The maritime calling was prepared for Bokelj, in his blood the spark that gave the impulse to extinct ancestors to fight the open sea, to conquer it with unprecedented feats, to exploit it with skill and courage that are always admired cannot be extinguished. That innate calling did not fail, nor could that spark be extinguished. Because, in vain - blood is not water! This was undoubtedly manifested on the day when the white "Lovćen" passed through Bokelj, it was so wonderfully manifested upon its arrival in the port of Kotor. Everyone's eyes shone with joy, on the faces of both men and women, both old and young, an expression of satisfaction and pride shone. And the sea captains who had gathered in good numbers to welcome the new asset of our shipping industry, followed the movements of "Lovćen" with obvious delight, feeling for sure that a new era had dawned in the shipping of their dear Boka and that the harbinger of new, better days was here, on the quiet waters of the enchanted Boke Bay.
Thus, in an editorial comment, the newspaper "Glas Boke" from Kotor on May 22, 1937, referred to a historic event for the Boka Bay maritime industry that had occurred three days earlier. Namely, on May 18, the largest passenger steamship of the long coastal voyage in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, an elegant white ship with the name "Lovćen" written on its bow, sailed into the bay, ceremonially welcomed by the people of Boka Bay.
The harmonious steamship, which had already had 26 years of happy navigation on the world's seas, was not long before purchased by the largest shipping company - "Zetska plovidba". Although it was formally headquartered in Cetinje, where its largest shareholder and majority owner, banker and entrepreneur, was born, Lale Zuber Novakovic"Zetska plovidba" was essentially a Boka shipping company because it emerged from the "Boka" Shipping Joint Stock Company, a company founded in 1920 in Kotor.
Over the next fifteen years, Brodarsko AD "Boka", transporting passengers, goods and mail, developed into the largest local shipping company in the southern Adriatic with a fleet of about twenty smaller passenger and cargo steamers and motor ships ranging in size from just five to 260 gross tonnage, with which the company maintained regular lines in the area from Split in the north to Ulcinj in the south, within the Boka Bay, as well as on the Bojana River and Lake Skadar.
In February 1934, by decision of the shareholders' meeting, the company's name was changed to "Zetska plovidba", and the headquarters were formally moved from Kotor to Cetinje, although in fact the company's executive management, technical and other departments remained in Kotor. Wanting to expand its operations to the entire Adriatic, as well as the Mediterranean and Black Sea basins, "Zetska plovidba" purchased a ship in New York in the spring of 1936 that was almost ten times larger than the largest vessel in its fleet at that time. A passenger-cargo steamer named "Rosalinda" of 2.487 gross registered tons was purchased. "Zetska plovidba" gave the ship, which had a carrying capacity of 4.000 tons, a new name "Lovćen" and in June 1936, after sailing the Atlantic, it arrived from New York to Trieste, where it was thoroughly renovated and completely refitted over the next few months. "Zetska plovidba" then brought its most significant addition to the fleet to Yugoslavia, where the elegant, white-painted "Lovćen" became at that moment the largest vessel in the Yugoslav so-called large coastal shipping.
The ship, by the way, began its life on May 13, 1911, when it was launched at the famous Scottish shipyard "Clyde Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd." in Port Glasgow, under the name "Lady Gwendolen". It was not a particularly large ship, it was 91,5 meters long, 12,1 meters wide and 5,4 meters deep. The ship was powered by a triple-expansion piston steam engine with a power of 2.100 horsepower, and the steam was produced by two "Scotch" steam boilers with fireboxes at both ends. "Lady Gwendolen" had one propeller, reached a maximum speed of 13 knots, and the ship was built to order by the then very reputable shipping company "British & Irish Steam Packet Co" from Dublin, which used it on regular lines on the Irish Sea for the next five years.
During World War I, the British & Irish Steam Packet sold the ship to the Russian Imperial Government, and the Lady Gwendolen, under the new name Ludmila, sailed far north to the White Sea, where, with its home port of Arkhangelsk, it served as an official vessel - a yacht and the residence of the governor of the Arkhangelsk region. After the Bolsheviks who overthrew the imperial regime reached that city in the far north of Russia, Ludmila was purchased in July 1918 by Dundee, Perth & London Shipping Co. Ltd. from Dundee, returned to its original name Lady Gwendolen and brought to the shores of its native Scotland, where the ship sailed in regular passenger and mail traffic for the next year or so.
In June 1919, the ship acquired a new owner – the British company "CT Bowring & Co" from Liverpool, which registered it with its Canadian subsidiary "New York, Newfoundland & Halifax SS Co" from Halifax in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Under the new name "Rosalind" for the next ten years, she happily fished the dangerous waters of the North Atlantic, maintaining a regular line between New York in the USA and the port of St. John's, the capital of the Canadian province of Newfoundland, with a stopover in the port of Halifax. This trip lasted 11 days one way and was advertised and sold as a kind of luxury semi-tourist cruise that cost $ 60 per person.
