Sharply focused and finely detailed c. 1930s real-photo postcard of the luxury liner the Monarch of Bermuda, which was owned by the Furness Bermuda Line and sailed the New York-Bermuda route.  The Monarch, 579 feet long with a beam of 76 feet, was completed in March 1931 and ran the New York-Bermuda route until 1939.  Her service speed was 19 knots.  She could accommodate 799 passengers in first class and 31 in second class, with a crew of 456.  The beautifully proportioned ship, with three distinctive funnels, took only 40 hours in each direction, allowing four days to be spent in Bermuda.  The ship was popular with honeymooners.

The Monarch saw service as a troop transport from November 1939 until 1946.  In one of her first war-time trips, in December 1939, the Monarch left Halifax, Canada and landed the first Canadian soldiers on British soil (Greenock, Scotland) at the start of World War II.  In July 1940, the Monarch sailed from Greenock to Halifax:  It carried millions of dollars in gold bullion from the Bank of England which was deposited for safekeeping in the Bank of Canada, plus treasures from Wawel Royal Castle in Poland.  In 1946, the ship carried Canadian war brides across the Atlantic.  While being refurbished for passenger service after the war, the Monarch was gutted by fire, salvaged, renamed as the New Australia, and converted into an emigrant liner run by Shaw Savill.  Sold in 1958 to a Greek line, she was renamed yet again, as the Arkadia.  Retired from service in 1966, the once-proud Monarch was scrapped at Valencia, Spain. 

 

A desirable shipping or transportation collectible in excellent condition.