steamship

Malcolm Forbes' Nautical Collections Up for Auction

Last month antique toys from the collection of the late Malcolm Forbes fetched $2.3 million at Sotheby's. Now on Jan. 29–30 Georgia's Red Baron antiques is staging its own sale of ship models, important nautical art and maritime collectibles from the tycoon's vaults. The Forbes offerings include the largest private fleet of ship models ever assembled and total sales could hit seven figures as well. Some of the most impressive ship models include a 14.5-ft. long full-hull rigged builder's model of the British twin-screw steamship Orontes, built by England's Vickers & Armstrong and first launched in Feb. 1929; a 12-ft. builder's model of the British twin-screw passenger liner Rangitiki, built in 1929 by John Brown & Co. of Scotland; and an original Royal Yacht model depicting the sailing ship Britannia, first launched in 1893. 400 paintings, several statues, and an antique diver's helmet round out the offerings.

Gallery: Malcolm Forbes Nautical Collection

Tags: antiques, Forbes, Malcolm Forbes, model ship, nautical, steamship, toys, yacht

Famous 1920s Steam Yacht for Sale at $70 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Wealth

For $70 million you can be the proud new owner of the SS Delphine, one of the last great private steamships of the 1920s, built for motorcar magnate Horace Dodge. The 257-ft. yacht was launched in 1921, fitted out with an interior by Tiffany & Co. and every conceivable luxury a gentleman could wish for on the high seas. Constructed at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Michigan, she was pressed into service during World War II as the flagship for Admiral Ernest Joseph King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, and Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt are said to have met aboard her prior to convening the Yalta Conference with Stalin in 1945. In the decades following she fell into disrepair until a European clothing mogul had her fully restored to former glory, including the steam engines, several years ago at a cost of $60 million. Along with accommodations for 26 guests and 28 crew members, there's a music salon, cinema, fitness center, spa, sauna, smoking room, swimming pool and original fixtures like the telegraph machine in the mahogany pilothouse.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Tags: Delphine, Horace Dodge, HoraceDodge, Michigan, SS Delphine, SsDelphine, steamer, steamship, Tiffany, Tiffany Co., TiffanyCo., Winston Churchill, WinstonChurchill, yacht