Go to brilliant.org/BigOldBoats/ to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription. What do you think, was the Belgenland one of the greats?
If they called 18000 miles, and the circumference of the earth is 25000 miles, how do you know that the radio signal didn't just cover the remaining 7000 miles in the other direction?
It's a bit of a shame it didn't survive long enough to be sold to Arnold Bernstein when he bought the rest of the company (and got the Pennland & Westernland). He was 'encouraged' to sell them to Holland America when the Nazis finally cracked down on Jewish-owned businesses. When war began they were used in the struggle against Nazi Germany. Pennland was sunk on the 25th of April, 1941. Westernland survived the war and ended up in the hands of Cunard White Star line. Plans to refit her for service by the company were abandoned due to her age, and she was sold in 1946 for conversion to whale depot ship, but that plan, too, was abandoned. She was broken up in 1947.
Its so tragic that ships like these, that didn't get a proper career or even get completed until post-war still ended up scrapped in the mid 1930s, giving them only 15 or so years of proper service while being scrapped alongside ships with double that time.
There wasn't much to save them back then. The depression of the 30's killed a lot of services particularly trans Atlantic ship travel, both because of low passenger volume, stricter immigration for Europeans heading for North America, and of course it was the dawning of commercial air travel. White Star line was bankrupt and the only way to survive somewhat was to merge with Cunard as that was the only way the British Government could support the two companies.
@@kyleenglot9184 I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I'd say planes wouldn't take a significant share of travel until the later 50s, surely not until after advancements in plane technology in WWII, so I wouldn't put that against them in this time. Regarding White Star Line specifically, I wonder if it really was the *only* way. Even when Bruce Ismay was still alive he had offered his help. True he would've died within a couple years and he had been out of the business for a while, but I wonder what plan he would've come up with, being someone who had so much experience in the business and understanding what White Star was built upon. It would've been interesting to see what someone who had been with the company in its more formative years could've done for it at that moment of crisis.
I've always been fond of the Red Star Line and the Belgenland. I had no idea the company was actually American from the beginning, which was really cool. And Belgenland was a stunner in her own right: some could say she was the "little" cousin to the Olympians, as she looked so similar inside-out. I also didn't know that she did so many cruises, effectively setting the trend for other big liners to follow like the Empress of Britain. She even almost had her own Olympic moment when she attempted to ram the U-Boat. Brilliant all around.
She was a cousin to Titanic in the sense she was a Harland and Wolff built 3 screwed combo liner. There were 21 such liners constructed during the 1910s including another 2 cancelled(White Stars Germanic and Red Stars Nederland). They were all relatively similar. Belgenland was the 5th largest of this family after the Olympics and Statendam.
Give it time. This channel will grow. You have too remember just how many UA-cam channels are out there. At least thirty% are Completely lame and full of complete ignorance. For real, some do Not know their left from their right and half of them more than likely do not know how to tie their own shoes. Straight Up!
Belgenland is one of the most beautiful liners in my opinion, and I would have loved to have seen her sister, Nederland, finished. Thank you for more great content!
I only stumbled upon this channel by happy accident two or three weeks ago but I'm very glad I did. The content is very well researched and laid out and it's incredibly easy to follow, too. I'm subscribed to several channels similar to this one and some of them are great but this channel is extremely underrated; I hope more and more people continue to discover "Big Old Boats" and that this channel gains the success that it very much deserves.
I visited the red star line museum 5-6 years ago and it was the first time I heard about the ship. Thank you for making a video about the ship bc there aren't many videos of the ship
Mr. Farmer, God bless you and your wife. When I became kidney failure Stage 5 and type 2 diabetic, I was told by those incompetent doctors that I had that I could no longer eat "processed meat." But, after following your recipe, which omits the "assholes and elbows" found in the processed meat in our stores, I have found a luncheon meat that I can eat. I followed your easy bologna recipe this past Sunday; and I produced a bologna that tasted 100 times better than anything I bought in the past. Thanks for putting this on line! I can't wait to use the same recipe to make olive loaf, pickle loaf, and salami. So now, I can tell those ignorant bastards who crippled me an told me to eat that bland dog food they had on their "diet sheets to GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!
