T.S. FEDOR SHALYAPIN

Black Sea Shipping Company (BLASCO)

Soviet Union, Ukraine

 

Photo taken in Istanbul, Turkey, 1986.

 

Built: 1955 by John Brown & Co., Clydebank, Scotland.

Technical:  

Overall length: 185.38 m

Beam: 24.4 m

Draft: 8.7 m

Gross Tonnage: 21370 tons

Passengers: 929

Power: 4 John Brown steam turbines, 18032 kW

Service Speed: 19.0 knots

Operating Routes: Far East, Mediterranean and Europe.

Sister Ships: T.S. Leonid Sobinov (ex. RMS Saxonia (1954), RMS Carmania (1962))

Former Names: T.S. Ivernia (1955), T.S. Franconia (1963)

Later Names: T.S. Fedor Shalyapin (1973)

Owners:
- 1955-1973: Cunard Line, UK.
- 1973-Oct, 2001: Black Sea Shipping Company (BLASCO), Odessa, Soviet Union, also operated by the Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO), Vladivostok, on far eastern routes (?).
- Oct, 2001-Present: State of Ukraine.
- 1996-Present: Laid up.

History and Current Status: Her past history can be read at www.lostliners.com's T.S. Ivernia page. After her acquisition by BLASCO, she was used in Mediterranean-European and Far-Eastern cruising very successfully, together with her sister T.S. Leonid Sobinov. After the fall of the Soviet Union, she sailed again for BLASCO under the flag of Ukraine. I was told that she got transferred to the Far Eastern Shipping Company (FESCO) to be used in the Pacific and Indian Ocean and in the UK-Australia route for a while, but I have not confirmed this. In 1996, she got laid up at Ilyichevsk shipyard, under a Maltese flag but Ukrainian ownership and in need of repairs and modernization, shortly after T.S. Leonid Sobinov (1995). She never sailed again. In October 2001, a court ruling has returned the control of the laid up T.S. Fedor Shalyapin from BLASCO to the State of Ukraine. There are rumors that she will be broken up but I consider her future to be unknown as of January 2002.

(email all info about her to ata.bilgili@dartmouth.edu)

Notes: My memories of T.S. Fedor Shalyapin actually start with her sister, T.S. Leonid Sobinov, which left me breathless, suddenly appearing behind the trees as I was watching Bosphorus from the benches of the Bosphorus University at Istanbul. This was in 1979, and it was my first introduction to a "real" ocean liner of the past and on top of that to a past Cunarder! In the following years, I could not get to see T.S. Leonid Sobinov much (only 3-4 times) but T.S. Fedor Shalyapin filled the void... She was an occasional caller at the port of Istanbul and her sight was always a great pleasure, especially as years passed and the classic curves of the past left the arena for straight lines, boxy shapes and un-asthetic grandeur!... Especially beautiful for me was her traditional looking mast, big funnel and long bow section that used to house the cargo holds. I badly wish for some company to save her before it is too late as in the case of T.S. Leonid Sobinov, but I know that this is very unlikely... In any case, my hopes are to see her one more time, even if it is while she is passing through Bosphorus on her way to scrappers somewhere in the world...

This nice piece of info came from Max Cleary on April 2002: "Incidentally, did you know that the Ivernia/Franconia/Fedor Shalyapin (a great Russian baritone) had a permanent list - to starboard if I remember correctly. Apparently it was a design fault. This list could become quite uncomfortable during a long cruise. They would try to balance it with the fresh water tanks, but as the water was used, the list became more apparent."

R.D. Cotton added to that on July 2004: "I sailed on her as M.S. Franconia in 1967, joining her in Hamilton Bermuda on 05.04.67 and being discharged on 18.07.67. She was on the New York-Bermuda cruise run. One week round trips. Prior to me joining her she had been painted green, but had been repainted white for the American cruise market. The after hatches and derricks were removed and a swimming "Lido" built in their place. I also recall that she had to be dry docked in New York (Brooklyn) to have repairs done to her rudder. I recall her having sand put into her foreward hatch, 300 tons I think, to keep her head down in heavy weather, I don't recall a list, but perhaps this sand was to try and correct that. She was a lovely little ship."

Links:

- Jan Tiedemann's T.S Fedor Shalyapin.
- From Aleksi Lindstrom's webpage, laid up T.S. Fedor Shalyapin.
- Stefanie Diez's T.S. Fedor Shalyapin page..
- Philippe Brebant's T.S. Fedor Shalyapin.
- Lostliners.com's T.S. Ivernia page.
- "The Saxonia Sisters": A book by Clive Harvey.
- The Saxonia Class Sisters by e-cruiseworld.com.
- T.S. Ivernia page at Ren L'Ecuyer's Grostenquin France homepage.
- T.S. Ivernia page by D.F. Stoner.
- Greatships.net's T.S. Ivernia page.
- The Cunard Line.

Line Drawings: From the book "Soviet Bloc Merchant Ships" by Bruno Bock and Klaus Bock, 1981.

Other Pictures: