed to Miami, where she was refitted to join the Windjammer fleet in the West Indies.

Fantome mainly operated in the Bahamas, where I joined her in 1975 as second mate. I sailed on different ships of the fleet for the next three years, but Fantome sailed round the Caribbean.

In October 1998 she was trying to outmanoeuvre Hurricane Mitch, and after the passengers and non-essential crew were landed, she sailed into the Gulf of Honduras, only to founder with all crew lost on 28 October 1998.

John Adamson, Laguna Beach, USA

Ships Montly - January 2024

Cutting costs in W2W operations: A new approach to vessel design

Offshore wind farms are currently serviced using Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) or helicopters for day operations, and Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) for extended periods. What...
Advertisement

Related articles

Cutting costs in W2W operations: A new approach to vessel design

Offshore wind farms are currently serviced using Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) or helicopters for day operations, and Service...

Windermere Lake Cruises’ oldest vessel is back in action

MV Tern, the oldest vessel in Windermere Lake Cruises 16-strong fleet, is proving age is no object as...

Significant increase in imports through the Port of Gothenburg

2024 was a year with both ups and downs in cargo volumes for Scandinavia’s largest port. On the...

Viking Line, Turku and Stockholm celebrate a year of a green shipping corridor

Viking Line, Port of Turku and Ports of Stockholm have been working together for a year on a...