SS Star of Krondor (1939)
.jpg) SS Star of Krondor' underway, 1943
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| History | |
|---|---|
 North Bardonia
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| Name: | SS Star of Krondor |
| Namesake: | Krondor |
| Owner: | Maersk Lines Shipping Group |
| Operator: | Maersk Lines |
| Port of registry: | Template:Country data North Bardonia Krondor |
| Route: |
 Carthiada –  Vabasa – Tussia Port of Nicodemus (Spira) |
| Ordered: | 1939 |
| Builder: | Krondor General Shipyards, Krondor, North Bardonia |
| Cost: | ₪ 5.5 million |
| Yard number: | 100 |
| Laid down: | September 19th, 1939 |
| Launched: | July 1941 |
| Christened: | March 12th, 1942 |
| Completed: | March 1942 |
| Maiden voyage: | November 16th, 1942 |
| Out of service: | July 14th 1955 |
| Fate: | Caught fire on July 12th |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Ocean liner |
| Tonnage: | 83,673 GRT |
| Displacement: | 83,000+ |
| Length: | 1,031 ft (314 m) |
| Beam: | 118 ft (36.0 m) |
| Height: | 233 ft (71.0 m) |
| Depth: | 18.4 ft (5.6 m) |
| Decks: | 14 |
| Installed power: | 12x Krys-Val Boilers |
| Propulsion: | 4x Wilson Steam Engines |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) service speed |
| Capacity: | 3,618 (listed) |
| Crew: | 2,283 |
| Notes: | 1,235 |
The SS Star of Krondor was a North Bardonian ocean liner that caught fire and capsized off of the coast of Hooseria on July 12th, 1955, en route back home from the Port of Nicodemus (Spira) within Tussia via the Port of Vabasa in Hooseria to Krondor. At that time there were 1,823 Passengers on board with an additional 982 crew making a total of 2,805 people onboard, of these 1,811 died making it by far the deadliest maritime disaster in North Bardonian History, a title it maintains to this day.
The vessel was constructed by the Krondor General Shipyards and it was one of the largest constructed at the time, ordered by Maersk Lines Shipping Group in 1939 construction was completed in 1942 and underwent its maiden voyage from Krondor to Kalidara on November 16th, 1942. The vessel would gain notoriety for its part in the North Bardonia-Hooserian-Tussia shipping lane, bringing tourist and businessmen through the three growing nations. Constructed during a low period for the global economy the ship would later become a symbol for economic growth and post war prosperity. On a routine journey back home, the ship would be lost taking half of her passengers and crew to a watery grave in part thanks to electrical failures, faults in her design and the incompetence and arrogance of her crew.
Much speculation has surrounded the sudden and disastrous loss of the vessel with numerous experts citing how the fire that would destroy the ship and the technical failings could only have been caused by sabotage. A government back investigation would be closed in 1957 with the event being listed as "accident", although many whistleblowers have cited the Augustines regime reformist attitudes and the 'Silent Coup' as a directly responsible for the disaster and the following covering up of the event. In the wake of the disaster Maersk Lines would begin to move away from traditional passenger ships and Maersk Lines herself would amalgamate her shipping company into Penitusian-Bardonian Lines.
Construction
The vessel was constructed by the Krondor General Shipyards and was one of the largest constructed at the time, ordered by Maersk Lines Shipping Group in 1939 construction was completed in 1942 and underwent its maiden voyage from Krondor to Kalidara on November 16th, 1942. The ship itself was third in the Star of North Bardonia class of vessels contructed from 1939 to 1943 and was one of six vessels: the others being the Star of North Bardonia (1941), the Star of Carthiada (1942), the Star of Krondor (1942), the Star of Lughansk (1943), the Star of Kharistan (1943), and the Star of Elijah (1943).
The Ship was also designed with state-of-the-art technology in mind which would priorities safety and speed for the ship with the innovations of the Great War taking a key role in the ships innovative design. Alongside numerous other developments the ship itself was designed by the world famous North Bardonian ship designer Ibrahim Asmal who designed the lavish interior alongside the exterior of the vessel. The ship alongside the expert designer also gained the advice and experience of Captain Albert Tragniet, a former Navy Captain and now an experience captain and an excellent host.
