Click here for an index of previous second lives posts. Reinventions are everywhere, but I have a hunch that the Caribbean offers an especially rewarding search area for second acts, third acts, and the number goes on. Take a vessel named Azores. I’d never heard of it before, but . . . suppose I say Stockholm, THAT Stockholm. the one that left the sixth boro in July 1956 and could have been a disintegrating artificial reef lying near Andrea Doria. Rich Taylor took the photo below in St. Kitts early last month. Scroll through here to see her sans bow. Click here to see her in dry dock and showing her unusual stern lines. Here’s a long list of her previous names: Stockholm until 1960, Volkerfreundschaft until 1985, Fritjof Nansen until 1993, Italia I until later in 1993, Italia Prima until 2003, Valtur Prima until later 2003, Caribe until 2005, Athena until 2013 . . . Azores until . . . further notice.
And then there’s this tugboat looking like exactly what she is . . . undistracted by her pink deckhouse, can’t you imagine this as a former workhorse of the northeast? Any guesses?
She was once called James McAllister. And here’s the story . . . built 1930 in Philly. Does anyone have photos of her in Hayes colors . . . purple I presume?
Many thanks to Rich Taylor for these photos of vessels that have lived on and on.
tugster: a waterblog 
10 comments
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March 11, 2015 at 10:24 am
Fashionable Librarian
Absolutely…re-inventions are everywhere
March 11, 2015 at 10:39 am
Harry T Scholer
The picture of Stockholm with her bow sheared off, is one that I’ll always remember. In 1956 I was a sea scout and we had an old NYC coffee barge moored in the sixth boro, at Edgewater NJ, as our home. One of our instructors took us all in the unit’s motor whaleboat, across the river to view the ship. The carnage was very evident and at the time a story was circulating that a 12 year old girl, Doria passenger, was found in Stockholm’s wreckage. Glad to see that the ship has enjoyed a long and productive life.
March 11, 2015 at 6:54 pm
tugster
Harry– bet you AND i wish you had photos of that 1956 wrecked nose.
March 11, 2015 at 4:41 pm
Les Sonnenmark
What a contrast: the STOCKHOLM/AZORES was delivered in 1948, was seriously damaged in the famous collision, has been rebuilt several times and modernized at great cost, and is still in service; the UNITED STATES is younger, having been delivered in 1952, was never in a collision, was retired from service and now rots at a Philadelphia pier. The difference might be that from 1960 to 1985 the STOCKHOLM was operated by the East German government, who kept her going in spite of the demise of the ocean liner trade, until the cruise trade grew and she could be profitable in that service. What would have happened if the US government had kept the UNITED STATES going?
March 11, 2015 at 6:54 pm
tugster
Les– You make a very productive comparison there.
March 12, 2015 at 6:45 am
Rembert
For several years I felt annoyed, that those veteran tugs at Binger Loch (Rhine) suddenly had to bear perky bows around their black bellies. I found that even worse than those bulky frames, some of them have to carry for more than a decade now. http://www.loh-schifffahrt.de/bilder/geräte/
But I always thought, that these heavy-handed adornments were inspired by Cologne, that capital of bad taste (where else could voluminous books about a certain “Tiki-culture” have been published?). I am delighted to see, that things can get worse and rhenish skippers are in the lower mid-range of ideas, you better keep quiet about. Meanwhile there are indications for a return to a vibrant red!
March 12, 2015 at 7:42 am
tugster
Rembert–Thanks for the interesting link. Also, Rich Taylor previously shared a photo of Canadian paper carriers in the sixth boro area included in this post: https://tugster.wordpress.com/2010/06/07/followup-2/
March 12, 2015 at 10:36 am
Bjorn Wallde
Department: Films of the 6th Boro. I saw Stockhom/Azores here in Stockholm last summer. Famous Swedish American Line hull easy to detect; black paint or not. I also saw the Andrea Doria the other day. That was while watching Elia Kazan’s (maybe infamous film) On the Waterfront. The film is shot on location in the 6th boro – in Hoboken, NJ, and features a couple of beautiful Holland America Line liners. AND… in a rooftop love-scene between Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint you can spot the Andrea Doria majestically slide down the Hudson river – not to be hit by Stockholm; not this time…
Regards
Björn Wallde
entered the 6th boro för the first time in 1961 on board MS Gripsholm of the Swedish American Line and by the way also entered last year on board Cunard’s QM2 with only meters to spare under the Verrazano Bridge.
March 12, 2015 at 11:22 pm
tugster
bjorn– thanks much for sharing yr swedish perspective.
May 8, 2018 at 11:59 am
mageb
I would think five or six times about cruising on her with those giant sponsons.