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Daily Mirror
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
The James Bond film that shot Sean Connery to fame is airing on TV tonight
Sean Connery played the iconic role of James Bond from 1962 to 1983 - and ITV are taking it all the way back to beginning as they air the movie that shot him to fame tonight The movie that shot James Bond legend Sean Connery to fame is airing on TV tonight (Friday, May 23). The legendary actor was the first actor to play the famous role of James Bond in 1962 - leading the role in seven films in the world famous franchise. Connery originated the role of 007 in 1962's Dr. No, and then went on to star in fan favourite, From Russia with Love just a year later. After a break following Diamonds Are Forever in 1971, the star's final movie was Never Say Never Again in 1983. To this day, there has been a total of 27 James Bond films and seven actors. Fans could argue forever about the best film in the series - but there's always something special about the first. ITV will be taking fans all the way back to the start tonight, as they air Dr. No. The blockbuster will be broadcast on ITV1 at 10.45pm, straight after the ITV News at 10. Due to adverts, the two hour film will wrap up at 12:35 am. In the film that spawned the world's most famous franchise, British Secret Service agent James Bond is sent to Jamaica on a mission to investigate the recent murder of a fellow operative. The mysterious murder seems to have a connection to a series of recent failures in the U.S. space program. His investigation leads him to evil genius Dr. Julius No, who is planning to disrupt an early American space launch from Cape Canaveral. The film grossed $59.5 million at the box office worldwide and paved the way for all future Bond films. Sean was 32 years old when he debuted as James Bond and was 53 during his final stint in Never Say Never. James first left the movies in after five movies and decided he was done with the 007 role. However, he later returned for two more before bowing out for good. By the end of Sean's fifth movie, You Only Live Twice, it was said that he grew tired of the role, and didn't want to be typecast in later role. Following his exit from the franchise, Sean went on to star in in films including Marnie, The Hill, and The Man Who Would Be King. Sean died in October 2020 at the age of 90. The star died peacefully in his sleep in the Bahamas, having been "unwell for some time", his son said.
The National
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Thunderball script that almost destroyed James Bond on sale in Abu Dhabi
It's the James Bond screenplay that nearly derailed the franchise. On display at Peter Harrington Rare Books at the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is the original Thunderball screenplay, annotated by Bond creator Ian Fleming. The drama on the page was mirrored in real life, with the script becoming key evidence in a 1963 plagiarism trial that left a mark on Fleming's career and reputation. Pom Harrington, who runs the rare book firm founded by his father, calls the document the trial's 'smoking gun'. With title pages outlining a two-year draft process beginning on December 21, 1959, lawyers for co-writers Jack Whittingham and Kevin McClory were able to prove that Fleming's 1961 novel – also titled Thunderball – was based on their original screenplay. It remains the only Bond novel adapted from another source and the screenplay is on sale at the book fair for €250,000. 'What we have here in Abu Dhabi is the first draft written by Whittingham – so this is essentially the first screenplay,' Harrington tells The National. 'What this proves beyond any doubt is the concept. This is the first draft. It shows that this draft was created by someone else, sent to Fleming, and he absolutely acknowledged that – because his writing's all over it.' With Fleming's first six Bond novels – beginning with 1953's Casino Royale and including From Russia with Love and 1958's Dr No – gaining global popularity, the idea of a film adaptation was floated by producer and friend Ivar Bryce. British screenwriter Whittingham and Irish filmmaker McClory were enlisted to develop the story for the screen, while Fleming contributed story notes. When the process stalled after two years of correspondence between the trio, Fleming – then releasing a Bond novel annually – used the screenplay as the basis for his next book. Thunderball was published in 1961 without crediting either collaborator. That decision triggered the plagiarism lawsuit, which reached London's High Court in 1963 before being settled out of court, with McClory awarded the film rights to the screenplay. Harrington says handwritten annotations by Fleming on the early draft hint at creative clashes with Whittingham and McClory that would later hamper the project. These notes, written in blue ink, were often staccato. A blunt line appears on page 22, in a scene where a government minister discusses with military personnel the threat posed by a missing atomic bomb. Fleming criticises the writing as overly simplistic in characterisation and tone. 'There is no point making a fool out of the government. They don't act this way. This is old-fashioned stuff,' he wrote in the margins. Later, responding to a line about a missing plane, he remarked: 'Aircraft bodies don't disappear – they make wreckage.' 'You can almost hear Fleming sighing through the notations,' Harrington says. 'He wanted the tone to be sharper, more credible and drawn from his own wartime experience in intelligence. It also makes you think Fleming wasn't very collaborative, he just wanted to do his own thing. 