A Little Bit Of Ship Banter: A Mid Ship Cinema Podcast

The audio companion to our latest video on our YouTube channel!2026 marks the historic DELTA QUEEN's 100th year, which is a major milestone for any ship or boat to achieve. I spent a day on board at Houma, Louisiana, where she has been laid up since 2015, last month and look forward to sharing a full top to bottom tour and history of this American treasure soon. In the meantime, she is still intact and while a bit weathered by the harsh climate of Louisiana, still viable for restoration as a floating hotel/museum like her sister, DELTA KING in Sacramento or, probably less likely, a return to river cruise service if Congress will grant her a new extension. This video captures some external views of the boat and a few outtakes from her active days along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. There is much more of this story to be told, so stay tuned... Also on YouTube at:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdD9Wz0x0O8&t=1sFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The companion to our latest YouTube video!Despite having been having been completely stripped after being sold for scrap in 2024, the steamboat AMERICAN QUEEN and as of February 2026, is still structurally complete and lying at a scrapyard in Houma, Louisiana.  This video shows the AQ in mid-February of 2026 and then nostalgically traces her nearly 30 year career with footage taken between 1996 and 2018.  The AMERICAN COUNTESS is lying in front of the QUEEN and looks untouched by the shipbreakers despite also having been sold for scrap in 2024.  In this episode, you will see the world's largest riverboat in her inaugural prime at New Orleans in 1996, sailing the Ohio River with Majestic America Line in 2007, being re christened by Priscilla Presley at Memphis in 2012 and racing with the BELLE OF LOUISVILLE in the Great Steamboat Race of 2012.  You will also see her lavish interiors, her steam whistle and calliope in action and much more.Also available own YouTube!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekLQhYEqAycFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The audio companion to our latest video on our MidShip Cinema YouTube channel. This sad update with footage taken on 19 January 2026 shows the MV ASTORIA undergoing demolition at the Galloo Scrapyard in Ghent, Belgium. After an overnight tow from Rotterdam where the ship languished for years, she arrived at the yard on July 4, 2025. The stripping process took months, followed by the removal of the lifeboats and davits, then parts of the stern superstructure. In this footage, the bridge is gone and large cuts have been made for the removal of the remaining upper decks and funnel. The ASTORIA was built in 1948 for Swedish American Line as the STOCKHOLM and gained notoriety for colliding with and sinking the ANDREA DORIA on a foggy night off Nantucket in July of 1956. She went on to a long career under the East German flag and use as a refugee ship before being completely rebuilt in Italy in 1993/4. She has sailed for several owners in the interim, last operating as the MV ASTORIA for now defunct Cruise and Maritime Voyages. Her full story will eventually be told here. Music licensed from Artlist: "Downstream" by Muted. #classicships #andreadoria #scrapyardWatch the full video on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibQ38zlD6uoFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The audio companion to our latest YouTube video!In February of 2026, Peter Knego traveled to Mobile, Alabama to bid farewell to the SS UNITED STATES, which has been undergoing preparation to become the world's largest artificial reef.  Scheduled to be sunk some 22 miles off the coast of Destin, Florida in mid-April of 2026, the famed ocean liner has been cut down to allow clearance once she is on the sea floor.  Her massive funnels and radio mast were carefully removed and are now resting at a secured site some 20 minutes away, hopefully to be part of a museum dedicated to the ship's legacy.  The UNITED STATES at 990 feet was the world's fastest ocean liner, capturing the Blue Ribband on her maiden voyage in July of 1952 at an average speed of 35.59 knots or 40.96 MPH.  She was an engineering marvel, a breathtaking slice of marine architecture and a legend during her 17 years of service.  Laid up ever since, she has been stripped of all interior fittings and after her arrival in Mobile, all of her windows and portholes, hatch covers and various bits of machinery to facilitate her next role under water.  Filmed from outside the yard where the work is being done and from the decks of the Mobile harbor cruise boat PERDIDO QUEEN, this is a touching look at one of America's greatest achievements in her final days.  #ssunitedstates #perdidoqueen #mobile #oceanliner #oldships #classicshipsWatch the full video on YouTube!https://youtu.be/a_lREFHyxRw?si=CiU5liuzsJOA3BBXFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The companion audio to our YouTube video!This detailed history and top to bottom tour of one of maritime's greatest treasures, the 1907-built SS KEEWATIN, now preserved at the Great Lakes Museum in Kingston, Ontario, covers her story from Scottish shipyard origins to the present day. The last surviving Canadian Pacific liner of a once vast fleet of liners great and small, she is also one of the few ships with an intact quadruple expansion coal fired engine and original interiors that are literally from the same era as LUSITANIA, MAURETANIA and TITANIC. She was saved from the scrappers by being featured in a popular book called "Farewell To Steam", published the year she was sold for scrap but ice delayed her departure to the breakers and a man named RJ Petersen, after reading about her in that book, purchased the still existing ship from the breakers and brought her to his marina in Saugatuck, Michigan where she was lovingly preserved for decades. In recent years, the KEEWATIN has changed hands and since 2023, has been an integral part of the Great Lakes Museum, where she is open for tours each summer. There is nothing like her afloat as you will see in this detailed top-to-bottom tour hosted by Peter Knego, who also visited the ship three times in Michigan over the years. You will hear the voice of Diane Petersen, KEEWATIN's former co-owner, who purchased "Farewell To Steam" for her husband RJ sixty years ago, leading to their salvation of the ship. Also featured with much gratitude is a library of vintage images supplied by "Know Your Ships" author and Great Lakes Ship Historian Roger Lelievre, who took me on our first visit to the ship in 1996. Music licensed from Artlist: Ty Simm "Something New", Tomar Lane "On Ne Sait jamais", Kie Schpigler "Scotland The Brave", Muts Raynard "Ferris Wheel", Pietro Deiro "Success Medley", Kobe Lilian "Lost For WOrds", Louis Adrien "On The Run", Guy Mintus ""Hungarian Dance #5 Reimagined", Jonathan Hadas "Anitra's Dance", Hadasa Atzman "The Swan", Louis Adrien "Waltzing In Paris", Serno "Little Rondo" and 2050 "Interpretation of a Dream" #edwardianliners #keewatin #greatlakesmuseum #quadrupleexpansionsteamengine #preservedliners #classicships #kingston #linktotitanicAlso on YouTube!https://youtu.be/H5y55_6Xzfg?si=RFaF99dz-RdeAHOP Follow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The audio companion to our YouTube video!Host Peter Knego takes you aboard the QUEEN MARY 2 when she came to Long Beach to "meet" her namesake, the QUEEN MARY in February of 2006 and captures the two ships meeting for a second time from a harbor cruise boat where they actually get much closer to exchange whistle salutes in the gorgeous morning light. Music licensed from Artlist: "Premiere" and "Presto" by Adrien Berengeur. #queenmary #queenmaryship #queenmary2 #cunardline #cunard #oceanlinersFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

Hosts Dan Trachtenberg and Peter Knego reunite for Episode Seven, the first "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter" podcast of 2026.  They don't hold back about lack of proper planning for the second "Royal Rendezvous" meeting of QUEEN MARY and QUEEN MARY 2 with the photobombing CARNIVAL RADIANCE in the mix and discuss a variety of topics, including the beautifully preserved HIKAWA MARU, the now classic AMBIENCE and so much more.Videos mentioned in this episode:Hikawa Maru Decked:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vx6JFw6aCEA Royal Rendezvous:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1izmqLA5DUAmbience Decked:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLv8tj7kQ4Antarctica with Atlas Ocean Voyages:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4hPZuuv4Q&t=5sFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The audio companion to our YouTube video!This is a detailed history and top-to-bottom tour of the only surviving ship with a link to the great French Art Deco liners of the late 1920s and early 1930s , the NYK HIKAWA MARU, which was built in 1930 and decorated by preeminent French designer Marc Simon.  HIKAWA MARU is also the only major Japanese liner to survive World War Two, where she served heroically as a hospital ship.  Built for the Asia to Vancouver and Seattle run for NYK, the HIKAWA MARU had two sisters, the HIYE MARU and the HEIAN MARU, both of which were sunk while serving as submarine escorts in World War Two.  In her prime, HIKAWA carried Charlie Chaplin, Prince and Princess Chichibu and other notables on the transpacific run and after the war, continued on that service until retired at the end of 1960.  She was opened up as a museum ship and youth hostel at Yokohama in 1961 and was almost lost in 2006, when her owners could no longer afford to maintain her.  Her former owners, NYK Line, now a major container ship operator (and owner of deluxe NYK Cruises, which operates the former CRYSTAL HARMONY as the ASUKA II) funded her full restoration and reopened her as the NYK HIKAWA MARU in 2008.  In 2024, NYK began conducting tests on the ship's hull and infrastructure and will soon be giving the ship another full restoration to keep her with us for many more years.  All of that and much more can be seen in this 43 minute video.  Music licensed from Artlist:  "Hikaru To SHine" Roie Shpigler; Isshol Together" and "Chevalet" by Idokay; "Tokyo Ondo" by Isaku Kageyama; "Heroes" by Piotr Hummei; "Water Under The Bridge" by OK; "Folkarama" by Slpstrm; "Cou Cou" by Oded Distilman; "Cafe Francais" by Evert Z; "Vacanze a Vaccarro" by Bottega Baltazar; "Aiz u Bandaisan" by Isaku Kageyama; "With You In Montmartre" by Retrophonic and "Feel Inspired" by Ben Fox.  #nykhikawamaru #hikawamaru #hiyemaru #heianmaru #charliechaplin #artdeco #artdecooceanliner #frenchartdeco #marcsimonThe best site for ocean liner ephemera is Nautiques.net, not .com, which I mentioned in the video.  Apologies to Nautiques for our gaffe! Also on YouTube at:https://youtu.be/8vx6JFw6aCE?si=dKK8A8XnYO3xrJswFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠

The companion audio to our latest excursion video, also on our YouTube channel!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5o4hPZuuv4QThis 35 minute video captures the essence of a perfect Antarctica cruise on board ‪@AtlasOceanVoyages‬ M.V. WORLD NAVIGATOR, a 2021-built, state of the art deluxe expedition ship. From zodiac excursions through the ice fields and pods of humpback whales to sea kayaking and hikes through thick snow pack, past penguin colonies and even an abandoned whaling station in the heart of an active volcano, it's all here. Plus the pre-cruise visits to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia and all the activities and dining options on board the ship, itself. Music licensed from Artlist: Marco Martini "Gardens Against Time" and "The Madrigal"; Louis Adrien "The Last Tango"; Dan Zeitune "Lever De La Luna"; Intrex "Wind Of Inspiration"; Marcello Nami "La Grima"; Stephen Beddall "My Heart Is All Yours"; Straight White Teeth "Tell It In A Letter"; Yehezekiel Raz "Flight Of The InnerBird"; Vaceslaw Dragonov "Autumn Pizzicato"; CTRL S "A Female Deer"; Idokay "South"; Amos Ever Hadani "El Tayede Tacuma"; Dani Hadani "Inner Dream"; Marshall Usinger "Beholding". #atlasoceanvoyages #expeditioncruise #antarcticaexploration #antarcticacruise #chinstrappenguins #gentoopenguins #adelepenguins #lemaireAll our links!https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury

The audio companion to our YouTube video!Ambassador Cruise Lines 70,000 gross ton, 1,500 passenger MV AMBIENCE was designed by Italian starchitect Renzo Piano (The Pompidou Center, Shard, etc.) and features a distinctive dolphin/whale inspired profile that sets her apart from any other cruise ship. Built in 1991 as Princess Cruises REGAL PRINCESS, she now sails in the British market, offering a great value for the money with her spaciousness, friendly crew and good food. In an interview with Italian ship historians Maurizio Eliseo and Mariachiara Sassu, our latest, extensively detailed Decked! video covers her design process, construction and interesting history (along with that of her former sister ship, the CROWN PRINCESS, which was broken up in 2021). Every public area is shown, along with all general stateroom and suite categories and most dining venues, so this is an ideal video for anyone considering a cruise in the AMBIENCE. Music licensed from Artlist includes: Spirto "FalstaFF", Alon Peretz "If You Build It", Ardie Son "Roadway", Guy Mintus "Prelude In E Minor", Intrex "Happy Eyes", Lux Inspira "Origami", Matt Reynard "Ferris Wheel", Ty Simon "Tea Time", Balloon Planet "One Step Closer", Brooklyn Classical "Waltz In A Flat Major", Marco Martini "Vivaldi Legacy. #ambassadorcruiseline #mvambience #ssrex #fincantierimonfalcone #fincantieri #rennzopiano #princesscruises #firstregalprincessWatch the video on YouTube!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyLv8tj7kQ4All our links!https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury

Thank you, dear YouTube viewers, for helping us reach the 10,000 subscribers milestone!  I'm hoping this is just the beginning and that there will be many more milestones to celebrate at MidShipCinema in the near future.  In the meantime, I realize it's been a while since my last post, so I wanted to give you an update on what I've been up to.  I was off on @AmbassadorCruiseLine AMBIENCE, the 1991-built former REGAL PRINCESS, for a sixteen-night cruise to Norway.  This ship is a real beauty and still sports many of her Renzo Piano-designed features.  We'll be giving you a full tour of this special ship and our visit to Trieste to see Maurizio Eliseo's "Il Cavalieri dei Mari" exhibit about the spectacular Lloyd Sabaudo CONTE Liners of the 1920s. We will take you aboard the preserved forward superstructure of the CONTE BIANCAMANO at the Museum of Science and Technology in Milan.  My friend Dan Trachtenberg and I will be continuing our "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter" podcasts, which are doing well on the Spotify and Apple Music platforms. I will also be doing in-depth tours of the tragic PRINCE GEORGE, the preserved ships HIKAWA MARU, KEEWATIN, and the DELTA KING.  And, now that we have 10K subs, I promise to deliver my fourth Alang video, "Blue Lady Blues", about the SS FRANCE/NORWAY on the scrapper's beach at some point soon.  All that and much more coming soon!  Happy and safe holidays to you and a prosperous, ship-filled New Year, to boot!  #cruiseship #oceanliner #italianliners #renzopiano #mvambience #sscontebiancamano #contebiancamanomilan #leonardodavincimuseummilan #maurizioeliseo #trieste #ssprincegeorgeFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

The audio companion to our YouTube channel video! Join Peter Knego for a seven-night "Wild, Woolly and Wow with Glacier Bay" adventure from Juneau on board the replica vintage steamer WILDERNESS LEGACY. With a capacity for just 86 guests, the LEGACY visits small inlets, hamlets and bays that the big ships cannot reach, offering kayaks, skiff tours, and wilderness hikes in lieu of the big, commercial ports like Ketchikan and Skagway. And while she is not a typical cruise ship, the LEGACY has tons of charm, a great chef who prepares Epicurean food, and an extremely dedicated crew who make every moment count. On this trip, some of the highlights include an encounter with the Northern Lights, dramatic calvings at Le Conte Glacier, getting up close with a pod of orcas, and even a jellyfish. #uncruise #uncruiseadventures #quirkycruise #onassignmentwithquirkycruise #thebestalaskacruise #expeditionships #expeditioncruise #wildernesslegacy #leconteglacier #glacierbay #lamplughglacier #orcasWatch the original video on our YouTube channel!https://youtu.be/pMUGsYcwEdg?si=sGbagWLetdRVf5DfFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

The companion to our YouTube video, now live on our channel!The largest ship in UnCruise Adventures' fleet of expedition vessels, the 1,472 gross ton, 86 passenger WILDERNESS LEGACY is also one of the cruising world's most beautiful.  Built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay steamboat, the LEGACY has enjoyed several careers in her long life but is now enjoying her most rewarding and successful, especially with the addition of the Sea Dragon platform that is used to launch kayaks and paddleboards, as well as enabling the easy boarding of skiffs.  This history and top-to-bottom tour covers the ship's colorful past and features all passenger spaces, most cabin categories, the bridge, and the engine room.  And for you skimmers, don't miss the surprise at the very end.  #uncruise #uncruiseadventures #wildernesslegacy #pilgrimbelle #colonialexplorer #expeditionships #smallcruiseships #victorianempress #spiritof98 #cruisewest #quirkycruise #onassignmentwithquirkycruiseFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠⁠Also on YouTube at:https://youtu.be/U89GoqgSjLM?si=DwQEYB02WJawgqEN

The companion to our YouTube video, now live on our channel!The largest ship in UnCruise Adventures' fleet of expedition vessels, the 1,472 gross ton, 86 passenger WILDERNESS LEGACY is also one of the cruising world's most beautiful.  Built in 1984 as a replica Chesapeake Bay steamboat, the LEGACY has enjoyed several careers in her long life but is now enjoying her most rewarding and successful, especially with the addition of the Sea Dragon platform that is used to launch kayaks and paddleboards, as well as enabling the easy boarding of skiffs.  This history and top-to-bottom tour covers the ship's colorful past and features all passenger spaces, most cabin categories, the bridge, and engine room.  And for you skimmers, don't miss the surprise at the very end.  Music licensed from Artlist includes:  "Premiere" (creative cut) and "Presto" by Adrian Berenguer; Yonatan Riklis "It's A Slippery Slope"; Ziv Moran "Lantern Light", "Good For All" and "Timeline"; Kolby Knickerbocker "Kindness Courage" and Ben Fox "Driving Solo"#uncruise #uncruiseadventures #wildernesslegacy #pilgrimbelle #colonialexplorer #expeditionships #smallcruiseships #victorianempress #spiritof98 #cruisewest #quirkycruise #onassignmentwithquirkycruiseFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠Also on YouTube at:https://youtu.be/U89GoqgSjLM?si=DwQEYB02WJawgqEN

In this latest episode of "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter", ship historians Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg discuss Knego's latest cruise to Alaska on board UnCruises' vintage coastal steamer-inspired WILDERNESS LEGACY. Everything from the Northern Lights to calving glaciers and pods of orcas was featured. The two also discuss new and encouraging developments with the sleek, nuclear-powered SAVANNAH and her possible future as a preserved ship in her namesake city and Knego shares the story of his visit to the PRINCE GEORGE, the 1948-built Alaska liner and cruise ship that burned from stem to stern just weeks later. #cruiseship #classicships #oceanliner #nssavannah #uncruise #wildernesslegacy #princegeorge #sunkenship #fireatseaFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

In this latest episode,  after Dan Trachtenberg shares some new developments on the S.S. UNITED STATES reefing project, Peter Knego recalls his 1992 visit to the former S.S. AMERICA in a Greek anchorage near the very end of the ship's long, extraordinary life.  Laid up for 13 years after two failed attempts to revive the historic liner for cruise service, the former AMERICA, then called ALFERDOSS (Arabic for "Paradise"), was scarred by neglect and the elements.  Despite the cosmetic decay, the ship was filled with original public areas, artworks, fittings and furnishings.  Her absolutely magnificent and forgotten Art Deco flourishes and spectacular marine architecture were  there to be admired one last time before ultimately getting destroyed some fifteen months later in the Canary Islands.  As we are about to lose the S.S. UNITED STATES, the loss of the AMERICA is now even more relevant.  Knego recalls the ship's illustrious career as a transatlantic liner and troopship before being sold to the Greeks to become a hugely successful migrant ship.  Then, the failed attempts at a return to cruising basically sealed her fate, leading to a long, sad layup and ultimately an even more tragic destruction.  There are many hitherto unpublished photos from Knego's archive to illustrate the story.  This is a very special episode of a podcast that we hope you will find both interesting and entertaining.Follow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

In Episode Four of this MidShipCinema Podcast hosted by Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg, we have the latest on the dismembered funnels of the SS UNITED STATES, reveal a favorite new cruise and ship-oriented website, discuss the advantages of small ship cruising on the WIDERNESS LEGACY of Un-Cruise and our main topic, how Knego started going to the scrap yards of Alang, India to rescue treasures from dozens of classic cruise ships and former ocean liners.  Many never-before published photos illustrate the ships and the shipbreaking process and how the items are shipped to California to be cleaned up, sold and given a new life.  #alang #scrapships #classiccruiseships #oceanliners #maritimesalvage #cruise #ssunitedstates  #cruiseship #ssmardigras #ssempressofcanada #ssfranconia #mvkungsholm #cruisenewsFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

In episode three of "A Little Bit Of Ship Banter", cohosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg discuss the latest developments with the SS UNITED STATES reefing project in Mobile with the ship's funnels, masts and last remaining screw now removed.  We also look at some of the renderings for the proposed museum, which will incorporate the funnels and mast in a Florida setting not far from where the ship will be sunk.  We also chat about the QUEEN MARY, pay tribute to the late Everette Hoard, the QUEEN MARY's honorary Commodore and reflect back on the MV CARLA C, a wonderful old Costa cruise ship with French origins.  There's even a bit of Old Hollywood and James Bond thrown in for good measure.  Please grab a cuppa and join us -- you may even have a good time!  #oceanliner #ssunitedstates #thinc #carlacosta #carlacship #costaline #ssusc #barbaracarrera #bettyhutton #pattipage #charlesocurran  #queenmary #queenmarylongbeachFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

Hosts Peter Knego and Dan Trachtenberg return for episode two.  We discuss the origins of the show's title -- with a major nod to the band Sparks;  provide an update on the situation with Customs and Border Patrol removing crew from cruise ships in the U.S. with no legal recourse for the accused; discuss the latest on the SS UNITED STATES reefing project; celebrate the Steamship Historical Society Of America's two ships of the year, the MV CANADIAN EMPRESS and the SS KEEWATIN; reminisce about the SS ARCADIA and those last Post War P&O ocean liners and much more.  Please join us and let us know if there are some topics you would like us to cover in future episodes.  #cruiseships #customsandborderprotection #pandocruises #pandolines #ssunitedstates #greatlakesmaritimemuseum #sskeewatin #canadianempress #stlawrencecruiselinesFollow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠⁠

Welcome to the first episode of a new podcast about all things cruise ship and ocean liner, hosted by cruise ship journalist and historian Peter Knego and ocean liner aficionado Dan Trachtenberg. We get a chance to introduce ourselves, explain how our interest in the subject grew and lament some of the ships we have lost this year. We also mention the handful of liners that have been preserved around the world and discuss a sad and disturbing new development with several Great Lakes cruise ships and the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.Follow us on all our socials and YouTube!⁠https://linktr.ee/midshipcentury⁠Hosts:Peter KnegoDan Trachtenberg