Wow! Thanks for this amazing video. I have been an ocean liner buff since I was a tweener 50 some odd years back, but I have never heard of this ship. Such a well done history you did of not only the Belgenland liner but the shipping line. Excellent job.
Wow! If any liner deserved the title "The Most Interesting Ship in the World," The Belgenland would definitely be in the running. "She doesn't always sail cruises. But when she does, they involve circumnavigating the globe and roaring parties."
It's probably not too far fetched to assume that many interior items, like dining room chairs, the wicker furniture and cabin fittings may have been repurposed from items ordered and made for the Britannic but never installed, as the construction timing is roughly the same. Those dining room chairs are the same design as on the Olympic Class. The look and layout inside and out was nearly identical to the Olympic/Titanic, especially the 1st Cl. reception room and staircase landing area, or the decorative schemes for the 1st Cl. public rooms, such as the designs for the leaded glass windows or linoleum floor tiles. One of the original proposals for the Olympic Class was essentially a 40,000 ton version of this design, 3 funnels with a forward "island" bridge superstructure etc., echoing the "Big Four" in a slightly more modern interpretation.
Never heard of her and only knew vaguely about the Red Star Line--and I'm an ocean liner fanatic! Those $700,000 world cruises (in today's dollars) are mind-blowing. Thanks for the information.
🚢Bonjour, Big Old Boats and fellow Liner Loons! Now this is a pleasant surprise; another new documentary from this outtanding channel, and it's about a lovely ship that I'd never before heard of. A 3-stacker from Harland & Wolff with a cruiser stern and triple screws... and-be still, my heart- the beautiful (and possibly indestructible) Miss Violet Jessup! Sigh. What more could a man ask for? Well, actually... Another screw (hush now, my thoughts are as pure as my heart) and a few thousand more shaft horsepower? On the other hand, what's the hurry? Just look at this ship! Perhaps I'll see if Miss Jessop is free for dinner... naturally, I shall cut a dashing figure in white tie, and we can take a leisurely evening stroll on the promenade, and I will, of course, be a Perfect Gentleman, and- Well, a man can dream, can he not?🌠
Just wanted to say I love your videos and you’ve got such a smooth voice that as I’m working on various things I love putting your videos on as it helps me relax while learning something
Thank you for this excellent video! High quality production about an ocean liner about which so little is known --- and what a beauty she was. The Belgenland was called "the little Olympic", but she had her own identity.
I've been watching all of your videos for a while, and I must say that all of your videos are some of the most high quality maritime documentaries on UA-cam that I have ever watched! Keep it up!
Excellent episode. The Belgenland has long been one of my favorite ships. Thank you for creating this. She deserves a memorial of this quality. If you are ever in Antwerp, visit the Red Star Line museum. You’ll love it.
Another gripping telling of a ship I'd never heard of before - thank you! Man - would love to know more about how all of these many refittings took place - like, how long and to what extent. I mean, from cargo ship to troop carrier to an all-first class cruise ship.... The mind boggles~
There were a number of rumours about Belgenland - that she was originally going to be given to White Star as a Titanic replacement and called "Ceric". It was said that the original plan was for a 1,000 foot long, 80,000 ton liner but the plans were altered because of the war and she was given instead to the Red Star Line. It sees though that this rumour was brought about by the confusion of the war and the many changes of plan that it brought at H&W.
'Till recently, I've never heard of, the 'Red Star Line', and learned little of it. This documentary taught me the rest, that I needed to know, about this company. And the 'Belgenland', of which I also haven't heard of before. Thank you for the interesting education, of this beautiful ship👍☺️!!!
3:35 awwwwwe ❤🥹🥲😊 what an adorable picture. I love the cartoonish sort of drawing. Something about it, i can't quite say precisely what i find so charming in it. It's just so pretty and cute and has a way with the fine lines yet also the broad strokes - that's it! It's the complex simplicity! The water ripples and the ship's reflection, each line for sails can be seen, yet the little girl's hair is just one big piece (it doesn't look bad whatsoever btw) then you've got the guy in the little boat in the foreground of the ship... Its just a wonderful little piece of art, and a piece of history.
As a military history buff, the best thing the Captain could have done was what he did. Guaranteed someone at the periscope would've needed a change of shorts. Gorgeous ship.
Absolutely. It's a wonder she didn't sink due to the weight of the captain's balls of steel. The lookout's vigilance and great eyesight should also be highly commended. She seems to have had an excellent crew throughout her service.
A wonderful video, once again! You give the ship a real humanity, something it deserves. Seeing its demise, strangely, reminds me of the final days of a beloved and faithful labrador. Don't ask why! I can't help feeling it deserved a better fate. But I guess that's the destiny of most ships. They fade away.
I love the music you use for background ambiance. It so helps with giving feeling to the footage shown. Your videos are very well put together; I thoroughly enjoy them.
Thank you for this! This ship should have gotten something like this a long long time ago! Also a shout out to the Red Star Line. Often overlooked company.
I won't lie to you I had never heard of her until now, but she certainly looked like a beautiful ship , not sure how safe I would feel in the canvas bag swimming pool, I did notice on the Thomas Cook advertisement Olympic, Majestic and Homeric all joined in on the cruise business. Thanks for a great video looking forward to the next one.
And this exactly why I love your chanel, you tell these stories beautifully, stories that would be forgotten. And you just can't stop watching these videos. Also you voice is super relaxing. I hope you will continue this for years to come!
After a long week working the ramp at Chicago's Midway airport. I'm pleasantly surprised by a fabulous new ship video from big old boats. 😊❤thank you 🎉
Belgenland fit a lot into her 27,132 gross tons. In first class, besides the usual dining room, smoking room, and lounge, she had a swimming pool, a Turkish bath, a gymnasium, a drawing room, a library and card room, a Verandah cafe, a Palm Court ballroom, and a children’s playroom. Second class also featured a children’s playroom, a gymnasium and a Verandah cafe.
Originally she was to have a Sister to be named Nederland. However, WW1 canceled that project. Belgenland was definitely one of the best, she lived up to her name. She served reliably during WW1, she had a remarkable career, loved by so many. Even though she is now mostly forgotten, she succeeded in her role of providing amazing service for those wanting to have experience to the New World, and to take a cruise.
Visit the Red Star Line museum in Antwerp...it is housed in the company's old buildings right near the harbour and offers a lovely compliment to the Ellis Island museum ..but on the other side of the ocean 😉...Red Star Line forgotten ? NOT where I live !
To me, it is such a shame when ships with war time naval careers and successful pre-war and/or post war civil ocean liner careers are scrapped. But, I also do know it is insanely expensive to keep them as museums too.
Impossibly expensive. The ship has to be incredibly famous to even break even. The SS United States, despite holding the country's name and the record for fastest transatlantic crossing, is apparently going to be sunk as a reef after decades of rotting away in port.
What 4 funnel ship is in the background at 7:56? It has funnels that are not evenly spaced, which means it was likely a German ship. Perhaps the SS Deutschland? Or something from the North German Lloyd Line? Hmmmmm. This was an excellent story. I've heard of the Belgenland before but never knew about the many adventures that she had. That world cruise booking must have been epic!
Love your videos there so detailed and you really tell the liners story's very well👍 and the belgenland definitely deserves to be up there with the likes of the Queen Mary
Belgenland is often nicknamed as Belgium's Olympic. It's just tragic that she wasn't preserved. She would've been a wonderful museum next to Olympic and Mauretania. S.S. Lapland deserves a video as well.