'The screenplay writing process would start, stop and eventually stall. At this point, Fleming was committed to writing a novel every year and apparently he was running out of ideas. So he went off and wrote his next book, and essentially based it on this script.' The resulting case took a toll on Fleming, Harrington says, noting that later biographies describe how the trial – which saw Fleming undergo intense cross-examination – affected his health. The writer suffered a heart attack during the proceedings. A second heart attack killed him in 1964 at the age of 56, less than a year after the case concluded. As for why Fleming vigorously defended himself despite what appeared to be a weak case, Harrington attributes it to the reputational hit an adverse finding would have had on his career and standing. 'He moved in high society. His reputation mattered,' Harrington says. 'He came from a very wealthy family. Fleming Bank was founded by his grandfather and was enormous. Most of his money actually came from the family, not from writing.' Harrington said the screenplay came from a law firm involved in the case that had kept the evidence in storage. The firm sent it to McClory's family estate, which then sold it to the bookshop. Despite the hefty price, Harrington is confident the Thunderball typescript will find a buyer. 'About a third of what we sell never even reaches the market,' he says. 'We get it in, we offer it out. We know who wants to buy it. We know their collection better than they do. If we're doing our job properly, we'll say: 'This fits into your collection,' even if they haven't thought of it yet.' Abu Dhabi International Book Fair is running at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre until May 5
CNN
14-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
He spent $1M restoring a cruise ship he bought on Craigslist. Now he's mourning its ‘horrible death'
It was a passion project that spanned around 15 years and cost over $1 million, but nearly two decades after technology entrepreneur Chris Willson purchased a cruise ship on Craigslist, the vessel has met its end. The 293-foot ship, which was towed from California city Stockton to nearby peninsula Mare Island in late 2024, has been completely demolished. Willson, who reluctantly sold the vessel, known as the Aurora, in October 2023, says he's devastated by the turn of events. 'It's probably one of the saddest things that I've had to witness in this lifetime…' Willson tells CNN Travel. 'It's hard to watch 15 years of hard work just go to complete waste.' Cruise historian Peter Knego, who has followed the ship for several decades, is one of the few people to have caught a glimpse of the Aurora after she was towed, and was able to witness some of the painstaking work involved in scrapping it earlier this year. 'They're demolishing it with these cranes that go in and just grind up the steel,' Knego told CNN last month, pointing out that this is the 'safest' method. 'It's a really mean looking, horrible death for the ship.' That 'horrible death' marks the final chapter in the eventful story of the 'pocket' cruise ship, originally named Wappen von Hamburg, which was built by the Blohm and Voss shipyard in 1955 and went on to become the first significant passenger liner built by Germany after World War II. And while he no longer has any official connection to the vessel, Willson clearly feels a strong emotional tie to the Aurora after claiming to have plowed at least $1 million into the ship and spending nearly 15 years restoring it. He now rues parting company with it. 'If I would have known it would have went this direction, I would have stuck it out,' admits Willson, who previously lived on board the vessel with his long-term partner Jin Li and had hoped to transform it into a museum. 'But, I think it would have been sticking it out to my detriment.' His long association with the ship began around 17 years ago, when he came across the sale listing on the Craigslist classified advertisements website. After doing some digging into its history, Willson discovered that the vessel had appeared as the Spectre criminal organization headquarters in the 1963 James Bond movie 'From Russia with Love.' 'I started learning some of the history about it,' he says. 'And came to find out that it was one of the most historic ships on the planet.' The vessel also served as a cruise ship for around two decades, which is around the time that Knego, whose fascination with ships began when he was a child, first came across it in California. 'At the time, it was this boutique luxury cruise ship decorated with the owner's wife's antique collection from Asia,' recalls Knego, who has been sharing updates on the ship on his YouTube channel, Peter Knego's MidShipCinema. 'So it was kind of a big deal, and I had my dad drive me down.' Knego says he didn't see the ship again for many years, until he came across it 'anchored off of Long Beach' and had his friends 'go circle her so I could take some pictures.' The ship went through many different owners, as well as names, before being moored in Vancouver. After a few false starts and even more ownership, and name changes, it was towed to Alameda, California in 2005. It stayed at the Alameda for several years, until it was relocated to the California Delta and listed for sale on Craigslist, where Willson came across it in 2008. Although he hasn't disclosed how much he paid for the ship, Willson previously told CNN that he was able to 'work out a really good deal with the owner.' 