50 Years Ago

It is interesting to note that, even as comparatively recently as 50 years ago, there was still a widely and strongly held opinion that Diesel engines were unsuitable for passenger ships, on…

The Motor Ship’s July and August 1962 issues – no such laziness as combined issues then – featured, in July, a focus on passenger shipping, followed by some pioneering concepts in August.

Large bore engines continued to dominate the pages of The Motor Ship. In the June 1962 issue, engine designs from B&W, MAN (then separate companies of course), Sulzer, Fiat and Götaverken, all…

The leading article in the May 1962 Motor Ship reminded us that, then, the USA was still lagging behind the rest of the world in adopting the Diesel engine in place of…

The phrase ‘nothing is new’ seems to crop up regularly in this feature, where we look back through our archives to the copy of The Motor Ship dated exactly 50 years ago.

What’s the opposite of déjà vu? Whatever it is, I got the feeling looking through The Motor Ship, March 1962.

The Motor Ship, February 1962 issue, reported on a number of recent ship deliveries, while at the same time bemoaning the lack of initiative from British shipping companies in ordering new tonnage.

The January 1962 issue of The Motor Ship contained a vast array of reviews of the relative states of various activities in the previous 12 months.

Recent retrospective looks at The Motor Ship of 50 years ago have tended to concentrate on the development of large-bore diesel engines, and the December 1961 issue is no exception.

The Motor Ship’s November 1961 issue carried the rather alarming news that British ships were being ordered from abroad, rather than owners patronising their domestic shipyards.