another interesting nostalic feature from Wavescan. Thanks to AWR
In our story about newspapers published on board ship that received their news by wireless and radio, we go right back to the year 1899. This was during the early era of the experimental wireless work by Marconi. At the time, he was returning to England by ship, at the end of a visit to North America for the purpose of establishing his commercial interests on the North American mainland.
The ship that Marconi was traveling on was the SS “St Paul” which had been built in Philadelphia Pennsylvania just four years earlier. Marconi was supervising the new spark wireless apparatus aboard the ship.
Two world firsts were accomplished on this voyage. It was the first occasion in the history of wireless that the arrival of a ship was notified to the authorities on land, and it was the first occasion that a newspaper was printed on board a ship using information that was derived from news reports received by wireless.
The land based station at the time was on the Isle of Wight which had itself also achieved another first. This station had achieved the first international communication by wireless in a Morse Code contact with France across the English Channel.
The newspaper printed on board the passenger liner “St Paul” was issued under the title, “The Trans-Atlantic Times”. From that time onwards, the Marconi company claimed an unbroken succession of newspapers printed at sea with the usage of news information received by wireless.
In the very early years, there was a ship newspaper with the title “Aerogram”. In 1915, due to commercial buy-outs in the United States, the name was changed to “Ocean Wireless News” and this was made available to many ships plying the coastal passenger trade along the eastern seaboard of North America.
In those days, a cover was printed on land, often in color and with lots of advertising, and this was made available in bulk to ships equipped with a wireless receiver and some form of printing press. The inside section of the ship newspaper was compiled from uptodate reports received on the wireless equipment, it was inserted into the color cover, and the newspaper was sold to passengers.
A 1925 version of the “Ocean Wireless News” features a color cover, drawn by an artist and showing passengers and crew making ready to depart at the beginning of a voyage. This particular edition was distributed on board the SS “Manchuria” which was built in Camden New Jersey in 1904 and at the time, it was in passenger service with the Panama Pacific Company in the Americas.
Another example of a ship newspaper was a daily edition of “The Wireless News” on board the ship “Makura”, sailing across the Pacific. This ship was built in Glasgow Scotland and it was operated by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. The outer cover of this paper, in an issue dated in 1923, shows a photo of another vessel plying the Pacific, the “Niagara.”
The Canadian Pacific Company operated a large fleet of passenger and cargo vessels across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The same name, the “Wireless Press”, was used for all of their shipboard newspapers regardless of the ship and its service area. For example, the SS “Montcalm” was in the Atlantic passenger service and the “Duchess of Richmond” was a cruise ship that voyaged to many destinations; and the name of their shipboard newspapers in both cases, was “Wireless Press”.
The issue of “Wireless Press” for Tuesday April 6, 1937 shows that the “Duchess of Richmond” was on a Christian World Cruise. The single sheet newspaper, derived again from radio reports, gives an inside view to world events at the time. Among these 1937 news events are the following:-
* The weather in London is foggy, and the temperature was just 41 degrees.
* The Earl of Clarendon arrived in London at the end of a six year term as governor of South Africa.
* The Crown Prince of Hedjaz, Emir Sand, has just concluded a state visit to Baghdad.
* Two minutes of silence was observed in Dublin for members of the Irish Brigade killed in Spain.
* New Delhi reports heavy rains in the North West Frontier and the border regions of Afghanistan.
* Federal Securities are sold on the open market in the United States at 3% below par.
* An airplane is taking off for a record flight from Tokyo to London.
The Cunard Line was well known in earlier years for at least three of its mighty, luxurious passenger vessels; the “Britannic”, the “Olympic”, and the ill-fated “Titanic”. Another passenger liner operated by Cunard was the “Alauna”, built in Glasgow in 1925 and plying across the Atlantic. A 1926 edition of their shipboard newspaper shows the title as “Wireless News Sheet”. The outer cover advertises three of their more famous ships, the “Aquitania”, the “Berengaria”, and the “Mauretania”.
Lesser known ship lines also issued daily newspaper aboard ship, such as for example, two of the companies with cargo and passenger ships in Alaskan waters. The Pacific Steamship Company operated the “Dorothy Alexander” and a 1931 edition of their ship newspaper, the “Daily Radio News”, shows that it was a duplicated version produced on a typewritier. The masthead, printed in blue, states, “The World’s News by Radio”.
The Alaska Steamship Company operated several ships in Alaskan waters, including the “Northwestern” and the “Victoria”. Both ships produced their own newspapers, though the title was the same in both cases; “Radio News”.
The list of ship newspapers produced from news transmitted in Morse Code by wireless and in voice by radio is almost endless. We could mention the “Doric”, operated by the White Star Line, based in Liverpool England. Their newspaper was titled, “Latest Wireless News”.
The Grace Line ships operated in the waters of Latin America and they had a company format for their newspaper which included a full sized black and white photo on the front cover. For example, a 1938 cover shows part of the Panama Canal, and a 1939 cover shows native dancing in Peru.
The Japanese line of luxury passenger ships owned and operated by NYK during the 1930s, also issued their own shipboard newspapers. These ships, such as the “Chichibu”, the “Asama” & the “Tatsuta”, plied the passenger trade across the Pacific, and the cover of their radio-based newspaper was printed in Japanese, though the inner contents was in both Japanese and English. All of their ships used the same cover and the same format, though the contents varied, according to the information received by radio from Japan.
These days, in our very modern era, many ships still print a shipboard newspaper, though the layout is prepared on land, and each entire issue is transmitted to the ship by fax radio in a completed form ready for printing.