'I thought I would never see it again,' says Knego, who had spent years traveling the world documenting cruise ships by this point. 'And then all of a sudden, the news came out on Craigslist that Chris Willson had bought the ship. And I was like, 'Oh my god.' So I contacted Chris, and we became good friends.' Willson renamed the ship the Aurora after spending his first night on board and waking up 'to one of the most brilliant sunrises I had ever seen.' 'It was forming an Aurora type effect with the clouds and water,' he told CNN back in 2022. 'I remember thinking at that time 'Aurora' was a fitting name.' Willson arranged for the ship to be moved to the California river city of Rio Vista, and it remained there for a year, before he was offered a berth in San Francisco's Pier 38. However, this arrangement came to an end after around three years. In 2012, he had the ship transferred back to the California Delta, California's largest estuary, and moored the Aurora at Herman & Helen's Marina in Little Potato Slough, located around 14 miles from the city of Stockton in California's Central Valley. 'We wanted it in fresh water and we wanted it in shallow water,' Willson explained to CNN previously. 'So it was absolutely the best possible location that we could have put it.' Although Herman & Helen's Marina closed down a few years later, the Aurora remained at the site. However, Willson says he faced a lot of resistance from locals, who weren't exactly thrilled to have a huge decommissioned ship moored nearby. This apparent hostility only worsened when another large vessel, Canadian MineSweeper HMCS Chaleur, which was moored in the same area, sank in 2021. According to Willson, he received a 'three-day notice to quit' on 'several occasions,' but local authorities never actually 'followed through with an eviction.' He goes on to explain that things came to a head when 1940s military tugboat Mazapeta, stationed near the Aurora, also sank, creating a 'pollution issue,' and various local agencies became involved. By this stage, Willson conceded that 'there was really no future for the Aurora' at that particular spot. While he considered moving the ship, and looked into various other locations, Willson learned that this would be a costly endeavour. 'The ship was trapped in that channel,' he says. 'There was no getting it out without dredging and that's something that the city would have to do… So there was absolutely no getting out of that situation.' As time went on and the pressure mounted, Willson felt more and more out of his depth and the situation began to take an emotional toll on him. Feeling dejected, he says he ultimately chose to sell the Aurora to an interested buyer who seemed just as passionate about saving the ship as he was. 'I didn't see myself being able to fight that battle anymore,' he says, adding that selling the ship 'destroyed' him. 'It became far too in depth for me. And I decided for mental health reasons, just to kind of stay away… To move on and find another project and do something else with my life.' Willson stresses that he had every confidence that the unnamed individual was capable of keeping the Aurora going, and talked them through how to maintain the ship. When it comes to the general condition of the Aurora at the time of the sale, Willson explains that while 'there were some holes' when he first bought it, they were 'patched professionally' and he never had 'any problems' afterward. He stresses that he was as shocked as anyone when it was announced that the ship was sinking around seven months later. 'It has been determined the ship has suffered a hole and is taking on water and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway,' read a statement from the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office posted on X on May 22, 2024. The US Coast Guard would later confirm that the vessel had been refloated by contractors, noting that it 'recently changed ownership.' Meanwhile, a statement shared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response on June 28 indicated that contractors had 'removed an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and five 25-yard bins of debris' from the vessel. The City of Stockton later took over the operation. When contacted by CNN last year, Stockton Community Relations Officer Connie Cochran said that officials were 'figuring out how to dispose of the vessel,' explaining that the size of the ship, along with its location, in an area that wasn't actually within the city limits, had complicated things. Cochran also indicated that there 'was no clear ownership' for the Aurora when the situation occurred. Willson has shared the bill of sale and the transfer of ownership document filed with the Coast Guard Vessel documentation center. CNN has put in a Freedom of Information Act request to confirm the change of ownership for the vessel. CNN was unable to locate the most recent owner for comment. 'It really hurts that I couldn't jump back in there and save it,' says Willson. 'I had no ownership of it.' Cochran was unable to provide an estimate of the costs for the ongoing operation, which saw various contractors with specialist knowledge brought in, but said that the city was hoping to 'recoup' some of it. In December, the US Coast Guard of Northern California announced that a dead ship tow had been undertaken to move the Aurora to Mare Island, where it would be painstakingly demolished. Knego estimates that the entire operation, including hiring tug boats to tow the ship and the dry docking, a process where a ship is brought to dry land so that the submerged portions of the hull can either be cleaned or inspected, would likely have cost between $10 to $20 million. 