The Italis Years 1979-1980

   Chandris Lines eventually sold the Australis to Venture Cruises. Renamed the America the ship sailed out of New York harbor on "cruises to nowhere". Nowhere is where the venture went. Beset by poor management, revolting passengers and regulatory problems Chandris purchased the ship again at a Federal bankruptcy auction.  Renamed the Italis she sailed on the first cruise on July 28 1979 to Genoa, Barcelona, Malta, Alexandria,, Haifa, Turkey and Naples. Described by a passenger as " An uptown girl down on her luck however she still looked majestic". It was also a brief career as passenger preferred newer ships. It was to be the last attempt to keep the ship sailing. She was sold in 1980 and spent her final years decaying in a Greek port. Frank Day shares some memories of the Italis. 

Hello! I sailed on the America four times while she was still in
service with USL, but went aboard yet again under very surprising
circumstances. In July of 1979 I was in Monrovia, Liberia to cover a
summit of the Organization of African Unity for the U.S. State
Department. One afternoon shortly before the OAU event began I was
standing on the terrace of the Intercontinental Hotel high on a hill
overlooking Monrovia harbor. Just before sunset a beautiful liner
from a bygone era sailed into the harbor. It took me all of two
seconds to recognize her, though she was missing a funnel and had
been renamed the Italis.

The Liberian government had chartered her as a floating hotel during
the month-long OAU summit, as there wasn't enough hotel space in the
capital. The ship became an instant hit with the Monrovians, and
hordes of people went on board to drink and gamble. On the third
night or so her captain noted with alarm how low she was sitting in
the water and ordered everybody off who didn't have business aboard.

For the next month I was aboard almost daily, although I was staying
elsewhere. Many of my journalist friends, possibly all of them, were
staying on board, and we shared many meals in the First Class dining
room which was instantly recognizable. Some of the ship's most
beautiful art deco decorations were a bit chopped up by later
additions such as slot machines, but by and large everything I
remembered was still there. On my first trip on the SS America I was
so little that I spent much of the crossing in the nursery aft on the
uppermost deck; it was still there but had been converted to other
uses. At one point I was able to stick my head into one of the first
class staterooms; it was completely unchanged. Seeing those pale
blond 1930's furnishings gave me an unbelievable wave of nostalgia; I
had forgotten what they looked like.

One of my journalist friends on board was so taken with the human
interest story of an American diplomat (me) being reunited with this
much loved ship from his youth that he wrote a short piece for his
wire service. Overall, though, it was a little unsettling seeing
this lovely, elegant queen of the North Atlantic in such reduced
circumstances in a squalid West African port. I and a few of my
colleagues stayed on in Monrovia for a few days after the summit was
over, and stood on the terrace of the Intercontinental to watch her
departure. We knew from the crew, an interesting assortment of
people I must say, that as far as they knew the ship had no onward
plans; it was sad to see her sail out into nowhere.
 

Frank Day 5/26/2006