OCEAN VOYAGE

[Music] [Music] there she is in the middle of New York City my ship of course this is just a model in the window of a travel Bureau but she's a beautiful ship any member of her crew will tell you she's one of the finest afloat this is the first time I've ever been in New York City I understand that almost as many people live here as in all Greece I was born in Greece in Galax city a very small fishing village my name is Nicholas stammers Spiros katzie's but just call me Niko for sure and there's my ship the SS Olympia 23,000 tons and twice as long as an American football field an ocean liner getting ready to put to sea there's a lot of work to be done food to be taken on board oil for the engines and the passengers automobiles lifted up by the big winch as though there were little toys these men are called stevedores they load and unload ships freighters with cargoes or passengers like ours and the crew's quarters up forward is a very comfortable recreation room tonight I show my friends the souvenirs I bought this afternoon in New York for my brother a miniature Statue of Liberty and for my sister a fan with a picture of the Statue of Liberty on it kocha my best friend says they're very nice souvenirs very nice I was 15 when I left home I haven't seen my family for a long time after this voyage though the Olympia will make regular trips between America and Greece then I will see them often the lights of a ship are never out work goes on all the time even at night bright and early the next morning the passengers baggage begins to come on board thousands of suitcases trunks bags and boxes the stevedores and ship Stuart's are very busy and soon the passengers begin to come aboard baggage and passengers more than 1300 people are sailing with us because we are in an American port we fly the American flag as well as the Greek flag and that blue and white signal flag means we'll soon put to sea here come the tugboats to help us out into the river [Music] won't be long now before we leave the dock [Music] the tugboats have pushed us far into the deepest part of the river and now our engines take over there's the United States one of the world's fastest liners our ship is being piloted by a harbor fire the skilled pilot who knows every channel in the river and Bay the captain points out a freighter off our starboard bow starboard to a sailor means right now we are passing the Statue of Liberty and we're leaving the skyline of New York City far astern we are entering the Atlantic Ocean the helmsman the man at the wheel see something ahead a tiny speck in the ocean the harbour pilot has done his job now that we are in the open sea he will leave us sometimes in rough weather he cannot get off and must go with the big ship all the way across the ocean but today the ocean is calm now the captain sets our course from New York Harbor we will be sailing by way of the regular Atlantic shipping lanes a distance of more than 3,000 miles as far as from New York City to Los Angeles 3,000 miles across the Atlantic to our first port Southampton England the Atlantic shipping lanes are the busiest in the world sometimes there are as many as 2,000 ships coming and going their wakes crossing and recrossing but often you can sail for days and days and not see another ship so vast is the great Atlantic we will be on the ocean for five days [Music] no this is not an emergency no one has fallen overboard nor are we abandoning ship this is the lifeboat drill takes place the first day out everyone is assigned to a lifeboat station everyone has his own life jacket to keep him afloat in the war there is little danger on an ocean voyage these days but the lifeboats are kept ready for any emergency a ship at sea is like an island a floating island with a life of its own I'm just an apprentice of course which means that I've just started my life at sea but there's so much to learn and it's all of great interest take the wheelhouse for example here are the many controls for running the ship with this instrument called the electric telegraph the captain can signal the engine room deep down below the waterline the Olympia is powered by two engines called steam turbine engines [Music] this is alecko the chief engineer his job is to keep the powerful engines operating our ship like all modern liners burns oil older ships used to burn coal day and night the oil burners heat the water to make the steam which turns the big propeller shafts aleko inspects one of the two shafts than the very bottom of the ship day and night it turns spinning the propellers driving us through the blue water at 21 knots almost 25 land miles an hour but a life of work is not the only one on board a passenger liner especially for the passengers a swimming pool in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean a game of shuffleboard on the game deck Robby takes careful aim good shot now Robby and his father play another game deck tennis there is always much to do during an ocean voyage [Music] but later that night we run into bad weather the passengers in the big dining room where 500 people have dinner at the same time do not seem to notice the bad weather we're running into a heavy fog but on the foremast the radar antenna is turning something like television radar sends out signals across the dark water searching the ocean for 40 miles in all directions if there are other ships or icebergs nearby the captain will know the helmsman is confident as he steers his course through the night guided by the latest type of compass a gyro compass as a ship goes through the fog members of the crew relax in the quarters up forward and their comfortable roomy cabins the passengers feel secure and safe no one is worried by the fog and bad weather [Music] but later that night we leave the bad weather behind us the moon sparkles on the sea we've been sailing for four days and four nights [Music] culture points out a British aircraft which is flown out to inspect us he also points out that the Union Jack the British flag flies from the foremast this means we are now in British waters and there it is the coast of England we're steaming up the English Channel to the port of Southampton now we see other ships we will not go all the way into the harbour we will save time by having a smaller boat come out to meet us big enough to carry the passengers going to England their baggage and the automobiles there is just time now to say last minute food buys and to take last minute pictures many passengers will go on to France but for others the voyage is at an end more than 300 years ago the pilgrims crossed from Plymouth England to America it took more than two months but we have crossed from America to England in five days and a great ocean liner the SS Olympia