'It's a poor city,' he says. 'And for them to spend this huge amount of money… People will be angry… 'And the irony is, the ship desperately needed to be dry docked. It hadn't been dry docked since 1978. Finally, the Aurora gets dry docked, just to be demolished.' Knego points out that the ship was perhaps worth 'a couple hundred thousand dollars in a good market.' 'The city of Stockton has a big loss on their hands,' he adds. Cochran has since confirmed to CNN that the Aurora is no more. 'It was towed to Mare Island, and as of April 9, 2025, the destruction of the Aurora was complete except for the final disposal of a few key pieces and material,' Cochran told CNN via email. She went on to state that the city 'is working with other government agencies to investigate and identify who was responsible for placing the Aurora in the waterway and allowing it to degrade.' 'The city intends to take all appropriate legal action to recover the city's costs for the Aurora's removal and disposal from any responsible parties,' she added. 'We do not, yet, have the final cost.' When questioned on the costs to the city of Stockton, Willson says he's frustrated that the authorities decided to scrap the ship. 'It (scrapping the Aurora) was the most expensive way,' he adds. Reflecting on his decision to sell the Aurora nearly two years ago, Willson concedes that he would have done things differently if he'd known what would happen next. 'Was I willing to go down with the ship?' he reflects. 'I mean, I would have worked on that ship my entire life. 'But once they threw a wrench in the works, that kind of ended it for me. I decided, no more.' While Willson was previously in contact with the most recent owner, he admits that he hasn't heard from him in a while. 'All of this is a big mystery,' Knego says. 'And needless to say, very disappointing… 'I'm kind of sad, because after all these years… The ship turned 70 and it should be preserved. It's not such a big ship. 'It would have been great if the Germans took her back to Hamburg and restored her.' To say things haven't turned out the way he hoped is something of an understatement, but Willson says he's hugely grateful to have been able to keep the Aurora 'afloat' for so many years, describing his time with the ship as the happiest of his life. 'I kept it safe for 15 years, and then I couldn't see any hope for me working on the project anymore,' he says. 'So I passed it on to someone else.' He's been heavily criticized for seemingly abandoning the ship and leaving others to deal with the aftermath. But Willson feels that any anger towards him is misguided. 'I don't think people should be mad at me,' he said. 'I think that they should be mad that they allowed it into the Delta to begin with. 'So that's kind of where I stand on that. I didn't bring the mess there. I just protected it.' Willson also points out that 'nobody knew what that vessel was' until he bought it and removed several coats of paint to uncover its original name. 'At least I showed that to people for 15 years,' he says, recounting the many happy hours he spent renovating the ship, with the help of volunteers. A cursory glance at the official Facebook page for the Aurora Restoration Project, which has over 13,000 followers, indicates just how much those who got involved appreciated the opportunity to step on board the historic ship. 'I am just thankful that Chris and his devoted crew gave us a chance to see her one last time,' a user named Steve Young wrote. 'I thought that she was toast years ago.' Another, Clay Byfield, added that he was 'sad to see that the Aurora is being put to rest.' 'But having the opportunity to meet you and some of the (at the time) crew will forever be cherished,' he said. Willson, who also ran a YouTube channel chronicling the progress of the project, believes that the ship would likely 'have just sank without anybody not knowing what it was' if he hadn't bought it all those years ago. 'I think that that's a happy thing,' he says. Willson is particularly frustrated that the end of the Aurora has come around the same time that plans are moving ahead for the SS United States, once the largest passenger ship built entirely in the US, to be intentionally sunk to form the world's largest artificial reef. 'It just seems weird that they're going down at the almost exact same time.' he says, before adding that he feels that people 'aren't so focused on history anymore.' 'There were only three vintage liners left (in the US)… Now it's just going to be the Queen Mary (a retired ocean liner moored at Long Beach that's now a popular tourist attraction).' Knego is also hugely disappointed by the demise of these historic ships, noting that 'only a handful' get saved. 'It's just beautiful,' he says of the SS United States. 'I mean, it's rusty and it looks like hell. But the bones of the ship are so spectacular. 'And we can't find a home for this thing?… It sucks if you like ships.' Knego admits that he once had high hopes for the future of the Aurora, but sadly it wasn't to be. 'It's heartbreaking,' he says, before noting that the saga of the vessel is a 'great story.' And while Willson is still coming to terms with the reality that he couldn't save his beloved ship one final time, he maintains that he has absolutely no regrets about buying it. 'I wouldn't trade the experience for anything,' he says. 'There were so many almosts with that ship. 'We almost had the right people involved in order to save that ship for many, many more generations. 'But things fall through and we just kept waiting for the next one to happen. So I think it was worth it to take the chance.'
