SS Stevens - Notes

Notes

^ a: Brochures and print ads published by American Export Lines identified their quartet of ships as "4 Aces", as opposed to "Four Aces".

^ b: In 1964, American Export Lines merged with Isbrandtsen Co., becoming American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines.

^ c: In 1959, Exochorda became the first of the post-war "4 Aces" ships to be deactivated. She was returned to the U.S. Maritime Administration where she was mothballed and assigned to the Hudson River Reserve Fleet at Stony Point, N.Y.

^ d: Unlike a Murphy bed which tilts up into the wall by rotating on a hinge attached to short axis of the bed (head or foot), Stevens' berths tilted into the wall by rotating about the long axis, the side of the berth.

^ e: The upper and lower berths — similar to bunk beds but without corner posts — rolled up or down independently of each other (each berth having its own hand crank). Access to the upper berth was facilitated by a ladder that was stowed in a horizontal slot in the frame of the upper berth before rolling the bed up into the wall.

^ f: The outdoor swimming pool on Exochorda's cabin plan is depicted as a rectangle drawn within the black (roughly trapezoidal) open deck area immediately aft of the bar and lounge on Promenade deck. Stevens' plan does not show the rectangle for the pool which had been sealed.

^ g: Swimming pool dimensions are determined by scale measurements of Exochorda's cabin plan.

^ h: Miné (pronounced "MEE-nah") Okubo, a Japanese American author and artist, created the Mediterranean mural map for the main foyer on SS Exochorda. Ms. Okubo was best known for her book, Citizen 13660, published in 1946 and winner of the 1984 American Book Award. Through artistry and brief text, the book recounts her experience while being held in the Japanese American internment camps at Tanforan and Topaz, during 1942. By virtue of its location, the mural was in view of all Stevens students (and Exochorda passengers) entering or leaving the ship by way of the main gangplank, which connected to the main foyer.

^ i: Saul Steinberg, a cartoonist and illustrator, well known for his many "New Yorker" magazine cover drawings, created large murals for Exochorda and other "4 Aces" ships. Stevens contained three Steinberg murals, all in located in the aft lounge on Promenade deck. A large, 11-panel mural was located above the bar, and two smaller, single-panel murals were located on the walls opposite the bar, one on the starboard side and one on the port. The large mural aboard sister ship, Texas Clipper, the former Excambion, was the subject of a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department video that described the serendipitous discovery of the mural prior to sinking Texas Clipper as an artificial reef off Brownsville, Texas. When asked to estimate the value of unusually large (22 ft.) mural, — according to Dale Shively, Artificial Reef Coordinator for Texas Parks and Wildlife — the Steinberg Foundation responded, "not millions of dollars, but it's probably at least six figures".

^ j: An accomplished American artist from New York, Loren MacIver painted a different dining room mural for each of the new "4 Aces" ships.

^ k: In May 1950, the cost for a mid-priced room on Exochorda (room A101, with private shower, toilet and trunk space) for the complete 12,000 mile, 42-day round trip from New York was $1110 per person, double occupancy. The voyage included 10 stopovers at 7 Mediterranean ports of call and Boston prior to returning to new York.

^ l: The Eighth Street pier was removed after the ship was sold. River Road, the street adjoining the pier at the foot of the campus, was later renamed Frank Sinatra Drive.

^ m: Initially open to students, the wheelhouse was later closed.

^ n: The U.S. Maritime Administration assumed responsibility for maintaining the national defense reserve merchant fleet following the abolishment of the U.S. Maritime Commission on May 24, 1950.

^ o: Varying ship capacity and student occupancy numbers are cited in the references:

• Ship capacity: 142.; 175.; About 200
• Student Occupancy: 70, in 1968; As many as 150; 150
  

^ p: In 1968, the gangplank to the main "A" Deck was a single, uncovered ramp that was subsequently replaced with a double-ramped covered gangplank.

^ q: A ship named Exochorda and member of the pre-war "4 Aces" is not in the lineage of Stevens. The pre-war Exochorda had been converted to military transport USS Harry Lee, later sold to Turkish Maritime Lines and renamed Tarsus.

^ r: Mitzi Solomon created two marble sculptures for the new "4 Aces" ships.

^ s: Sun deck, the cruise line's less technical designation used in its "4 Aces" cabin plan, would more commonly be referred to as the Bridge.

^ t: All artwork for the "4 Aces" ships had been selected by noted industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss.

^ u: In architecture, "veranda" commonly refers to a roofed area on the exterior of a building, open on one side, such as an open porch. However, the lounges in the ship's veranda rooms were closed by four large windows.