AURORA Arrives At Scrapyard (End Of The Line For Historic Ship)

[@patcraft508]

May the former Wappen von Hamburg rest in peace. This was definetly not the fate she deserved. :(

[@GeschichtenUndGedanken]

God, this is so sad. Thank you for the tactful way of letting us know. Greetings from across the pond.

[@waynej747]

I followed the Aurora restoration project here on KZbin and often thought it was a very ambitious project but was hopeful that it would work out. The one video that got me worried though was when the owner at the time was talking about the engines and mentioned that they would never run again. Then the videos started to become irregular and were little more than extended advertisements for battery bank power generators. I knew that something wasn’t quite right, but then the videos just completely stopped. Next thing I see a video talking about her sinking and that the person who ran the channel had sold her off. Now, here we are today. Sadly this project was a lot bigger than even they had anticipated, and it looks like their pockets weren’t deep enough to sustain such an ambitious endeavour.

[@candace6637]

Yes, properly restoring a ship is a massive and expensive undertaking. The work and need for lots of money never ends. They require constant maintenance, with the biggest concern being below the waterline. I see Aurora and SSUS fans pointing to the Queen Mary as a success story. It's actually a cautionary tale: "In 2016, a city-commissioned marine survey estimated it needed between $235 million and $289 million in repairs after years of neglect by the city and its leaseholders."

[@GBNorton]

@@candace6637 The Queen Mary is a good point. I stayed onboard in September 2024 and must admit, she’s looking terrific. The City of Long Beach have spent a lot of money on her upkeep. Also, she was fully booked for the 4 days I stayed onboard, which was very heartening to see. One hopes for her future.

[@1tzBry]

Absolutely heart breaking, She came so far and was at her beautifulest state during her renovation. But now its the end of the aurora

[@dominicwood3451]

Thanks for posting, I love the older style ships with the sheer at the bow. So much more graceful than the modern stuff. What a shame this one couldn't be saved.

[@Jürgen-r2g]

Hello Peter. I could see it coming. Restauration work done by non - profesionals.... Restoring the ships horn but forgetting the sea intakes and other pipe work below waterline. She was the last survivor of the three name sisters Wappen von Hamburg. My father , RiP, sailed on all of them. Starting in 1956 as 2nd mate on the first one and later as máster on the other two. All gone now. Thanks for all your infos. BG Jürgen

[@reinhardbrolsch7984]

Hallo Jürgen, schön das nicht nur ich bei den Schiffen mehr an die Hoch-Zeit der Helgolandfahrt denken. Du schreibst, dass die 2. "Wappen" mittlerweile ebenfalls Geschichte ist. Wkkipediy vermeldet lediglich ein ungewisses Schicksal nach dem Verkauf nach Nahost, weisst du da mehr?

[@Jürgen-r2g]

@reinhardbrolsch7984 Hallo Reinhard. Vor ein paar Jahren???? wurde die 2. Wappen/Alte Liebe in der Türkei abgewrackt. Fand ich irgendwo im Internet. LG Jürgen

[@reinhardbrolsch7984]

@Jürgen-r2g Danke!

[@JamesvanderMei]

Thanks for sharing Peter, a sad ending.

[@saturnialuvsengines]

She was built with pride for Germany during the post war. God, it felt like a fatal blow to the heart as I received the notification. She has alot of hope to be restored, but her sinking and scrapping process has come to waste. We say goodbye to a queen of luxury. Goodbye Aurora.

[@johnbrennan9584]

Thanks for the update. I didn't know we still scrapped ships in the US anymore, also good to know.

[@midshipcinema]

There is a large facility in Brownsville, Texas. This small yard on Mare Island is not a regular scrapping venue but with AURORA, the ship would never be able to make the tow to Texas.

[@sailorman8590]

This ship was being restored in the wrong places using a Home Depot and duct tape approach. Not surprised when I heard she sank!

[@LongdistanceRider22]

We will miss you Aurora❤️

[@riverexplorer]

So sad to see, but at least she went out appreciated. So many don’t have that good fortune.

[@haydargokcebay2285]

The SS United States, for example.

[@IrwinIsidro-w7p]

I just visited the end of W Eight Mile Road in Stockton just today and there's only one ship left, well some of it. I think it was the Minesweeper that sunk. It looked like they cut the ship in half, probably to get the Aurora out. So it's just the bow and bridge left half submerged in the water.

[@mattm2687]

The minesweeper is still fully intacked submerged in the channel which will be next to go

[@IrwinIsidro-w7p]

@@mattm2687 Oh okay. It did look like half of it was missing, but it might just be mostly underwater.

[@mattm2687]

@ the back deck has always been submerged so you would never see it.. maybe the rails would come up during low tide but never the back deck… plus their aiming to remove that ship this coming year

[@AltDavidMiscavige]

That had a stream of tweakers on and off over the years.

[@Kaiserzeit1871]

Schade um dieses schöne Schiff. Der letzte Besitzer wollte zu viel, aber konnte zu wenig.

[@jacquespollet7999]

Triste fin pour un si joli navire ...

[@Shipspotting_Vietnam]

RIP!

[@Klink330]

It’s just so tragic to see the beautiful older cruise ships/liners being demolished; United States and not Aurora. Ironically, it’s their inherent majestic beauty (being such massive masterpieces) that makes them near-impossible to save, but geez I wish they could be. So so sad.

[@raymondleggs5508]

On a Happier note the 1912 Ocean liner S.S. LaPalma is being restored to be able to make cruises and also be a museum at the same time. Also the M/S Sunnhordland (Ex Kistina Brahe) just passed with flying colors after a recent drydocking to fix one of her rudders.

[@midshipcinema]

Nice to know! Last time I saw the LA PALMA, the work on her had been suspended. Thanks for sharing. :)

[@raymondleggs5508]

@@midshipcinema Work is slowly resuming again, since they want to get it right.

[@DaveDeBoer-g2f]

Thanks

[@13endo57]

So sad. I hope there is at least a conservation plan to retain some of her important fittings and memorabelia.

[@gregmerritt4278]

Such a sad ending that once had a promising future under chris ownership

[@ErenTopcu]

Sad end for a lifetime good days ... 🥺

[@robertbate5790]

This ship crossed my memories in the late sixties before I left school, though I dont remember why. Was she used for educational cruises perhaps? Another ship at a dimilar time was Orion. 🇬🇧

[@midshipcinema]

In the late 60s, as POLAR STAR, she was doing cruises to the South Pacific and Alaska. Never used as an educational cruise ship. The ORION was a nice ship, a little more than twice the size, sailing from Greece.

[@robertbate5790]

@midshipcinema Ok, thanks 🇬🇧

[@AndresHernandez-k2z]

How very sad, Peter.......

[@midshipcinema]

Sigh. Yes, very, very sad, my friend. This has not been a great year for vintage ships.

[@dizzydevil547]

such a shame to see her go Peter after all these yrs and the cash that was poured into her to renovate her ! ....ON ANOTHER NOTE ...A loss of movie history too as she was the ship (as you know but many maybe didn't) she played Blofeld's Yacht in the 2nd james Bond film "From Russia With Love" in 1963 so she had a long life from being built in 1955 !im just sad to see her demise after all these yrs and the work put into her restoration that i followed on YT ...at least those vids are there for folks to see and what could of been for her! 😢 A truly Iconic ship given her history and her film star status! R.I.P Aurora 😭

[@candace6637]

The amount of money spent attempting to restore Aurora was only a tiny fraction of what was needed to do the job properly.

[@ninob.]

Wappen von Hamburg I (1955-2024) Wappen von Hamburg II (1962-2014/15) Wappen von Hamburg III (1965-2010) Now the last one perishes.

[@georges7340]

I was a bit confused at first by this story as there is another "MV Aurora" sailing with P&O cruise lines........ was pretty certain it was not that ship !😊

[@midshipcinema]

Definitely not the same. P&O's is about twenty times bigger, to start. :)

[@davidbarnsley8486]

That is so sad to see 😢😢

[@ВладимирЛымар-д6е]

What is... the Gray Shadow 102 ?!?

[@jandoerlidoe3412]

Sad but predictable... ship preservation is a science that is still in its evolution, and that requires immense input of capital, specialized labor & know how, no amateur ( not meant in a disrespectful fashion ) can muster.. Most successful examples feature ships that are preserved on land, not in the water.

[@midshipcinema]

Very true!

[@henkverkuijl]

Medeleven 😢

[@WesleyHarcourtSTEAMandMORE]

End of a dream

[@merlin51h84]

Tragic turn of events. Very sad.

[@Didierwerke]

So sad😢

[@richardbrown1553]

So sad...