CNN
14-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
He spent $1M restoring a cruise ship he bought on Craigslist. Now he's mourning its ‘horrible death'
It was a passion project that spanned around 15 years and cost over $1 million, but nearly two decades after technology entrepreneur Chris Willson purchased a cruise ship on Craigslist, the vessel has met its end. The 293-foot ship, which was towed from California city Stockton to nearby peninsula Mare Island in late 2024, has been completely demolished. Willson, who reluctantly sold the vessel, known as the Aurora, in October 2023, says he's devastated by the turn of events. 'It's probably one of the saddest things that I've had to witness in this lifetime…' Willson tells CNN Travel. 'It's hard to watch 15 years of hard work just go to complete waste.' Cruise historian Peter Knego, who has followed the ship for several decades, is one of the few people to have caught a glimpse of the Aurora after she was towed, and was able to witness some of the painstaking work involved in scrapping it earlier this year. 'They're demolishing it with these cranes that go in and just grind up the steel,' Knego told CNN last month, pointing out that this is the 'safest' method. 'It's a really mean looking, horrible death for the ship.' That 'horrible death' marks the final chapter in the eventful story of the 'pocket' cruise ship, originally named Wappen von Hamburg, which was built by the Blohm and Voss shipyard in 1955 and went on to become the first significant passenger liner built by Germany after World War II. And while he no longer has any official connection to the vessel, Willson clearly feels a strong emotional tie to the Aurora after claiming to have plowed at least $1 million into the ship and spending nearly 15 years restoring it. He now rues parting company with it. 'If I would have known it would have went this direction, I would have stuck it out,' admits Willson, who previously lived on board the vessel with his long-term partner Jin Li and had hoped to transform it into a museum. 'But, I think it would have been sticking it out to my detriment.' His long association with the ship began around 17 years ago, when he came across the sale listing on the Craigslist classified advertisements website. After doing some digging into its history, Willson discovered that the vessel had appeared as the Spectre criminal organization headquarters in the 1963 James Bond movie 'From Russia with Love.' 'I started learning some of the history about it,' he says. 'And came to find out that it was one of the most historic ships on the planet.' The vessel also served as a cruise ship for around two decades, which is around the time that Knego, whose fascination with ships began when he was a child, first came across it in California. 'At the time, it was this boutique luxury cruise ship decorated with the owner's wife's antique collection from Asia,' recalls Knego, who has been sharing updates on the ship on his YouTube channel, Peter Knego's MidShipCinema. 'So it was kind of a big deal, and I had my dad drive me down.' Knego says he didn't see the ship again for many years, until he came across it 'anchored off of Long Beach' and had his friends 'go circle her so I could take some pictures.' The ship went through many different owners, as well as names, before being moored in Vancouver. After a few false starts and even more ownership, and name changes, it was towed to Alameda, California in 2005. It stayed at the Alameda for several years, until it was relocated to the California Delta and listed for sale on Craigslist, where Willson came across it in 2008. Although he hasn't disclosed how much he paid for the ship, Willson previously told CNN that he was able to 'work out a really good deal with the owner.' 'I thought I would never see it again,' says Knego, who had spent years traveling the world documenting cruise ships by this point. 'And then all of a sudden, the news came out on Craigslist that Chris Willson had bought the ship. And I was like, 'Oh my god.' So I contacted Chris, and we became good friends.' Willson renamed the ship the Aurora after spending his first night on board and waking up 'to one of the most brilliant sunrises I had ever seen.' 'It was forming an Aurora type effect with the clouds and water,' he told CNN back in 2022. 'I remember thinking at that time 'Aurora' was a fitting name.' Willson arranged for the ship to be moved to the California river city of Rio Vista, and it remained there for a year, before he was offered a berth in San Francisco's Pier 38. However, this arrangement came to an end after around three years. In 2012, he had the ship transferred back to the California Delta, California's largest estuary, and moored the Aurora at Herman & Helen's Marina in Little Potato Slough, located around 14 miles from the city of Stockton in California's Central Valley. 'We wanted it in fresh water and we wanted it in shallow water,' Willson explained to CNN previously. 'So it was absolutely the best possible location that we could have put it.' Although Herman & Helen's Marina closed down a few years later, the Aurora remained at the site. However, Willson says he faced a lot of resistance from locals, who weren't exactly thrilled to have a huge decommissioned ship moored nearby. This apparent hostility only worsened when another large vessel, Canadian MineSweeper HMCS Chaleur, which was moored in the same area, sank in 2021. According to Willson, he received a 'three-day notice to quit' on 'several occasions,' but local authorities never actually 'followed through with an eviction.' He goes on to explain that things came to a head when 1940s military tugboat Mazapeta, stationed near the Aurora, also sank, creating a 'pollution issue,' and various local agencies became involved. By this stage, Willson conceded that 'there was really no future for the Aurora' at that particular spot. While he considered moving the ship, and looked into various other locations, Willson learned that this would be a costly endeavour. 'The ship was trapped in that channel,' he says. 'There was no getting it out without dredging and that's something that the city would have to do… So there was absolutely no getting out of that situation.' As time went on and the pressure mounted, Willson felt more and more out of his depth and the situation began to take an emotional toll on him. Feeling dejected, he says he ultimately chose to sell the Aurora to an interested buyer who seemed just as passionate about saving the ship as he was. 'I didn't see myself being able to fight that battle anymore,' he says, adding that selling the ship 'destroyed' him. 'It became far too in depth for me. And I decided for mental health reasons, just to kind of stay away… To move on and find another project and do something else with my life.' Willson stresses that he had every confidence that the unnamed individual was capable of keeping the Aurora going, and talked them through how to maintain the ship. When it comes to the general condition of the Aurora at the time of the sale, Willson explains that while 'there were some holes' when he first bought it, they were 'patched professionally' and he never had 'any problems' afterward. He stresses that he was as shocked as anyone when it was announced that the ship was sinking around seven months later. 'It has been determined the ship has suffered a hole and is taking on water and is currently leaking diesel fuel and oil into the Delta Waterway,' read a statement from the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office posted on X on May 22, 2024. The US Coast Guard would later confirm that the vessel had been refloated by contractors, noting that it 'recently changed ownership.' Meanwhile, a statement shared by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Office of Spill Prevention and Response on June 28 indicated that contractors had 'removed an estimated 21,675 gallons of oily water, 3,193 gallons of hazardous waste, and five 25-yard bins of debris' from the vessel. The City of Stockton later took over the operation. When contacted by CNN last year, Stockton Community Relations Officer Connie Cochran said that officials were 'figuring out how to dispose of the vessel,' explaining that the size of the ship, along with its location, in an area that wasn't actually within the city limits, had complicated things. Cochran also indicated that there 'was no clear ownership' for the Aurora when the situation occurred. Willson has shared the bill of sale and the transfer of ownership document filed with the Coast Guard Vessel documentation center. CNN has put in a Freedom of Information Act request to confirm the change of ownership for the vessel. CNN was unable to locate the most recent owner for comment. 'It really hurts that I couldn't jump back in there and save it,' says Willson. 'I had no ownership of it.' Cochran was unable to provide an estimate of the costs for the ongoing operation, which saw various contractors with specialist knowledge brought in, but said that the city was hoping to 'recoup' some of it. In December, the US Coast Guard of Northern California announced that a dead ship tow had been undertaken to move the Aurora to Mare Island, where it would be painstakingly demolished. Knego estimates that the entire operation, including hiring tug boats to tow the ship and the dry docking, a process where a ship is brought to dry land so that the submerged portions of the hull can either be cleaned or inspected, would likely have cost between $10 to $20 million. 'It's a poor city,' he says. 'And for them to spend this huge amount of money… People will be angry… 'And the irony is, the ship desperately needed to be dry docked. It hadn't been dry docked since 1978. Finally, the Aurora gets dry docked, just to be demolished.' Knego points out that the ship was perhaps worth 'a couple hundred thousand dollars in a good market.' 'The city of Stockton has a big loss on their hands,' he adds. Cochran has since confirmed to CNN that the Aurora is no more. 'It was towed to Mare Island, and as of April 9, 2025, the destruction of the Aurora was complete except for the final disposal of a few key pieces and material,' Cochran told CNN via email. She went on to state that the city 'is working with other government agencies to investigate and identify who was responsible for placing the Aurora in the waterway and allowing it to degrade.' 'The city intends to take all appropriate legal action to recover the city's costs for the Aurora's removal and disposal from any responsible parties,' she added. 'We do not, yet, have the final cost.' When questioned on the costs to the city of Stockton, Willson says he's frustrated that the authorities decided to scrap the ship. 'It (scrapping the Aurora) was the most expensive way,' he adds. Reflecting on his decision to sell the Aurora nearly two years ago, Willson concedes that he would have done things differently if he'd known what would happen next. 'Was I willing to go down with the ship?' he reflects. 'I mean, I would have worked on that ship my entire life. 'But once they threw a wrench in the works, that kind of ended it for me. I decided, no more.' While Willson was previously in contact with the most recent owner, he admits that he hasn't heard from him in a while. 'All of this is a big mystery,' Knego says. 'And needless to say, very disappointing… 'I'm kind of sad, because after all these years… The ship turned 70 and it should be preserved. It's not such a big ship. 'It would have been great if the Germans took her back to Hamburg and restored her.' To say things haven't turned out the way he hoped is something of an understatement, but Willson says he's hugely grateful to have been able to keep the Aurora 'afloat' for so many years, describing his time with the ship as the happiest of his life. 