MV ''Aurora'' was a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

built in Germany in 1955. After several changes of ownership and name, she was moored in

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, United States, and was undergoing restoration until May 22 when she began to take on water and sink. In December 2024, the ship was towed away for scrapping. It was damaged beyond repair when it partially sank.

History

Launch and passenger service

''Aurora'' was launched as ''Wappen von Hamburg'' for

HADAG The HADAG (full name HADAG Seetouristik und Fährdienst AG, literally "''HADAG Sea-tourism and Ferry service''") is a local public transport company in Hamburg, Germany. It owns and operates passengers ferries across the Elbe River, overseen by a ...

Blohm & Voss Blohm+Voss (B+V), also written historically as Blohm & Voss, Blohm und Voß etc., is a German shipbuilding and engineering company. Founded in Hamburg in 1877 to specialise in steel-hulled ships, its most famous product was the World War II battle ...

, intended to be used for day-long cruises from

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Heligoland Heligoland (; , ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , ) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. The islands were historically possessions of Denmark, then became possessions of the United Kingdom from 1807 to 1890. Since 1890, the ...

. Her maiden cruise in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

carried a full complement of 1,600 passengers.Kurtis Alexander
"Shipwrecked On Little Potato Slough"
''San Francisco Chronicle'', October 8, 2020. Passengers were seated in salons and cafeterias on three decks, and enjoyed the view from galleries and sun decks. In the 1950s through -70s, this trip was a popular getaway, especially on weekends. Private cars were still not the norm, and a mini-cruise provided a change of scenery in comfort. Furthermore, visits to the Island of Heligoland were not possible before 1955. Until 1952, the island had been under UK administration and was used as a Royal Air Force and Royal Navy bombing target, completely devastating the infrastructure. Especially in the first years after starting to open for tourism again, many people were eager to see and visit the island for themselves that had been closed off for 20 years. Her cruising speed of meant that the trip from Hamburg to Heligoland would take 5 hours. This made day trips from Hamburg less than practical, because visitors would only have maybe two or three hours on the island. Most guests would take the train from Hamburg to

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

and only take the ship for the from that port to the island. Still, the schedule presented a challenge. Therefore, ''Wappen von Hamburg'' was replaced after only seven years of service by a second ship of the same name. Her replacement launched in 1962 made , meaning that day trippers now could spend up to two hours more on the island holding the same departure times. In 1960, ''Wappen Von Hamburg''(1955) was sold to the Greek Nomikos Line. She was renamed ''Delos'' and refitted as one of the first luxury Aegean cruise ships, with the addition of a swimming pool and air conditioning in all cabins.Chris Willson and Peter Knego
Aurora Yacht News
Wordpress, August 26, 2012, retrieved October 11, 2020. In 1967, the ship was sold to the Alaska Cruise Line (Westtours) of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and renamed to ''Polar Star'' for expedition cruises in Alaskan waters, then in 1970 resold to West Cruise Lines of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

and renamed to ''Pacific Star'' and then ''Polar Star'' for expedition cruises in the South Atlantic. In 1972 Donald L. Ferguson bought her, renamed her ''Xanadu'', and added antiques to her luxury fittings."M/S Wappen von Hamburg"
Faktaomfartyg.se, retrieved October 11, 2020 .

Post-cruising career

As the cruise industry began to fade, ''Xanadu'' was sold two further times and then in 1977 laid up and some of her fittings were auctioned. After repossession by a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

bank in Vancouver, she was sold in 1982 to Pan Aleutian Seafoods as a factory ship for crab, and in 1984 laid up again, in

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

. In 1985, a new owner renamed her again to ''Expex'' and moored her at

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

for trade show and exhibition use. A

intermodal container An intermodal container, often called a shipping container, or a freight container, (or simply "container") is a large metal crate designed and built for intermodal freight transport, meaning these containers can be used across different Mode ...

was mounted on her stern. After this venture was unsuccessful, the ship was sold to Friendships, a Christian sect based in

Wilmington, California Wilmington is a neighborhood in the South Bay and Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high p ...