Alongside the excellent designers came the power of Krondor General Shipyards, the largest in North Bardonia, who had made hundreds of ships for Maersk and hundreds of ships for North Bardonia. The Ship would begin construction in September of 1939 and would be completed in 1942 with sea trials concluding in July and the finalisation of the ships interior in August allowing for the ship to take part on its maiden voyage in November of 1942.
Interestingly the ships destined route was already envision in its designers prior to its maiden voyage and even before construction began. The North Bardonian company seeing the Great War. The journey was that of Krondor to Kalidara then a cut across the Penitsuian towards Hooseria where it would stop before sailing onto Tussia before returning home. This route was sometimes referred to as the "Costal Crossing" as the ships that went along it rarely came across rough waters that were common in the ocean. The costal characteristic also made the cruise a comfortable and leisurely one that was all to calm with scenic views of some of the most beautiful cities and shores in the world.
Career
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Starting on its maiden voyage in 1942 from Krondor to Kalidara the first few years of the ship was spent traveling to the settlement of Daimako back to Krondor before in 1948 the ship began its famous trip up the Penitusian. The ships lavish interior made it a prime liner for the rich and wealth of North Bardonia, Tussia & other nations and peoples wanting to travel between the Penitusian. Another feature of the famous liner was its Captain, Albert Tragniet (1878-1955). Captain Tragniet served aboard the Star of Krondor from 1942 to 1944 and then from 1947 to its last voyage in 1955 who had advised designers over the course of construction.
In the 1940's many Krondorians took pride in its star and many Krondorians would travel abord her to catch a glimpse of a foreign land and bath in the 50-meter-long swimming pool that was one of the first of its kind and to dine in the six lavish themed restaurants. The lavish restaurants on boards were the Tayichian & seafood themed Ocean Bar, the Tussian-Orleaux Grand Constellation Restaurant, the Hooserian Eagles Nest Bar (on the port side of the boat near the aft), the international themed Star Restaurant and the North Bardonian restaurant the Sea Star Restaurant. Alongside the globularly renowned food & entertainment was the only cinema on the water (at the time).
From 1948 the ship was pushed to its limits to conduct the Trans-Penitusian trip trying to compete with newly emerging air travel as its speed, crew, and state of the art electrical system was put under pressure to prove to the world that sailing was still luxurious, fast, and convenient. The liner in 1954 & 1955 were being pushed to their limits to remain profitable making the growing maintenance issues a brewing ground for disaster. Alongside the issue of technology on the boat there were also issues with the crew and funding for the boat.
In 1953 an issue with workers lead to a weeklong strike before Military Police forcibly dispersed the strikers and the workers who were on strike were fired and replaced with new workers. This policy led to distrust between the captain and corporate leadership and the workers of the ship leading to an atmosphere of tension and distrust. This distrust led to a strained relationship between the crew and led to a number of incompetent crewmembers coming aboard to replace union organizers leading to far more incompetent crew that what was expected for this grand vessel.
In late 1954 and 1955 budgetary concerns lead to a skip of the ship's safety check scheduled for February of 1955 leading to a delay until November of 1955 which was after's its untimely end. Due to the lack of checks it became a 1,000 ft long matchbox with the fire safety system and electronical system not being checked and boilers becoming dangerously unreliable when pushed to the limits. It was under these circumstances that the deadliest North Bardonian maritime disaster would occur.
Fire
On July 14th, 1955, at 6:08 PM an explosion would echo throughout the bowls of the ship and the surrounding area. At 5:40 the ship had cast off too much fanfare whilst the Captain, Albert Tragniet, ordered the ship to pick up speed at 6:00 with hopes of making up time after a delay forcing a latter cast off, Boiler #8, on the port side, had been put under much strain and according to Deputy Engineer Hastlan "needed to be shut off to avoid catastrophic failure..."[1]. The explosion was placed right under the Eagles Nest Bar ripped through the Decks F, E, & D igniting the natural gas in the Kitchens on D Deck right beneath the Eagle Nest and causing a secondary explosion that lead to open flames spewing out of the Eagle Nest Restaurant, of the 38 guest recorded being in the bar at the time none would make it out alive[2]. By 6:10 much of Ship Fire Brigade C was fighting a fire in Aft Lobby as the flames had spread into the boat via an offshore wind, the ships fire sprinkler system had failed dramatically with none of the nozzles on D or E deck opening and those on F deck burst spewing much of F decks water into the Engine Room.
It was at 6:11 the Captain Albert Tragniet ordered nearly all fire crews to come to F, E & D deck to control the reports of flames that had spread. It was also now that flames crept onto B Deck and began burning there way upwards through the grand staircase in the aft. By 6:14 flames reached A Deck and the promenade. Flames then proceeded towards the midship consuming many life rafts and much of the stern promenade on A Deck. At 6:21 Tragniet sent the remainder of the free crewmembers to assist with quashing the fire. Tragniet also made a controversial order to use the Anti-Piracy Water Cannons to quash the growing blaze, the ship would take in seawater to be spread onto the deck. It was also at this time that the fire on C deck spread towards the midship trapping roughly 500 individuals attempting to escape via the Aft Stairwell. It was then at 6:24 Captain Tragniet orders all crew and passengers to abandon ship and sent out SOS call for ships to come to the aid of the vessel.
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At 6:27 the North Bardonian passenger liner, the SS Crown of Carthiada, operated by Hooseria-Bardonian Liners which was 4 Nautical Miles away from the SS Star of Krondor (the ship would arrive at 6:40 to aid with the evacuation, it was also around here that the Vabasa Metropolitan Coastal Patrol Service, VMPS Siatana, left Vabasa to aid the Star of Krondor. It was now that fire fighters on board the ship began fighting the fires spreading towards the midship and ensuring that life rafts could be deposited in the water. Within five minutes (At 6:32) several life rafts deposited in the water carrying roughly 20 people each, although their capacity was 50 people. Due to the disorganization of the launch of life rafts and with every minute the flames spread forwards Captain Tragniet gave orders to attempt to beach the vessel and due to reports of the need to lower the boat farther down to bring out the reserve life rafts above the promenade on the vessel he gave orders to fill bellist tanks 1, 2, 7 & 8 but do to the faulty electrical system all bellist tanks on the starboard side (all odd numbers) began filling alongside Tanks 2 & 8.
During the period from which the VMPS Siatana arrived several firefighting boats begun spraying water onto the deck of the ship to slow the flames down, this only led to more water seeping below deck and tilting the ship further. At 6:57 much of the boat was inflames and over 600 individuals were trapped below deck alongside another 500 attempting to rush away from flames with another, according to the reports, 300 people dead. It was also around this time that the boat begun visibly listing to starboard, so both the VMPS Siatana & SS Crown of Carthiada left the area to avoid the capsize, both ships had taken roughly 492 individuals onboard with another 318 on the water. At 7:00 flames licked out of the wheelhouse and at 7:23 the ship completely capsized over.
By 7:58 rescue efforts continued and over 100 more survivors were picked up. The next day the official casualties were listed as being 1,811 making the disaster horribly brutal and bloody, many of the crew were lost including Captain Tragniet. The disastrous loss quickly stumbled its way onto the morning paper and radio signals transmitted the loss globally as there were numerous nationalities on board the ship.
| Nationality | Survivors | Dead | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 339 | 643 | 982 |
| North Bardonian | 345 | 645 | 888 |
| Hooserian | 114 | 198 | 312 |
| Tussian | 99 | 111 | 210 |
| Tayichian | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| Qílian | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| Other | 92 | 208 | 300 |
| Total | 994 | 1,811 | 2,805 |
Aftermath & Investigation
In the aftermath of the disaster news of the incident quickly traveled over wireless and several radio stations in Hooseria and North Bardonia picked up the story and begun broadcasting globally. News quickly spread and international outcry over the disaster was heard worldwide, the Tayichian Embassy and Tussian Embassy were the first to demand a swift investigation into the disaster whilst the Hooserians requested permission to remove the ship. Many in the global community were infatuated with the disaster and many amateur investigators began sharing bizarre and some plausible theory's ranging from an alien attack to a dive-bomber run to sabotage running around evidence that was seen (mainly that of the explosion seen and heard for miles around). As many investigators, collectors, conspiracy theorist, scrap metal workers, and people wishing to pick apart the ship swarmed around here hull it was eventually sold for scrap in late July that the ship would be removed from the shoreline and brought and sold to a scrapyard near Vabasa.