'I kept it safe for 15 years, and then I couldn't see any hope for me working on the project anymore,' he says. 'So I passed it on to someone else.' He's been heavily criticized for seemingly abandoning the ship and leaving others to deal with the aftermath. But Willson feels that any anger towards him is misguided. 'I don't think people should be mad at me,' he said. 'I think that they should be mad that they allowed it into the Delta to begin with. 'So that's kind of where I stand on that. I didn't bring the mess there. I just protected it.' Willson also points out that 'nobody knew what that vessel was' until he bought it and removed several coats of paint to uncover its original name. 'At least I showed that to people for 15 years,' he says, recounting the many happy hours he spent renovating the ship, with the help of volunteers. A cursory glance at the official Facebook page for the Aurora Restoration Project, which has over 13,000 followers, indicates just how much those who got involved appreciated the opportunity to step on board the historic ship. 'I am just thankful that Chris and his devoted crew gave us a chance to see her one last time,' a user named Steve Young wrote. 'I thought that she was toast years ago.' Another, Clay Byfield, added that he was 'sad to see that the Aurora is being put to rest.' 'But having the opportunity to meet you and some of the (at the time) crew will forever be cherished,' he said. Willson, who also ran a YouTube channel chronicling the progress of the project, believes that the ship would likely 'have just sank without anybody not knowing what it was' if he hadn't bought it all those years ago. 'I think that that's a happy thing,' he says. Willson is particularly frustrated that the end of the Aurora has come around the same time that plans are moving ahead for the SS United States, once the largest passenger ship built entirely in the US, to be intentionally sunk to form the world's largest artificial reef. 'It just seems weird that they're going down at the almost exact same time.' he says, before adding that he feels that people 'aren't so focused on history anymore.' 'There were only three vintage liners left (in the US)… Now it's just going to be the Queen Mary (a retired ocean liner moored at Long Beach that's now a popular tourist attraction).' Knego is also hugely disappointed by the demise of these historic ships, noting that 'only a handful' get saved. 'It's just beautiful,' he says of the SS United States. 'I mean, it's rusty and it looks like hell. But the bones of the ship are so spectacular. 'And we can't find a home for this thing?… It sucks if you like ships.' Knego admits that he once had high hopes for the future of the Aurora, but sadly it wasn't to be. 'It's heartbreaking,' he says, before noting that the saga of the vessel is a 'great story.' And while Willson is still coming to terms with the reality that he couldn't save his beloved ship one final time, he maintains that he has absolutely no regrets about buying it. 'I wouldn't trade the experience for anything,' he says. 'There were so many almosts with that ship. 'We almost had the right people involved in order to save that ship for many, many more generations. 'But things fall through and we just kept waiting for the next one to happen. So I think it was worth it to take the chance.'
Boston Globe
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Boris Spassky, Soviet chess champion and Cold War symbol, dies at 88
Advertisement After that win in 1969, chess master Leonard Barden wrote presciently that Mr. Spassky's 'future problem can be stated in two words: Bobby Fischer.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Fischer was an unlikely chess genius, a brash Brooklyn native almost as well known for his chronic complaining about lighting and spectators and anything else as for his fierce talent. He had failed to beat Mr. Spassky in five tries, but in the run-up to the championship match he had racked up 20 straight victories against some of the world's best players — an unparalleled feat. Mr. Spassky, a former child prodigy, refused to join the Communist Party and had a playboy reputation. Nevertheless, when he arrived at Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, to play Fischer in the summer of 1972, he carried with him the burden of his country's expectations. The Soviet Union boasted an unbroken streak of world chess champions that stretched back to 1948. It seemed unimaginable that there could be a serious challenger hailing from any other nation. Even the movies offered a nod to Mr. Spassky's brilliance. A tactic used in a 1960 victory over countryman David Bronstein, in which Mr. Spassky sacrificed a rook to open an attack on Bronstein's king, was copied in a chess scene early in the 1963 James Bond film 'From Russia with Love,' in which a Soviet secret agent plays a Canadian. Advertisement A small army of journalists descended on Reykjavik to cover the match, which was delayed when Fischer did not show up. He refused to play unless the prize money was increased, then balked after his demands were met. He hid in an apartment in Queens until President Nixon's national security adviser, Henry Kissinger, phoned and persuaded him to fly to Iceland. Fischer's antics continued throughout the competition, which lasted 21 games over more than six weeks. Mr. Spassky, who at one point recognized a clever move by his opponent with applause, won fans for his unflappable patience and sportsmanship. For the first match, Fischer arrived nearly a half-hour late and was hustled into the domed Laugardalshöll. Mr. Spassky was waiting. Fischer had flown in an exact duplicate of a chair he used when he beat Petrosian in Buenos Aires in 1971. The first game unfolded on familiar territory — move for move the same as one of Mr. Spassky's draws with Nikolai Krogius during the Soviet championships in 1958. Fischer knew it by heart. After 28 moves, the game also seemed destined for a draw. Some spectators began to shuffle out. Then Fischer broke the mold. His bishop took Mr. Spassky's pawn, a completely unexpected move that visibly stunned Mr. Spassky and left commentators scrambling to figure out Fischer's new strategy. 