ssviktorialuise

The ship on the left is (I believe) the Hamburg America Line's SS Viktoria Luise. Built as the SS Deutschland for the North Atlantic run in 1900, she held -for a time- the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic Crossing. She was renamed/rebuilt in 1911 and converted to one of the earliest and finest Cruise Ships, where speed was not so important. I would date this photo 1911-1914 see also

This photo (in a cropped version) is depicted in The Sun and New York press., July 30, 1916, SECTION 5 SPECIAL FEATURE SUPPLEMENT, Image 49 with article "DANISH ISLES FOR UNCLE SAM" (chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030430/1916-07-30/ed-...). The United States purchased St. Thomas (along with Saint John and Saint Croix) in 1917 for $25 million in gold, as part of a defensive strategy to maintain control over the Caribbean and the Panama Canal during the First World War. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Thomas,_U.S._Virgin_Islands

All the Charlotte Amalie photos in this set, www.flickr.com/search/?q=charlotte+amalie+st.+Thomas+bain...

The Sun used 6 of the 9 bain photos. This one's caption: "The landlocked basin - where big ships find safe harbor."

Seuss. good catch, I think this has to be the Victoria Louise, before she returned to Germany in 1914 for the duration of the war. She was definitely in St. Thomas as late as March, 1914: flic.kr/p/7zqt1q

There's Viktoria Luise again, so . . . pre-war. I'm guessing the photographer of this series of Caribbean pics was on a cruise aboard her.

Her cruise schedule: flic.kr/p/7zqt1q

Typo on the part of the photographer, or was there actually a time it was called Porto Rico rather than Puerto Rico?

Information about the S.S. Deutschland that was renamed the Viktoria Luise from 1910-1921.

the web being what it is, there is some slightly contradictory information floating around. Wikipedia seems to imply that as soon as she was converted to a cruise ship, she was painted all white (as seen here on a company postcard , oceanlinerpostcards.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html .) however, clearly the name came before the paint job. Since the postcard seems to be from 1911, and the ship was renamed and re-purposed in 1910, this is probably her initial voyage into New York under her new name, because of her dressed out flags. her initial claim to fame: Launched in 1900, she won the Blue Riband from the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse of the North German Lloyd line, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in just a little over five days.

Some more clues from the NY Times Archive OLD DEUTSCHLAND IN PORT.; She's the Victoria Luise Now and the Largest Cruising Steamer Afloat. RIVAL WORLD CRUISES.; Speedy, Deutschland Is Being Rebuilt for Leisurely Voyaging.

Another Bain/LOC photo of the Victoria Luise:

Information about the S.S. Deutschland that was renamed the Viktoria Luise from 1910-1921.

the web being what it is, there is some slightly contradictory information floating around. Wikipedia seems to imply that as soon as she was converted to a cruise ship, she was painted all white (as seen here on a company postcard, oceanlinerpostcards.blogspot.com/2007_06_01_archive.html .) however, clearly the name came before the paint job. Since the postcard seems to be from 1911, and the ship was renamed and re-purposed in 1910, this is probably her initial voyage into New York under her new name, because of her dressed out flags. her initial claim to fame: Launched in 1900, she won the Blue Riband from the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse of the North German Lloyd line, crossing the Atlantic Ocean in just a little over five days.

Some more clues from the NY Times Archive OLD DEUTSCHLAND IN PORT.; She's the Victoria Luise Now and the Largest Cruising Steamer Afloat. RIVAL WORLD CRUISES.; Speedy, Deutschland Is Being Rebuilt for Leisurely Voyaging.

The Victoria Luise stopped in San Juan Harbor in Puerto Rico, during her February, 1914, West Indies cruise: Date on photo is evidence that the ship was not white in 1914: www.flickr.com/photos/fredandrebecca/4316383350/ The postcard view on Wikipedia is not a photograph, but a painting. Perhaps it was issued before the revamp job on the Deutschland, showing it white as then planned, but not as it actually got painted. A sailor was killed and five others were injured in an accident aboard the Victoria Luise while the ship was still in Hoboken harbor on January 9, 1914, before sarting its West Indies cruise. New York Times story, January 10, 1914: query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9801E0DD1730E7...

Another Bain/LOC photo of the Victoria Luise: