Great Passenger Ships that Never Were: Damned By Destiny Revisited

Although liners such as the "Mauretania," "Normandie," and "Queen Mary" have all become firmly established in the annals of maritime history, not much thought has been given to those ships which either flopped or never made it off the drawing board. This book is essentially a chronological study of those ships; the "what-ifs" and "what could have beens" that, for one reason or another, never ended up making their mark on history. While I don't own the original 1982 edition (titled just "Damned by Destiny") to compare it with, this 2019 edition includes about 50 pages focused on the mid-70s through to the present day.The designs presented here essentially fall into three categories: "well-meaning but to doomed to failure," "too innovative for us lowly non-naval architects to appreciate," and "screw it, what's the biggest ship we can build without raising the oceans an inch?" Some of the more interesting ones include the Geddes "whale ship," White Star's "Oceanic," futuristic running mates for the "Normandie" and "Nieuw Amsterdam," Cunard's Q3 and Q5, Hyman Cantor's massive "cafeteria ships" "Peace" and "Goodwill," Kloster Rederi's SWATH cruiser "Elysian," and the monstrous 450,000 ton "Princess Kayuga." The text is accompanied by a large number of illustrations, including original technical diagrams and plans, photographs of comparable ships, sketches, advertisements, and specially created paintings. Most are in black and white, although four color sections totaling 32 pages are included.As fascinating as this book is, it can be painfully frustrating as well. Time and again we're introduced to a grand and ambitious design, only to have it dashed against the rocks before it can leave the draftsman's table, or to fail miserably or end up as a casualty of war. Seemingly every way a new or "paper" passenger ship can fail is presented here: burned out in drydock, converted into an aircraft carrier and torpedoed, rendered obsolete by air travel, escalating fuel prices, failure to consider changing passenger expectations, failure to receive government funding, shipbuilders and parent companies closing or merging, and so on and so forth. Although it explains, for example, why the United States never had a thriving transatlantic passenger service, and why all cruise ships look the same, it doesn't exactly make for the cheeriest reading.While it's not really a "fun" read, and the writing style can be cumbersome, this is still an essential book for anyone seriously interested in passenger ships, specifically the ones that never had a chance to prove themselves.

It's a good book and covers the subject, but the almost $50 dollar price tag is a little hard to swallow. It's unlikely that you'll read it again after you finish it, and it's too expensive to donate to charity, so it will probably sit on the shelf in your home gathering dust. The dimensions of the book are daunting too. It's almost a coffee table book, but not that big, and just juggling it to read it is kind of a task.

While this informative book is a MUST for any ocean liner buff, I still recommend the earlier version to go with it. That being said, while much of the information is speculation, there are more than enough evidence to suggest the often fantastic degrees these proposed ships had. Some of them might very well have been built or completed after all if is was not about money or war, but others really were almost ridiculous or unrealistic (look up, as a side project, the 'Thin Ship' of Baltimore!) Highly recommended for those who are not just ocean liner historians but also engineering historians and others who enjoy looking at the particulars of some of the most complex and amazing machines in the history of the world: the ocean liners.

A very interesting book telling the story of ships that were never built or never sailed in commercial service. Many photos and very good text.

As an ocean liner fan, I had always wanted the original Damned by Destiny, but could never afford it; when I saw this book here on Amazon and that it was an updated version, I had to get it ASAP. I was not disappointed, and have already learned things I wasn't previously aware of. If you're a fan of ocean liners, do yourself a favor and get Great Passenger Ships that Never Were.

Had an old falling apart copy and loved this so much bought the reprint. Amazing the ships named that otherwise would be lost to history.

Very well researched. Great addition my library.

The book is very good - as I said in my headline - it's an update to a new classic - I've had the original book since 1982 - and refer it frequently - the only problem was the packing - the book was on my doorstep and the box was wide open - the one flap totally open - the box was way too big - and the book was not wrapped so it knocked all over inside the box - thank goodness the book was not damaged.

Excellent book . Beautifully photographed with in-depth knowledge of the subject

Beautiful book, arrived excellent ckndition, bought as a Christmas gift for maritime fanatic. So well worth it

The authors have done a superb job in revising and expanding a pioneering book. The illustrations and overall production of the book are excellent.

Satisfaction complète