"Rosalind" and other ships that maintained this line were equipped with all the luxuries and amenities that were conceivable at the time for the comfort and safety of passengers. The voyage lasted seven days at sea with two days in the port of St. John's and one day in Halifax. While the ship was in these ports, excursions were organized for passengers by land and on smaller vessels so that they could enjoy the beautiful areas of untouched nature in Newfoundland, that is, Nova Scotia.
"Rosalind", which operated this line in tandem with the slightly larger steamship "Silvia" of 3.425 gross register tons, proved to be a very popular ship, often carrying over 100 passengers in one direction between New York and St. John's.
In 1929, from the cold Atlantic waters along the northeastern coasts of the USA and Canada, "Rosalind", keeping the same name, went far south, to the warm Caribbean, because the ship was bought by the new owner of the company "Bermuda & West Indies SS Co.Lt" with headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda. There, in February 1936, the already somewhat old, but beautiful and well-preserved steamship was bought by our "Zetska plovidba", which gave it the new name "Lovćen", and with this ship opened a completely new chapter in its own, but also in the recent history of Boka Bay maritime.
To this day, the "Lovćen" remains the largest passenger ship to have sailed in the fleet of any of the numerous shipowners from Boka. How important the arrival of this ship in 1937 was for the region is evident from numerous articles in the Yugoslav newspapers of the time, and especially from the great attention that the local newspaper "Glas Boke" devoted to the arrival and ceremonial welcome of this ship in its new home port of Kotor.
"On Wednesday, May 19, the Municipality of Kotor commendably hoisted flags on the shore in order to give visible signs of the satisfaction and enthusiasm that the arrival of the large passenger steamer "Lovćen" in its home port had caused in Kotor. And when shortly before 11 a.m. the City Band paraded through the city streets, citizens came out to the shore in increasing numbers to be present for the first arrival of the newly acquired steamer "Zetska plovidba". In addition to the multitude of citizens, representatives of the church, military and civil authorities, members of the board of "Zetska plovidba", the Maritime and Commercial Academy with professors and students, journalists and many distinguished personalities gathered on the shore, but a large number of sea captains from the entire surrounding area were particularly noticeable.
While the music played and the mortars echoed from the shore, the steamer, all white and bathed in sunlight, sailed at full steam towards Kotor - its home port, greeting the gentle shores of our fjord with the sound of a siren. Sailing along the Boka, the "Lovćen" passed near the coast and the Boka settlements, and according to the old custom of Boka sailors, it loudly greeted the Savina Monastery. The strong voice of the "Lovćen" siren echoed, and from the shores the people greeted with waving their hands and fluttering handkerchiefs. Upon entering Verige, the "Lovćen" turned towards the islet of Our Lady of the Rocks, an ancient sanctuary of Boka sailors. Greeting with the sound of a siren, the ship sailed around the islet, then passed through the Risan lagoon, and headed towards the Kotor basin. The shores greeted with the fluttering of flags and the echoing of prangiums. Prčanj especially warmly greeted the steamer's passage. The locals came out on the shore in large numbers, the magnificent church was decorated with flags and carpets, the mortars fired, the people and school children waved as the "Lovćen" entered the Kotor basin. Dobrota appeared on the other side, and the Maritime and Trade Academy, where the young maritime generation is raised, was decorated as if on a festive day. Thus, warmly welcomed and greeted from the shores of Boka, the "Lovćen" greeted with a siren and proudly entered the port of Kotor, on whose pier a large crowd of people had gathered by then," describes the ceremony in the bay in "Glas Boke".
The beautiful steamer, as soon as it docked at Luža, was visited by numerous dignitaries led by the President of the City Government. Bogumil Jovović and director of "Zetska plovidba" Rudolf GiunioTo the delight of the gathered people, the public was allowed to climb aboard and tour the ship, which still smelled of fresh paint after the extensive work carried out on it in the Trieste shipyard.
There, among other things, completely new first-class cabins were arranged on the "Lovćen" in the central and stern parts of the ship, which exuded full comfort and all the usual amenities and features necessary for well-to-do passengers who were willing to pay extra to sail in full comfort. A large ship's restaurant was arranged on the upper level of the central part of the superstructure, while in the front part of the ship, under the command bridge, a closed veranda for passengers was arranged, which continued towards the stern, a first-class salon with a smokehouse, and a ship's buffet. At the stern, above the cabins, or rather the restaurant for second-class passengers, there was a spacious promenade deck for first-class passengers. The bow of the ship was also reserved for second-class passenger cabins. "Lovćen", which was served by 52 crew members, had 40 berths for second-class passengers in cabins that had four or more beds "with running water and all other comforts", as the press of the time wrote. In first class, however, the ship offered passengers a significantly higher level of luxury and comfort.