Made by Harland&Wolff and stable in seas - no surprise to me. H&W more evolutionary approach to building ships resulted in Edwardian style interiors and reciprocating engines, and I like that. Sad, that career was so short. 30-es in US was paradoxical times, great development in transportation technology (cars, streamlined and more powerful and fast steam locomotives), and style (Art-Deco, Streamline moderne), and architecture, and still, it was awful times for majority of people to live in.
14:22 Wait wasn’t the Jones Act already in place by this time? How could it travel from Los Angeles to San Fransisco then from San Francisco onto Hawaii which wasn’t a state yet if I’m not mistaken
Ocean liners are perhaps the main reason why I wish I was a Billionare. I mean if I was that rich I could build the ocean liners of old (in style I mean) In fact I had an idea that instead of scrapping them turn them into hotels at various places in the world, like imagine one at Las Vegas I mean a former ocean liner turned Hotel (with casino) would practicality fit right in. Or one in Australia, Taiwan, Mongolia, etc.
She was beautiful, her exterior is lovely and her interior to me looks identical to the Olympic class. Almost like she was installed with a lot of the furniture and fittings that would have been used on Britannic?
Belgenland (unsurprisingly) means "Belgium" in Dutch and Flemish. If you want the Dutch / Flemish pronunciation, the g is pronounced a bit like an h in english
Go to brilliant.org/BigOldBoats/ to get a 30-day free trial + the first 200 people will get 20% off their annual subscription.
What do you think, was the Belgenland one of the greats?
definitely!
If they called 18000 miles, and the circumference of the earth is 25000 miles, how do you know that the radio signal didn't just cover the remaining 7000 miles in the other direction?
My Great Grandmother came from Wales on the Belgenland! We still have her passenger id card and the menu they used in the restaurant on board!
It's a bit of a shame it didn't survive long enough to be sold to Arnold Bernstein when he bought the rest of the company (and got the Pennland & Westernland). He was 'encouraged' to sell them to Holland America when the Nazis finally cracked down on Jewish-owned businesses. When war began they were used in the struggle against Nazi Germany. Pennland was sunk on the 25th of April, 1941. Westernland survived the war and ended up in the hands of Cunard White Star line. Plans to refit her for service by the company were abandoned due to her age, and she was sold in 1946 for conversion to whale depot ship, but that plan, too, was abandoned. She was broken up in 1947.
@@alan6832 ~ waiting for Nikola Tesla to return our call for a reply...
Its so tragic that ships like these, that didn't get a proper career or even get completed until post-war still ended up scrapped in the mid 1930s, giving them only 15 or so years of proper service while being scrapped alongside ships with double that time.
There wasn't much to save them back then. The depression of the 30's killed a lot of services particularly trans Atlantic ship travel, both because of low passenger volume, stricter immigration for Europeans heading for North America, and of course it was the dawning of commercial air travel. White Star line was bankrupt and the only way to survive somewhat was to merge with Cunard as that was the only way the British Government could support the two companies.
Probably been sunk in the second world war in the Atlantic convoys too!
@@kyleenglot9184 I'm not going to claim to be an expert, but I'd say
planes wouldn't take a significant share of travel until the later 50s, surely not until after advancements in plane technology in WWII, so I wouldn't put that against them in this time.
Regarding White Star Line specifically, I wonder if it really was the *only* way. Even when Bruce Ismay was still alive he had offered his help. True he would've died within a couple years and he had been out of the business for a while, but I wonder what plan he would've come up with, being someone who had so much experience in the business and understanding what White Star was built upon. It would've been interesting to see what someone who had been with the company in its more formative years could've done for it at that moment of crisis.