, who renamed her ''Faithful''. They repainted her hull blue but instead of using her for relief work, housed converts on the ship until she was seized by the

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a Maritime Security Regimes, maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with cust ...

. Dr. James Mitchell bought ''Faithful'' from Friendships to use as a hospital ship, but in 2005 sold the ''Faithful'', which by now had rusting metal, fading and peeled paint, and missing railings, to Al Boraq Aviation, who planned to refurbish her as a luxury yacht and had her towed to

Alameda An alameda is a street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada * Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan ** Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile * Alameda (Santi ...

. This refurbishment did not materialize; she was declared an abandoned vessel and eventually an arrangement was made to have her removed. In 2010 the ''

Life After People ''Life After People'' is a television series on which scientists, mechanical engineers, and other experts speculate about what might become of planet Earth if humanity suddenly disappeared. The featured experts also talk about the impact of h ...

'' episode "Holiday Hell" featured the ship with an interview with maritime enthusiast Peter Knego columnist for Maritime Matters on her history and condition.

Refurbishment

After seeing a

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ad in 2008, Chris Willson bought the ship from the then owner, a marine salvage dealer who had been ordered by the

California State Lands Commission The California State Lands Commission is a unit of state government that is responsible for management and protection of natural and cultural resources, as well as public access rights, on some of California's publicly owned lands. The members o ...

to move the ship from

Decker Island Decker Island is a small island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta, in California. It is part of Solano County, California, Solano County. Its coordinates are . Part of the island is the Decker Island Wildlife Area, operated by the Californ ...

, in the San Joaquin River delta, but could not afford to do so. Willson had her towed to Rio Vista, where restoration work began, and then a year later, in August 2010, renamed ''Aurora'', to Pier 38 in San Francisco, with plans to eventually open her as a tourist attraction. The following year, a

Port of San Francisco The port of San Francisco is a semi-independent organization that oversees the port facilities at San Francisco, California, United States. It is run by a five-member commission, appointed by the mayor subject to confirmation by a majority of the ...

wharfinger Wharfinger (pronounced ''wor-fin-jer)'' is an archaic term for a person who is the keeper or owner of a wharf. The wharfinger takes custody of and is responsible for goods delivered to the wharf, typically has an office on the wharf or dock, and ...

gave him three days' notice to move ''Aurora'' because Pier 38 was to be shut down due to structural and electrical issues. ''Aurora'' was ultimately towed from San Francisco back to the delta in 2012 and moored at a marina in Little Potato Slough, approximately 15 miles from Stockton. Soon after, the marina went out of business over debts and regulatory problems, so Willson and his partner moved to the ship to watch over it. He worked with volunteers on restoring ''Aurora'', with plans to find a location that would host her as a tourist attraction. In 2023 he sold the ship.Kurtis Alexander
"It inspired ‘Love Boat.’ Now the 1950s luxury liner is sinking in the California delta"
''San Francisco Chronicle'', May 23, 2024.

Sinking

On May 22, 2024, the ship was discovered to be taking on water and had partially sunk. The

took command of the area to minimize pollution from leaking oil.

Scrapping

On December 20, 2024, the vessel was removed from her previous berth at Little Potato Slough, Stockton to be towed to Mare Island for drydocking and dismantling. The vessel arrived at Mare Island on December 21, 2024.

In popular culture

The ship was an inspiration for ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'' and was used as a filming location for the 1963 film '' From Russia with Love'' and for 2025 film ''Bears on a Ship''.

References

External links

Official websitearchived
on February 20, 2016
Christopher Wilson, "Aurora Restoration Project Part 1"
''Museum Ships'' (first of a series) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aurora (1955) Ocean liners Cruise ships Passenger ships of Germany Museum ships in San Francisco 1955 ships