"First class, on the other hand, presents the picture of the most modernly decorated passenger facilities with very spacious corridors and cabins. Wide beds, wardrobes, carpets, running hot and cold water, modern sanitary equipment, a dining room with 64 seats at tables, a smoking room with a bar, a spacious protected veranda, spacious decks for sunbathing and walking - all this ensures a comfortable and inexpensive journey for passengers. Special care is devoted to cleanliness and food. Radio news is broadcast over loudspeakers in all rooms of the ship, as is the music section," wrote a journalist for the magazine "Jadranska straža" from Split in the presentation of this new addition to the then Yugoslav passenger fleet.
With the newly acquired "Lovćen", "Zetska plovidba" significantly expanded its reach because it introduced a new, so-called Balkan line (Adriatic - Black Sea). Once a month, this beautiful steamer sailed on the route Venice - Sušak - Split - Dubrovnik - Kotor - Durres - Patras - Smyrna - Istanbul - Constanta. The one-way trip lasted seven days. On the return trip from Constanta, the ship also docked in Haifa. For the purposes of maintaining this line, "Zetska polovidba" opened new representative offices in Durres, Haifa, Istanbul, Constanta, Piraeus, Smyrna and Sulina, in addition to its existing agencies in major ports along the Adriatic coast.
The Balkan Railway proved to be very profitable and suitable for the then Yugoslav export and import trade, i.e. tourism, and by sailing on that line, the "Lovćen" significantly contributed to the growth of revenues and the improvement of the business balance of "Zetska Plovidba".
The ship, which experts considered one of the most harmonious and aesthetically attractive Yugoslav passenger steamships in the period between the two world wars, operated successfully and was very well-staffed, sailing on the Balkan Line until the fire of World War II began to approach these areas.
In an attempt to save the ship, "Zetska plovidba" officially sold "Lovćen" abroad in 1940 to its own daughter company founded in Panama, named "Cia. Centro Americana de Navegacion Lda".
However, the return of the "Lovćen", which now flew the Panamanian flag, to the shores of the USA and Central America was short-lived, because in October 1941, the most luxurious passenger steamer from Boka was given a new owner. Namely, in the port of Mobile on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, the ship was taken over by the US Government on a bare-boat charter and given the name "Columbia", and ceded to the US Army for its transport needs. The former "Lovćen" officially became the property of the US Government on March 31, 1942, when the US Department of Defense paid the Panamanian subsidiary of "Zetska Plovidba" $475.000 for it.
The former "Lovćen" thus became a US Army transport ship under the name "Brigadier General Harry E. Rethers" and received the official prefix USAT (United States Army Transport). Until the end of World War II, the ship transported personnel of the US armed forces on various routes, and at the end of the war it was accepted into the so-called US Reserve Fleet on December 14, 1945. The steamer, which at the time of its withdrawal from operational use needed an overhaul estimated at $132.500, was put into service and spent the next eight months moored in the Mobile River, near the American port city of the same name on the Gulf of Mexico coast.
The US government, however, had no interest in investing in the repair of such an old ship, and on February 7, 1946, the USAT "Brigadier General Harry E. Rethers" was sold to the Chinese, the company "China Mutual Trading", for a mere $40.650, with the condition that the Chinese would not use it commercially in American waters for the next ten years. Although the ship was officially sold to the Chinese for scrapping, they took the former "Lovcen" to the Kiagnan Arsenal shipyard in Shanghai, where the old steamer was restored and refitted. It was given the new name "Wah Chung", and was officially registered to the company "Chan Kin Cheong" from today's Guangzhou.
A new sale followed in 1950, when the ship was named "Teresa", and its official owner was the company "Grande Shipping Corp. SA" from Panama. Until recently, according to official data from Lloyd's Register, the former "Lovćen" was believed to have ended up in China in 1953, under the name "Teresa" and the flag of Panama. However, after Chinese archives became available to the general public, it turned out that the old, but obviously very well-built steamship, sailed in the Far East for another 15 years after that.
Research by a famous maritime journalist and chronicler from Split Marjan Žuvić and two Australian maritime historians who dealt with the fate of various ships that were purchased from the Allies by the Chinese after the end of World War II with the official intention of cutting them into scrap metal, it turned out that the former "Lovćen" sailed in China until 1968. Namely, the Chinese took it over again from the Panamanian company "Grande Shipping", giving it the name "Min Chi 1" under which the former "Lovćen" took over the regular passenger line between the Chinese ports of Dalian and Yantai in the Bohai Sea. In 1968, this ship finally went to the scrapyard under the last name that the former "Lovćen" had, "Gong Nong Bing 1", which translates to "Worker-Farmer-Soldier 1".
He left behind him 57 years of sailing on various seas and oceans, and successfully weathering two world wars.
Bonus video:
