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Gripsholm was the Swedish America
Line’s first new built liner. Their
previous ships, Stockholm and
Drottningholm, were both aging
liners purchased from other companies.
The Swedish America Line named
Gripsholm after a 16th Century
Swedish castle and designed her interiors
in the Gustavian style from the reign of
King Gustaf III, 1771-1792. As emigration
laws had been changed in America during
the early 1920s, the Swedish America Line
intended to use Gripsholm mainly
as a cruise ship and to provide a
passenger service between Sweden and
America in summer.
Gripsholm’s maiden voyage
from Gothenburg - New York November 21st
1925 saw her become the first
diesel-powered liner to be operated on
the Atlantic run.
As Sweden had declared a state of
neutrality at the outbreak of World War
Two, Gripsholm was laid up until
the United States chartered her to be
used as an international Red Cross
exchange ship in 1940. She served in that
role-exchanging diplomats and prisoners
throughout the war before being returned
to the Swedish America Line in 1946. With
Gripsholm’s design looking
dated after 24 years in service, she was
taken out of service in 1949 to undergo
an extensive refit. This work involved
reshaping her funnels and bow into a more
modern design. Six years later, the North
German Lloyd Line bought Gripsholm
to be operated on the Bremerhaven - New
York run under the name Berlin. As
all of Germany’s large ships had
been awarded to the Allies at the end of
World War Two, Berlin was the
first German liner to be operated on the
Atlantic run since the end of the war.
The North German Lloyd Line took their
aging liner out of service in November
1966. After 41 years crossing the
Atlantic, Berlin’s final
voyage ended at the La Spezia scrap yard
in Italy November 26th 1966.
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