'In sixty seconds every entrance to the hall was choked with people charging back in,' Brad Darrach wrote in 'Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World' (1974). ' 'Bobby's attacking! Bobby took a poisoned pawn! Bobby busted the game wide open!' ' The match resumed the following day. Fischer resigned on move 56. But Krogius said Fischer knew he had no chance of doing better than a draw and made the surprising bishop move for 'psychological reasons.' Advertisement 'He wanted to show Spassky that he, firstly, didn't fear him at all,' Krogius wrote in his diary, 'and, secondly, that he was going to fight him to the end in every game, without any compromises.' Fischer forfeited the second game after arguing over the position of television cameras trained on the chessboard. When Fischer threatened to stay away again, Soviet officials ordered Mr. Spassky to return home. He refused. 'To Spassky, it was a matter of honor,' noted a World Chess Hall of Fame remembrance of the showdown in Iceland. 'As world champion, he owed his public a world championship match.' In the third game, played in a ping-pong room away from the main hall, Fischer was on the attack from his opening gambit, known as the Benoni Defense. By the 31st move, Fischer was bearing down on Mr. Spassky. Move 41 was Mr. Spassky's last. He resigned — and never fully recovered. 'In this game I essentially signed my capitulation of the entire match,' he later wrote. Fischer won 12½ to 8½ (half points are awarded for draws), and Mr. Spassky conceded his loss by telephone on Sept. 1. Mr. Spassky went home to a cold reception in the Soviet Union, where he had become a national disappointment. He was wealthy by Russian standards, having won $90,000 in prize money at Reykjavik. But he said he was not allowed to leave the country and persecuted by the KGB. Mr. Spassky's marriage, his second, fell apart. 'I was in a state of depression,' he told The New York Times in 1985. Advertisement A turning point came in 1973, when Mr. Spassky won the Soviet chess championship again, regaining his confidence as he regained his place among the country's best players. He fell in love with Marina Stcherbatcheff, a secretary in the French Embassy, and they married in 1975, moving to Paris the following year. Mr. Spassky became a French citizen and continued to play chess, though never at the same high level. Fischer, on the other hand, retreated from worldwide fame. He lived hermit-like in various countries, refusing to defend his title in 1975 and emerging from solitude only occasionally to issue ranting antisemitic attacks. One of his rare public appearances came in 1992, when he agreed to meet Mr. Spassky for a rematch at a resort on the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia, not far from battlefields in the country's raging civil war. The competition began 20 years to the day after Fischer won the Match of the Century, and again it received widespread media attention. The level of play had sunk considerably, however, as the two men appeared to have lost their verve. 'It was a war of attrition,' grand master Jon Speelman wrote in Britain's Guardian newspaper. Fischer again emerged victorious, 10 wins to five. He pocketed $3.35 million in prize money; Mr. Spassky took home $1.65 million. After the match, the United States issued an arrest warrant for Fischer, whose decision to play in Yugoslavia had violated US sanctions against the war-torn country. In 2004, Fischer was detained in Japan after presenting his revoked US passport. Mr. Spassky defended his rival, writing an open letter describing Fischer as a 'tragic personality' and calling for mercy. (Fischer died in 2008 in Reykjavik at 64 while still quarreling with US authorities.) Advertisement 'Bobby and myself committed the same crime,' Mr. Spassky wrote. 'Put sanctions against me also. Arrest me. And put me in the same cell with Bobby Fischer. And give us a chess set.' Boris Vasilyevich Spassky was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on Jan. 30, 1937. During World War II, he lived for several years in an orphanage, where he learned the rules of chess before he learned to read and write. He continued to study chess after returning to postwar Leningrad, and at 10 he won a game against Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition (with Botvinnik playing other games at the same time). By 18, he had become a grand master. Mr. Spassky also graduated from the University of Leningrad in 1950 with a degree in journalism. He was known as a well-rounded player whose 'secret strength,' according to Yugoslav grand master Svetozar Gligoric, 'lay in his colossal skill in adapting himself to the different styles of his opponents.' Mr. Spassky won the Soviet championship in 1961 and, five years later, made his first bid for the world championship, narrowly losing to Petrosian, whom he defeated three years later. In addition to a son from his marriage to Stcherbatcheff, Mr. Spassky had a daughter from his first marriage, from 1959 to 1961, to Nadezda Konstantinovna Latyntceva; and a son from his second marriage, from 1967 to 1974, to Larisa Zakharovna Solovyova. Information on survivors was not immediately available. Mr. Spassky lived in France for decades before returning to Russia in 2012. He was once asked where he felt more at home: Moscow or Paris? 'I feel at home at the chessboard,' he was quoted as saying in a recollection of the Reykjavik match published by the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2022. 'Our chess kingdom does not have borders.'