Since im from belgium im very proud of this ship🇧🇪🇧🇪🇧🇪
You should be
Same for me and SS Statendam since im from the Netherlands
I've always been fond of the Red Star Line and the Belgenland. I had no idea the company was actually American from the beginning, which was really cool. And Belgenland was a stunner in her own right: some could say she was the "little" cousin to the Olympians, as she looked so similar inside-out. I also didn't know that she did so many cruises, effectively setting the trend for other big liners to follow like the Empress of Britain. She even almost had her own Olympic moment when she attempted to ram the U-Boat. Brilliant all around.
She was a cousin to Titanic in the sense she was a Harland and Wolff built 3 screwed combo liner. There were 21 such liners constructed during the 1910s including another 2 cancelled(White Stars Germanic and Red Stars Nederland). They were all relatively similar. Belgenland was the 5th largest of this family after the Olympics and Statendam.
Red Star Line was mixed ownership between Belgians and Americans.
The Belgenland wasn’t the largest or fastest, but she was certainly gorgeous
Belgenland is to Allosaurus as Titanic is to T-Rex: not quite as big, not quite as powerful, but equally impressive and striking.
I agree
Agreed, it hits the same spot as Aquitania for me as far as aesthetics. Such good design.
A lovely ship. The affinity with the Olympic class is obvious and does no harm at all.
Seriously, such an underrated channel! You deserve many more subs for the fantastic detail and love you put into each video.
AGREED! This is a great channel
I don’t understand why he doesn’t have way way more subscribers… This is a really good channel! Great comment!
Give it time.
This channel will grow.
You have too remember just how many UA-cam channels are out there. At least thirty% are Completely lame and full of complete ignorance.
For real, some do Not know their left from their right and half of them more than likely do not know how to tie their own shoes.
Straight Up!
It’s nice to hear about this ship. I had no real knowledge about this ship in particular so I appreciate the work on this one!
Belgenland is one of the most beautiful liners in my opinion, and I would have loved to have seen her sister, Nederland, finished. Thank you for more great content!
I only stumbled upon this channel by happy accident two or three weeks ago but I'm very glad I did. The content is very well researched and laid out and it's incredibly easy to follow, too.
I'm subscribed to several channels similar to this one and some of them are great but this channel is extremely underrated; I hope more and more people continue to discover "Big Old Boats" and that this channel gains the success that it very much deserves.
I visited the red star line museum 5-6 years ago and it was the first time I heard about the ship. Thank you for making a video about the ship bc there aren't many videos of the ship
Mr. Farmer, God bless you and your wife. When I became kidney failure Stage 5 and type 2 diabetic, I was told by those incompetent doctors that I had that I could no longer eat "processed meat." But, after following your recipe, which omits the "assholes and elbows" found in the processed meat in our stores, I have found a luncheon meat that I can eat. I followed your easy bologna recipe this past Sunday; and I produced a bologna that tasted 100 times better than anything I bought in the past. Thanks for putting this on line! I can't wait to use the same recipe to make olive loaf, pickle loaf, and salami. So now, I can tell those ignorant bastards who crippled me an told me to eat that bland dog food they had on their "diet sheets to GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!
Wow! Thanks for this amazing video. I have been an ocean liner buff since I was a tweener 50 some odd years back, but I have never heard of this ship. Such a well done history you did of not only the Belgenland liner but the shipping line. Excellent job.
Wow the world cruise sounds so coool!
Wonderful work! This is a charming liner - a little cousin of the Olympic class. Thank you for telling her story
Wow! If any liner deserved the title "The Most Interesting Ship in the World," The Belgenland would definitely be in the running.
"She doesn't always sail cruises. But when she does, they involve circumnavigating the globe and roaring parties."
It's probably not too far fetched to assume that many interior items, like dining room chairs, the wicker furniture and cabin fittings may have been repurposed from items ordered and made for the Britannic but never installed, as the construction timing is roughly the same. Those dining room chairs are the same design as on the Olympic Class. The look and layout inside and out was nearly identical to the Olympic/Titanic, especially the 1st Cl. reception room and staircase landing area, or the decorative schemes for the 1st Cl. public rooms, such as the designs for the leaded glass windows or linoleum floor tiles. One of the original proposals for the Olympic Class was essentially a 40,000 ton version of this design, 3 funnels with a forward "island" bridge superstructure etc., echoing the "Big Four" in a slightly more modern interpretation.
