Ships in Movies

[mary75]

Can anyone identify the ship in the background in the opening shots of each episode in the old TV series "The Streets of San Francisco?" I've tried freezing the frame, but all I can guess is that it is a deep-sea freighter, the size and kind that were common in the port of Vancouver in the 1940's.

[BobClay]

Been a few years since I saw that series Mary, as I remember (and I refuse to Google this as I'm going to try and rely on my few working brain cells) it featured Karl Malden and a very young Michael Douglas !!!

We need that screen shot of the ship ...

[mary75]

Oh, Bob Clay! Now you're asking for something I've no idea how to do. You're right about Karl Malden and a very young Micheal Douglas. This link is less than 2 minutes in length and shows the ship in question. Having once lived near San Francisco, I find the photography very interesting. Copy, and paste on Google. (What else can you expect from an 87-year-old non-tech.?)

The Streets of San Francisco Theme (Intro & Outro)

[Tom Alexander]

Seems to have a dark beige, or bluff coloured hull -- Flue has a black band around the top with maybe the lower part of a somewhat similar colour to the hull. I can't say I recognise the profile of the vessel at all. Don't think it's Furness, or Royal Mail. Could even be a Norwegian or Swedish.
Probably anyone else that sailed the West Coast might recognise it?

[BobClay]

I opened the YouTube cupboard and rooted about (always a dangerous manoeuvre as hours of your life can disappear ) and is this the ship Mary is describing ?

[Tony Selman]

Thanks Bob, she has got a Scandinavian look about her to me. I can't for the life of me remember a shipping company with a hull colour like that but I did not go to the West Coast that often at sea. Lots of companies with funnel colours like that but hulls are a different matter. No doubt one of our experts will identify her.

[BobClay]

I meant to post the YouTube link !! Duuuuhhhhh !! (My excuse is it's Sunday and I've got a hangover )

Here it is: (complete with the most awful theme music)

https://youtu.be/mijBMpnS3a4

[mary75]

Thanks, Bob, Tom and Tony.
Another question. What tonnage would you estimate her to be?
Awful theme music, Bob ???
You're kidding, of course.

[Tony Selman]

Mary I would estimate she is in the region of 8,000 gross tons. She looks to me as if she has been lengthened on the foredeck to allow her to carry containers

[BobClay]

I wouldn't like to guess but she looks pretty big to me. (I was only ever on one similar type of ship and that was a Bank Line Ship.)

Now here are some nice TV Themes of that era .....

https://youtu.be/WQ99UcmASBo

[mary75]

Bob, thanks for the trip back in time. I’m surprised that I remember only a few. I think I was busy raising 3 kids and moving every 2 years as my scientist husband kept changing jobs looking for the ideal one. His last move in 1979 was to Honiara in the Solomon Islands. (I didn’t go.)

[BobClay]

I have to say Mary, somebody offered me a job in the Solomon Islands right now, I'd be there like a rat up a drainpipe ....

[mary75]

Why? Have you been there, and it was a good experience?

[BobClay]

Been to a couple of south pacific islands, which I suppose we all see as some sort of paradise. Perhaps from a jaundiced eye .. but given the way the world is going these days ... a bit of jaundice might just be the way of looking at things ...

[mary75]

It would be interesting to know how much the South Pacific Islands have changed. My thought is that they have been caught up in most of what we don't like about our own cultures. I've made more than my share of poor decisions, but I've never regretted that one.
Are you telling me that Port Isaac is not the ideal place to live? Or is it just that the more developed countries have a faint yellow tinge around them?

[Tom Alexander]

Originally Posted by Tony Selman

Mary I would estimate she is in the region of 8,000 gross tons. She looks to me as if she has been lengthened on the foredeck to allow her to carry containers

I would respecfully disagree -- most of the Furness Withy ships on the West Coast such as the Pacific Northwest, and Pacific Reliance, at 520 ft length approx came in at close to 10,000 GRT. The mystery ship in the screen grab seems to be perhaps 600+ feet long, but with somewhat less than normal superstructure, so cutting the baby in half as it were I would guess somewhere in the region of 12 - 13,000 GRT.

[BobClay]

The ship does look very sleek and streamlined to the extent that at first I thought the aspect ratio of the picture was out, perhaps due to the YouTube video. But I think that's the Oakland Bay Bridge at the back and the proportions of that look about right, and the 'o' s on the signboard look properly circular so I would say the aspect ratio is about right, and that's just a good looking ship !!

[Tony Selman]

Tom, until someone identifies the ship none of us really know. Mine is a guess, as is yours. My gut feel is she may be more than 8000 but not as much as 13000 gross tons, she just does not look that big to me. I am quite surprised no one has a stab at identifying her yet.

[cueball44]

I think 'The Streets of San Francisco' ship is this one 'Tagaytay' >

[cueball44]

Another image of 'Tagaytay' >

[cueball44]

And another image of 'Tagaytay' (13000 tons) >

[mary75]

Many thanks, cueball! How did you know?

[mary75]

Here is a sum-up of info. that I found on various sites, once cueball came up with the name. I found some of the reports were confusing to me.

Tagaytay
Name changed to Apli Chau
Last reported 1979 01/01
Length overall and breadth
Extreme
188.73 m. 20.05 m.
Cargo,
GT 11,872
DWT 12,757
Built in 1958 in Hamburg, Germany
Last known flag, Panama

[Tom Alexander]

Originally Posted by mary75

Here is a sum-up of info. that I found on various sites, once cueball came up with the name. I found some of the reports were confusing to me.

Tagaytay
Name changed to Apli Chau
Last reported 1979 01/01
Length overall and breadth
Extreme
188.73 m. 20.05 m. (613.38Ft. 65.16Ft.)
Cargo,
GT 11,872
DWT 12,757
Built in 1958 in Hamburg, Germany
Last known flag, Panama

I would respecfully disagree -- most of the Furness Withy ships on the West Coast such as the Pacific Northwest, and Pacific Reliance, at 520 ft length approx came in at close to 10,000 GRT. The mystery ship in the screen grab seems to be perhaps 600+ feet long, but with somewhat less than normal superstructure, so cutting the baby in half as it were I would guess somewhere in the region of 12 - 13,000 GRT.

I rest my case.

[cueball44]

Originally Posted by mary75

Many thanks, cueball! How did you know?

Been searching for days. Then gave it a last try at cargo ships funnels. It was the nearly last one I looked at. Of course I was also looking for the hull colour as well. Need some eye drops now.