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SS Argentina (1958)

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Name
  
Argentina

Port of registry
  
Panama

Christened
  
March 12, 1958

Weight
  
2.376 tons

Operator
  
Sponsored by
  
Mrs. William T. Moore

Launched
  
12 March 1958

SS Argentina (1958) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Cost
  
$24,444,181 ($203 million today)

SS Argentina (1958) was an ocean liner launched at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi in 1958. The ship was originally named Argentina for Moore-McCormack's South American service, but was renamed a number of times. The ship last served as a cruise ship for Commodore Cruise Line under the name Enchanted Isle and was scrapped in Alang, India, in 2003 sailing under the name New Orleans for the final voyage. As of 2016, Argentina was the last luxury ocean liner completed in the United States.

Contents

Design and construction

Argentina was a replacement for Moore-McCormack's SS Argentina (1929). Argentina and her sister ship, Brasil, used MARAD Design P2-S2-9a. Construction was subsidized by the United States Maritime Administration under title V, sections 501 and 504 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.

Ingalls Shipbuilding had the lowest US bid at $24,444,181 ($203 million today) for each of the two ships. The Maritime administration subsidized the cost of construction by paying $19,528,362 ($162 million today) to support the US shipbuilding industry. Meaning that the ships would have cost nearly $20 million less if they had been built outside the United States. As of 2015, Brasil and Argentina were the last luxury liners built in the United States.

Design included Denny-Brown stabilizers, a system of retractable fins to stabilize the ships in heavy seas.

History

Argentina was launched March 12, 1958 and christened by Mrs. William T. Moore, wife of the Moore-McCormack lines president. The ship departed Pascagoula December 1, 1958 bound for New York to be delivered. The ship departed on her maiden voyage December 12, 1958.

Naming history: ArgentinaVeendamBrasilVeendamMonarch StarVeendamBermuda Star (1984–01/09/1990) → Enchanted IsleNew Orleans.

In 1968, Captain Charles Reid, Ship master of Argentina, disappeared from the ship while underway in the Caribbean and was lost at sea. His death was labelled an "apparent suicide" by Moore-McCormack lines.

Under the name Monarch Star, the ship suffered an engine failure in January 1977 of the coast of Cuba forcing 368 passengers to transfer to a sister ship Monarch Sun.

Under the name Bermuda Star, the ship was undergoing a $25 million ($48.3 million today) overhaul by Southwest Marine, Inc at the Port of Portland, Oregon in December 1989 when a fire broke out on board. The fire resulted in a five alarm response and five of the crew went to a local hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. The fire started on the promenade deck and was started by a cutting torch. Damage was estimated at $2 million ($3.86 million today).

Bermuda Star ran aground in Buzzards Bay, five miles from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in poor visibility in June 1990. The ship sustained a 90 ft long tear in the hull, two feet wide near the fuel tanks. Over a thousand passengers were evacuated and about 7,500 U.S. gallons (28,000 L) of number 6 fuel oil was spilled. The ship was to be towed to a drydock in New York for repairs. The incident occurred in the days following the June 8, 1990 Mega Borg Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the story was paired with the Mega Borg story in news media.

She served Commodore Cruise Line under the name Enchanted Isle.

In 1994, Enchanted Isle became a floating hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia, returning to the Commodore fleet the following year.

Fate

The ship was renamed New Orleans and sailed under its own power to India for scrapping. The ship was beached at Alang during high tide on December 9, 2003 and was scrapped over the following months.

References

SS Argentina (1958) Wikipedia