frenchline

This is Manhattan's Hudson River piers, around Pier 88. The French Line terminal is towards the right, next to what appears to be a capsized ship.

The capsized ship in the photo above is the SS Normandie (USS Lafayette (AP-53)), well into the salvage and righting process, as her superstructure has already been removed. Here is a declassified US Navy film about the salvage of the Normandie (USS Lafayette) posted by YouTube user Jeff Quitney: YouTube - US Navy Technical Report: "Salvage of the U.S.S. Lafayette" See also: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Normandie

Co-authors of the book Under Three Flags: With the Red Cross in Belgium, France, and Serbia (Macmillan 1916): books.google.com/books?id=EUQ5AQAAIAAJ

April 3, 1915 New York Times identifies those who arrived on the Chicago the day before from Le Havre, among them Miss. I.S. Livingston and Miss St. Clair Livingston. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9A00EFD81238E633A...

Very beautiful picture!

pennylrichardsca and artolog, Thank you for the further information! These two women were quite accomplished. The date on the photo is April 3, 1915. An article in the April 4, 1915 Hartford Courant (only available through subscription database) uses this Bain photograph to illustrate a brief article, stating the two ladies are graduates of Johns Hopkins, and were returning from nursing wounded in Serbia. The medals they wear in the photo were awarded to them by King Peter of Serbia for their service. They return to the U.S. to raise money for Red Cross supplies to take back to Serbia two weeks later. (Naturally, this experience and others is what led them to write the 1916 book pennylrichardsca mentions.) We will add more details about Miss Hansen and Miss Livingston with our next update.

King Peter I of Serbia:

Aeromarine Airways' Model 85 flying boat (a converted Curtiss HS-2L), named "Waldorf", in the foreground, as the French Line ship SS Paris (1916) approaches in the distance. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Paris_(1916) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeromarine_West_Indies_Airways www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/aeromfl.htm

TVL1970 Hello Jonathan. I think you have identified the Aeromarine "Waldorf" cleanly but I was not able to link the name 'Waldorf" of this flying boat to the Model 85. There seems to be only an incomplete list of names of the ca. 15 Model 85 flying boats, about 7 names are identified but not the "Waldorf".

Thank you for the comment, Kees. Looking into this deeper, I came across some information that should secure Waldorf's identity as an Aeromarine Model 85 flying boat. At The Aeromarine Website, Waldorf is identified as an "Aeromarine Model 85/80" among a list of aircraft operated by the airline. Both types of aircraft were modified surplus HS-2L flying boats, but the Model 80 could be distinguished from Model 85 by the Model 80's addition of an enclosed passenger cabin (which Waldorf lacks). Further, just a bit of circumstantial evidence, all of the Aeromarine Airways' aircraft named after famous hotels and captured in photos - Ambassador, McAlpin, Vanderbilt, and Biltmore - were Model 85s, like Waldorf. However, the best evidence as to Waldorf's type is a two-page Aeromarine advertisement in Aviation and Aircraft Journal, February 7, 1921, Vol. X, No. 6, on pages 173-174. The ad illustrates the company's line of surplus HS-2L (and derived) aircraft, including the Model 85 as "Aeromarine-Navy HS-2-L, Six Seat. Open Cockpit Flying Boat, Model No. 85," and "Aeromarine-Navy HS-2-L, Enclosed Cabin De Luxe Flying Limousine, Model No. 80." As an aside, this ad is in the middle of a pretty interesting article about the company, spanning pages 171-176. As best I can tell, from The Aeromarine Website, contemporary direct sources - like the company's advertisements, the configuration of the aircraft, etc., the best available evidence points to Waldorf being a Model 85 flying boat.

Thanks for your research, TVL1970 and Kees Kort . We will add some of this information to the catalog record for the image.