[@bportwig5203]

Sadly she did not get to be fully restored - more's the pity - another maritime loss

[@Sipods]

How sad. You did all you could for her Christopher. 😢❤

[@kitt2000car]

Sorry I blame him for her fate. If he needed money?? Which Iam sure he did, Why not seek investors?? I wonder if he even tried??

[@candace6637]

@@kitt2000car Back in 2016, when the ship was moved to SF, he claimed he had investors in place to convert her into an boutique concert venue.

[@kitt2000car]

@@candace6637 Yes also Chris seemed to have a knack for docking the ship where it was not wanted.

[@candace6637]

@@kitt2000car Who wants a rusting ship moored at their dock? It's nothing but a huge liability. Thank heavens this one didn't sink at one of it's past deep-water moorings. The taxpayers would have been on the hook for a much bigger bill then.

[@MarkAshtonLund]

So very sad.

[@jonathanhughes380]

Chris's PIPE dream. so sad.

[@benwilson6145]

Thank you Peter

[@JohnStedman-d4s]

It is indeed a pity that the USA has little interest in saving any significant Passenger Ships. Europe has been more respectful to a number of such vessels, and it is generally seen there that history is important to the cultural, social and intellectual development of future generations. Just one Transatlantic Liner remains in service today, and 'RMS Queen Mary 2' has been hugely successful for 20 years. One wonders if the larger but arguably ugly Cruise Ships of recent years will ever gain such a reputation. Beauty is of course a Societal Construct, but the 'Single Class' layouts and unimpressive "Disneyland" style of these boxy modern mammoths say little about the inspirational lessons which were learned from human endeavour and visionary thinking in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. 'SS United States', undoubtedly the finest of the Ocean Liners ever built in the USA, has essentially been abandoned since she abruptly ceased Passenger Voyages in 1969, and is now waiting to be towed either to Florida for reefing (or to Asia for dismantling), and like the 'MV Aurora' will be summarily discarded by a culture that should know better and urgently needs to rethink its social values.

[@candace6637]

Apparently this ship wasn't very important to the country where it was built (Germany), as there was never any initiative there to save her.

[@barrywhitley2535]

What a shame.

[@prismaticmarcus]

what's historic about her?

[@midshipcinema]

What ISN'T historic about her? Umm, first German passenger ship built after the war, James Bond, The Love Boat, pioneering expedition ship, one of the last ships of her era and style of architecture, etc. Did you actually watch the video?

[@prismaticmarcus]

@@midshipcinema yes. i just define 'historic' as changing the world in some way, to a greater or lesser degree...

[@YoloSwagNinja]

@@prismaticmarcus Every ship is “historic” when it comes time for scrapping. Truth be told it didn’t have enough of a history to warrant the tens (hundreds?) of millions of dollars that would’ve been needed to preserve the ship. It just became a dumpster fire for dreamers to throw money into. The whole story is a shame.

[@fhwolthuis]

What a sad end 😢

[@NathanBrooks-x1c]

How much did it cost the taxpayers to clean up the pollution from the sinking and get the wreck to the scrapper? And who’s paying for the scrapping?

[@midshipcinema]

Maybe someone from the City of Stockton can answer your questions.

[@candace6637]

Stockton is applying for a $1 million grant from BoatUS to help pay for the process. The question is whether any money will ever be recovered from the owner(s) who should be responsible.

[@kitt2000car]

@@candace6637 Iam sure the other two owners of the sunken boats tied to the Aurora. Threw Chris under the bus. Before pulling vanishing acts.

[@candace6637]

@@kitt2000car As I pointed out in my other reply, allegedly Chris Wil(l)son owned the Mazapeta.

[@RikSandstromCalifornia]

🙀😿😿

[@309lincoln]

You should seek permission to document the last images BEFORE scraping! Seriously! Use your history as leverage and as an authentic documentary!

[@axelsoltsien3680]

1957 bis 1960 selbst als Ingenieur Assistent in der Maschine tätig gewesen. Ich kenne das Schiff sehr genau, aber wenn man 40 Jahre am Rumpf unter Wasser nichts macht, nützt es nichts, wenn man nur oben an Deck Farbe verbraucht. Good by little Lady😢

[@reidnolan4456]

Just like the ss United states.

[@billkiesewetter1271]

It’s about time…….scapping is the appropriate end. The history is sketchy at best. This narrator gives me the kreeps.

[@midshipcinema]

Scapping? Kreeps? Merry Christmas!