The dining room floors look the same. So interesting
Interesting history of this vessel, thanks for sharing.
Never heard of her and only knew vaguely about the Red Star Line--and I'm an ocean liner fanatic!
Those $700,000 world cruises (in today's dollars) are mind-blowing.
Thanks for the information.
🚢Bonjour, Big Old Boats and fellow Liner Loons!
Now this is a pleasant surprise; another new documentary from this outtanding channel, and it's about a lovely ship that I'd never before heard of. A 3-stacker from Harland & Wolff with a cruiser stern and triple screws... and-be still, my heart- the beautiful (and possibly indestructible) Miss Violet Jessup! Sigh.
What more could a man ask for? Well, actually...
Another screw (hush now, my thoughts are as pure as my heart) and a few thousand more shaft horsepower? On the other hand, what's the hurry? Just look at this ship! Perhaps I'll see if Miss Jessop is free for dinner... naturally, I shall cut a dashing figure in white tie, and we can take a leisurely evening stroll on the promenade, and I will, of course, be a Perfect Gentleman, and-
Well, a man can dream, can he not?🌠
As a Liner Loon, I greatly appreciate this comment!
Just wanted to say I love your videos and you’ve got such a smooth voice that as I’m working on various things I love putting your videos on as it helps me relax while learning something
Belgenland is my 10th favorite ship of all time and my favorite Red Star Line ship.
I really enjoyed this story! Thank you very much! I’m a fan!
What a wonderful and happy ship. Well done bringing her to life.
Thank you for this excellent video! High quality production about an ocean liner about which so little is known --- and what a beauty she was. The Belgenland was called "the little Olympic", but she had her own identity.
I've been watching all of your videos for a while, and I must say that all of your videos are some of the most high quality maritime documentaries on UA-cam that I have ever watched! Keep it up!
An excellent presentation! I knew nothing about this ship and the film footage and narrative were amazing. You certainly do excellent work!
Fantastic coverage of this lesser known liner. ❤
The footage of these ships is so interesting. So glad they survived after 100+ years.
Excellent episode. The Belgenland has long been one of my favorite ships. Thank you for creating this. She deserves a memorial of this quality. If you are ever in Antwerp, visit the Red Star Line museum. You’ll love it.
Another gripping telling of a ship I'd never heard of before - thank you!
Man - would love to know more about how all of these many refittings took place - like, how long and to what extent.
I mean, from cargo ship to troop carrier to an all-first class cruise ship....
The mind boggles~
As usual, I really like your content. You make good use of stock footage to tell the story and it's easy to see that you do the research. Thank you!
Beautifully produced program! My grandmother emigrated with her family to the US in 1905 aboard the Red Star liner s.s. Finland.
My grandmother arrived on the SS Finland as well, a few years later. There are a lot of us, no doubt.
There were a number of rumours about Belgenland - that she was originally going to be given to White Star as a Titanic replacement and called "Ceric". It was said that the original plan was for a 1,000 foot long, 80,000 ton liner but the plans were altered because of the war and she was given instead to the Red Star Line. It sees though that this rumour was brought about by the confusion of the war and the many changes of plan that it brought at H&W.
Your best vdo to date. Fascinating!
Thank you!
'Till recently, I've never heard of, the 'Red Star Line', and learned little of it. This documentary taught me the rest, that I needed to know, about this company. And the 'Belgenland', of which I also haven't heard of before. Thank you for the interesting education, of this beautiful ship👍☺️!!!