Prior to the removal of the vessel a group of investigators explored the ruing and took numerous photos and reports of the boat to piece together had happened, the results of the investigation were released in 1956 just after the Election of 1956 with a latter report coming out in 1957 officially ruling the disaster as an Accident caused by a Boiler explosion (in Boiler #8) which had been placed under huge amounts of stress and much of the valves had been heavily corroded according to investigators reports and reports of Engineers in the weeks prior to the incident. Investigators continued to point at malpractice as the reason for the explosion. Further investigation revealed severe failing by the crew and the company in mid 1955 by skipping scheduled repairs. Although officially labeled accident the Department of the Coast, Maritime Affairs, & Shipping Regulation (DOCMASR) filled an inquest with the Prosecutors-Generals Office in 1958 to sue Penitusian-Bardonian Lines, the trial dragged on for two years until in 1961 PBL and the associated workers union (which was also dragged down in this disaster), the United Maritime Workers Union were sued for ₪1.2 million in damages to be paid out to the families of the bereaved.
It is estimated the total cost of the disaster exceeds ₪6.2 million, mainly from the cost of moving the ship and from the two main trials, the one North Bardonian, and the other Hooserian which costed PBL ₪500,000. PBL would be seriously hit by the disaster with them only making ₪2.2 million back from insurance claims and from selling the ship to scrap, much of the fiscal cost would be shared throughout the company and fiscal damages seriously hit the North Bardonian Shipping industry hard with reforms and regulations slapped on by the oncoming Augustine Administration.
Legacy
Today, although the official reason was given as a Boiler explosion caused by corrosion and by stress many believe the incident involved foul play, siting the durability of Krys-Val Steam Boilers and how this incident was a one of a kind. Many believe the disaster was done by an agent of the NSP's reform wing or the mysterious Office of Naval Intelligence with designs to kill many right-wing nationalists who so happened to be on the boat at the time there were 12 nationalists, oligarchs on the vessel who were all members of the ultranationalist organization, the Phoenix Group. These individuals were all industrialists touring the nationalistic states of Hooseria and Tussia to gain a better idea of implementing there 'New Order' in North Bardonia, all these men backed President Hadelbar and his vice-president, Markus DeGrenium. All men would die in the disaster, and many suggested this as the ultimate goal, with these powerful men out of the way the reformist wing could match the donors of the Nationalists and with the favor of Demantus the reformist would win the 1956 election.
With the investigation complete and PBL reeling from fiscal losses the owner of PBL, Mearsk Lines would amalgamate several of their liner companies into Inter-Penitusian Lines (IPL) in 1962, the company is still a major player in the North Bardonian, and Penitusian, cruise scene. Alongside shifts in corporate offices the Government of North Bardonia issued strict new regulations to control the maritime industry and preventing the disaster from repeating itself. Additionally labor reforms finalized a minimum wage for different types of work and restricted the power of Trade Unions negotiating power to prevent a failure of communication between workers and management.
In 1983 near the Old Port of Carthiada the Maritime Museum of North Bardonia (housed in the sister ship to the Star of Krondor, the SS Star of Carthiada) an official memorial for those lost on the Krondor would be erected inside the museum with an additional model being shown alongside plaques explaining the disaster and the victims. Much has been done to memorialize the disaster and prevent it from happening every again. Indeed, the memorialization has continued onto a point where schools teach the disaster a lynch point of the 50's and a symbol of the excess of them.
Portrayal in Media
In the 1960's & 1970's several high hitting records would bounce around the top of the charts in North Bardonia, the most popular ones being the 1973 #2 Hit "Flames" by Ismal Hadkeem, his father and older brother were both on the ship when the disaster happened, and the song is really focused on the oppressed feelings of grief, the song had become very popular in the late seventies amongst the Sturdentsreformischenbund (Students Reform Union) as a protest song against the Kharistan Emergency and Government Oppression that came about during the Grey Fall.
Alongside music the film was a fixation of the film industry in the 1960's & 1980s being used as a plot point in dozens of films ranging from romances to spy-thrillers. Much of these classic tales have either used the ships downfall or the aftermath or in some cases (The Sound of the Sea) as a setting for the story, this immortalized the SS Star of Krondor in the minds in numerous generations with the story becoming an anecdote for a disaster of such a destructive event. One film for example, the 1984 Star of the Sea, portrays the vessel as the scene of a murder with a murderous villain covering his tracks through sabotage, the climax results in the destruction of the ship after a gun fight and the hero fleeing with his love interest away from the disaster.
In the end the disaster has become a piece of North Bardonian cinema and media and as a result in an eternal image in the minds of many when they think of maritime disaster, it remains the deadliest North Bardonian maritime disaster and the (TBD) worst Maritime disaster in the world.
See Also
History of North Bardonia, 1950's