The SS United States Leaves Philadelphia After Nearly 30 Years
After nearly 30 years, the SS United States has left Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On February 19, 2025, “America’s Flagship” left her longtime berth aided by tugboats. She was maneuvered into the Delaware River and started the first leg of her last voyage. Over the next two weeks, the ship will be towed down to Mobile, Alabama…
The Captain’s Table Turns One!
Wow, I can’t believe it’s been one year since my first blog post! It seems like only yesterday. Though, it is quite bittersweet that this is also the day that the SS United States finally left Philadelphia on the first leg of her sad final voyage (but that’s a separate post). The last 12 months…
Day of Final Victory: Black Soldiers Aboard the Queen Mary
During World War II, the need to transport large numbers of Allied troops across the globe saw the world’s ocean liners being pressed into military service. Mighty ships like Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Île de France, and Aquitania were pressed into service. So were smaller liners like Laconia, Empress of Japan (renamed Empress of Scotland in 1942), Borinquen, and…
Breaking Barriers on the High Seas: The Inspiring Career of Captain Belinda Bennett
Belinda Bennett made history in January 2016 when Windstar Cruises promoted her to captain of MSY Wind Star. It was well earned. She’d begun her maritime career as a deck cadet at age 17 and worked on a variety of ships before joining Windstar Cruises as a second officer in 2005. Not only was Captain…
The Captain’s Sixth Sense
Docking a ship requires a tremendous amount of skill, ability and resolve. This is especially the case when the weather is bleak and uncooperative. Then there’s docking an ocean liner. While cruise ships today are highly maneuverable and largely don’t need tugboats, liners in the 1960s were downright clunky and relied on them to dock….
Born of Death: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
By late January 1945, Nazi Germany was on the verge of losing World War II. On the Western Front, its offensive in the Ardennes faile. The Battle of the Bulge was a major Allied victory that saw German forces on the defensive for the rest of the war. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Union’s…
The Captain’s Table
Stories from the Golden Age of Ocean Liners to the Cruise Ships of Today
How it all started…
Over a decade ago, I started a blog called The Captain’s Table to tell the stories about the ships and people involved in the Golden Age of ocean liners. I was working as a tour guide aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA at the time and it was a way to help me both deepen my knowledge and explore a topic I’d been passionate about for a long time.
With this overhauled version of the blog, I’ll continue to explore the stories, ships, and people connected to the old ocean liners. But there’ll also be a new emphasis on cruise ships as well: they continue the traditions and history made famous by such ships as Queen Mary, United States, Mauretania, Caronia, and many others. I’ll be nerding out a lot, and I really hope that you enjoy this blog.
Zach Whitlow
Writer, Ship Geek, and Avid Cruiser