3:35 awwwwwe ❤🥹🥲😊 what an adorable picture. I love the cartoonish sort of drawing. Something about it, i can't quite say precisely what i find so charming in it. It's just so pretty and cute and has a way with the fine lines yet also the broad strokes - that's it! It's the complex simplicity! The water ripples and the ship's reflection, each line for sails can be seen, yet the little girl's hair is just one big piece (it doesn't look bad whatsoever btw) then you've got the guy in the little boat in the foreground of the ship... Its just a wonderful little piece of art, and a piece of history.
As a military history buff, the best thing the Captain could have done was what he did. Guaranteed someone at the periscope would've needed a change of shorts. Gorgeous ship.
Absolutely. It's a wonder she didn't sink due to the weight of the captain's balls of steel. The lookout's vigilance and great eyesight should also be highly commended. She seems to have had an excellent crew throughout her service.
A better decision than the officer in command of the Titanic made in the moment of crisis.
Make that a glorious ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree, I was unsure of the timing on each's account but it played out well.
A few others have already mentioned this so I'll add my voice to the chorus. The Red Star Line Museum in Antwerp is a very interesting place.
Never heard of this ship, thanks again for your Brilliant work :) ...enjoyed.
Nice video - thank you
Very good documentary video!
Enjoyed it so much, thanks.
A wonderful video, once again! You give the ship a real humanity, something it deserves. Seeing its demise, strangely, reminds me of the final days of a beloved and faithful labrador. Don't ask why! I can't help feeling it deserved a better fate. But I guess that's the destiny of most ships. They fade away.
I love the music you use for background ambiance. It so helps with giving feeling to the footage shown. Your videos are very well put together; I thoroughly enjoy them.
Thank you for this! This ship should have gotten something like this a long long time ago! Also a shout out to the Red Star Line. Often overlooked company.
I won't lie to you I had never heard of her until now, but she certainly looked like a beautiful ship , not sure how safe I would feel in the canvas bag swimming pool, I did notice on the Thomas Cook advertisement Olympic, Majestic and Homeric all joined in on the cruise business.
Thanks for a great video looking forward to the next one.
Another beautiful ship with an exciting history!!!!! She is definitely worth telling her story. You did s great job!!!!!!!
This is the first I've heard of the Red Star Line. Thank you!
Great video very informative.
❤Ships are not simply things, they have their own personality and soul.
Thank you for informing me all about a great liner, along with a shipping-line I had only the vaguest knowledge of!
And this exactly why I love your chanel, you tell these stories beautifully, stories that would be forgotten. And you just can't stop watching these videos. Also you voice is super relaxing. I hope you will continue this for years to come!
Beautiful ship both outside and inside. I would love to go on a world cruise in this ship. Also another great researched and presented video.
After a long week working the ramp at Chicago's Midway airport. I'm pleasantly surprised by a fabulous new ship video from big old boats. 😊❤thank you 🎉
I could listen to you talk about anything all day long! :)
This video was lovely and emotional as well , such a lovely ship
Belgenland fit a lot into her 27,132 gross tons. In first class, besides the usual dining room, smoking room, and lounge, she had a swimming pool, a Turkish bath, a gymnasium, a drawing room, a library and card room, a Verandah cafe, a Palm Court ballroom, and a children’s playroom. Second class also featured a children’s playroom, a gymnasium and a Verandah cafe.
Excellent job covering the life of an excellent ship!
Yet another brilliant production. Thank you.
Originally she was to have a Sister to be named Nederland. However, WW1 canceled that project. Belgenland was definitely one of the best, she lived up to her name. She served reliably during WW1, she had a remarkable career, loved by so many. Even though she is now mostly forgotten, she succeeded in her role of providing amazing service for those wanting to have experience to the New World, and to take a cruise.
Those party cruises look great fun! Maybe I was there in a past life, it feels familiar to me.
Glad to learn more about this ship, as I’m using it as a blueprint for a story I’m working on.
Wonderful video! Thank you for giving this favourite lady some long-overdue attention.
Spotted it right off the port starboard
Honey wake up! Big Old Boats just uploaded a new video!!!
