Cruise the World in 1925

There is an amazing collection of 250 photographs found here, that apparently document a cruise around the world on the SS Belgenland in 1925. The Belgenland was a popular ocean liner of the 1920's operated by Red Star Line and was finally decommissioned in 1936 and sold for scrap because cruise lines could no longer afford to run such a massive luxury ship during the Great Depression.

As a side note of history, Albert Einstein was on the Belgenland about eight years later when he was returning to Germany. He received word that Hitler had been elected Chancellor, and Einstein disembarked in Antwerp and immediately took another ship back the US, vowing never to return to Germany.

The Belgenland's technical schematics are here: 697 feet long, 78.5 feet long. The biggest cruise ship in 2011 is Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas at 1187 feet long and 208 feet wide. Bigger, but not nearly as elegant.

Imagine being about to tour the world without homeland security. What a novelty.

Interior of Red Star Line sister ship SS Lapland
Hat tip: Ad Orientem

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