(AWR/Wavescan via Adrian Peterson)
In our story about newspapers published on board ship that received their news by wireless and radio, we go right back to the year 1899. This was during the early era of the experimental wireless work by Marconi. At the time, he was returning to England by ship, at the end of a visit to North America for the purpose of establishing his commercial interests on the North American mainland.
The ship that Marconi was traveling on was the SS “St Paul” which had been built in Philadelphia Pennsylvania just four years earlier. Marconi was supervising the new spark wireless apparatus aboard the ship.
Two world firsts were accomplished on this voyage. It was the first occasion in the history of wireless that the arrival of a ship was notified to the authorities on land, and it was the first occasion that a newspaper was printed on board a ship using information that was derived from news reports received by wireless.
The land based station at the time was on the Isle of Wight which had itself also achieved another first. This station had achieved the first international communication by wireless in a Morse Code contact with France across the English Channel.
The newspaper printed on board the passenger liner “St Paul” was issued under the title, “The Trans-Atlantic Times”. From that time onwards, the Marconi company claimed an unbroken succession of newspapers printed at sea with the usage of news information received by wireless.
In the very early years, there was a ship newspaper with the title “Aerogram”. In 1915, due to commercial buy-outs in the United States, the name was changed to “Ocean Wireless News” and this was made available to many ships plying the coastal passenger trade along the eastern seaboard of North America.
In those days, a cover was printed on land, often in color and with lots of advertising, and this was made available in bulk to ships equipped with a wireless receiver and some form of printing press. The inside section of the ship newspaper was compiled from uptodate reports received on the wireless equipment, it was inserted into the color cover, and the newspaper was sold to passengers.
A 1925 version of the “Ocean Wireless News” features a color cover, drawn by an artist and showing passengers and crew making ready to depart at the beginning of a voyage. This particular edition was distributed on board the SS “Manchuria” which was built in Camden New Jersey in 1904 and at the time, it was in passenger service with the Panama Pacific Company in the Americas.
Another example of a ship newspaper was a daily edition of “The Wireless News” on board the ship “Makura”, sailing across the Pacific. This ship was built in Glasgow Scotland and it was operated by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand. The outer cover of this paper, in an issue dated in 1923, shows a photo of another vessel plying the Pacific, the “Niagara.”
The Canadian Pacific Company operated a large fleet of passenger and cargo vessels across both the Atlantic and the Pacific. The same name, the “Wireless Press”, was used for all of their shipboard newspapers regardless of the ship and its service area. For example, the SS “Montcalm” was in the Atlantic passenger service and the “Duchess of Richmond” was a cruise ship that voyaged to many destinations; and the name of their shipboard newspapers in both cases, was “Wireless Press”.
The issue of “Wireless Press” for Tuesday April 6, 1937 shows that the “Duchess of Richmond” was on a Christian World Cruise. The single sheet newspaper, derived again from radio reports, gives an inside view to world events at the time. Among these 1937 news events are the following:-
* The weather in London is foggy, and the temperature was just 41 degrees.
* The Earl of Clarendon arrived in London at the end of a six year term as governor of South Africa.
* The Crown Prince of Hedjaz, Emir Sand, has just concluded a state visit to Baghdad.
* Two minutes of silence was observed in Dublin for members of the Irish Brigade killed in Spain.
* New Delhi reports heavy rains in the North West Frontier and the border regions of Afghanistan.
* Federal Securities are sold on the open market in the United States at 3% below par.
* An airplane is taking off for a record flight from Tokyo to London.
The Cunard Line was well known in earlier years for at least three of its mighty, luxurious passenger vessels; the “Britannic”, the “Olympic”, and the ill-fated “Titanic”. Another passenger liner operated by Cunard was the “Alauna”, built in Glasgow in 1925 and plying across the Atlantic. A 1926 edition of their shipboard newspaper shows the title as “Wireless News Sheet”. The outer cover advertises three of their more famous ships, the “Aquitania”, the “Berengaria”, and the “Mauretania”.
Lesser known ship lines also issued daily newspaper aboard ship, such as for example, two of the companies with cargo and passenger ships in Alaskan waters. The Pacific Steamship Company operated the “Dorothy Alexander” and a 1931 edition of their ship newspaper, the “Daily Radio News”, shows that it was a duplicated version produced on a typewritier. The masthead, printed in blue, states, “The World’s News by Radio”.
The Alaska Steamship Company operated several ships in Alaskan waters, including the “Northwestern” and the “Victoria”. Both ships produced their own newspapers, though the title was the same in both cases; “Radio News”.
The list of ship newspapers produced from news transmitted in Morse Code by wireless and in voice by radio is almost endless. We could mention the “Doric”, operated by the White Star Line, based in Liverpool England. Their newspaper was titled, “Latest Wireless News”.
The Grace Line ships operated in the waters of Latin America and they had a company format for their newspaper which included a full sized black and white photo on the front cover. For example, a 1938 cover shows part of the Panama Canal, and a 1939 cover shows native dancing in Peru.
The Japanese line of luxury passenger ships owned and operated by NYK during the 1930s, also issued their own shipboard newspapers. These ships, such as the “Chichibu”, the “Asama” & the “Tatsuta”, plied the passenger trade across the Pacific, and the cover of their radio-based newspaper was printed in Japanese, though the inner contents was in both Japanese and English. All of their ships used the same cover and the same format, though the contents varied, according to the information received by radio from Japan.
These days, in our very modern era, many ships still print a shipboard newspaper, though the layout is prepared on land, and each entire issue is transmitted to the ship by fax radio in a completed form ready for printing.
(AWR/Wavescan via Adrian Peterson)
(photo, S.S. St Paul via ellisisland.org)