Wow that was fascinating!! Thank You!! 👍
Love learning something "new" in history. Thank you.
Visit the Red Star Line museum in Antwerp...it is housed in the company's old buildings right near the harbour and offers a lovely compliment to the Ellis Island museum ..but on the other side of the ocean 😉...Red Star Line forgotten ? NOT where I live !
Love the videos, especially the one about the great lakes. Keep them coming, fantastic job.
This was a fantastic video! I know next to nothing about the Red Star or the Leyland Lines
To me, it is such a shame when ships with war time naval careers and successful pre-war and/or post war civil ocean liner careers are scrapped. But, I also do know it is insanely expensive to keep them as museums too.
Impossibly expensive. The ship has to be incredibly famous to even break even. The SS United States, despite holding the country's name and the record for fastest transatlantic crossing, is apparently going to be sunk as a reef after decades of rotting away in port.
Who else was dancing to the techno jazz? Great video!
What 4 funnel ship is in the background at 7:56? It has funnels that are not evenly spaced, which means it was likely a German ship. Perhaps the SS Deutschland? Or something from the North German Lloyd Line? Hmmmmm.
This was an excellent story. I've heard of the Belgenland before but never knew about the many adventures that she had. That world cruise booking must have been epic!
Love your videos there so detailed and you really tell the liners story's very well👍 and the belgenland definitely deserves to be up there with the likes of the Queen Mary
Okay at 2:35 you said the ships fly the Dutch flag, so why were the ships then registered in Belgium and why was the change not mentioned?
As a Belgian - I watched this film with pride
A brilliant video; thank you
Thanks for that. Really neat!
Damn a lot more big old boats than usual nice!
Belgenland is often nicknamed as Belgium's Olympic. It's just tragic that she wasn't preserved. She would've been a wonderful museum next to Olympic and Mauretania. S.S. Lapland deserves a video as well.
Great Commentary. And research !
Love the channel
This channel is the best
It’s these sorts of videos that made me subscribe to this channel
There is one ship that looks similar to Belgenland and that ship is SS Statendam of 1924
Big fan of all your videos man, love the content!
Excellent job!
when watching these wonderful videos, i always wonder what happened to the fabulous art works and furniture.
that would be a great video!
Most interesting, thanks
Never really payed attention to this ship. I missed out when I was heavily into maritime history in high school
Nice Video and Nice ship
Made by Harland&Wolff and stable in seas - no surprise to me. H&W more evolutionary approach to building ships resulted in Edwardian style interiors and reciprocating engines, and I like that.
Sad, that career was so short. 30-es in US was paradoxical times, great development in transportation technology (cars, streamlined and more powerful and fast steam locomotives), and style (Art-Deco, Streamline moderne), and architecture, and still, it was awful times for majority of people to live in.
14:22 Wait wasn’t the Jones Act already in place by this time?
How could it travel from Los Angeles to San Fransisco then from San Francisco onto Hawaii which wasn’t a state yet if I’m not mistaken
As allways, a good video
Ocean liners are perhaps the main reason why I wish I was a Billionare.
I mean if I was that rich I could build the ocean liners of old (in style I mean)
In fact I had an idea that instead of scrapping them turn them into hotels at various places in the world, like imagine one at Las Vegas I mean a former ocean liner turned Hotel (with casino) would practicality fit right in. Or one in Australia, Taiwan, Mongolia, etc.
She was beautiful, her exterior is lovely and her interior to me looks identical to the Olympic class. Almost like she was installed with a lot of the furniture and fittings that would have been used on Britannic?
The ship was certainly beautiful.
Visit the Red Star museum in Antwerp Belgium
Belgenland (unsurprisingly) means "Belgium" in Dutch and Flemish. If you want the Dutch / Flemish pronunciation, the g is pronounced a bit like an h in english
*Vive la Belgique! Je suis né à Suomi-Finlande scolarisée en Suède, Allemagne. Résidence en THAÏLANDE,*
i love this ship