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5 AWFUL Ship Makeovers

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Recap: 5 Awful Ship Makeovers (morbidly curious recap)

The video revisits five ships that changed hands and got rebuilt—some in ways that were “modern,” others in ways that were just… cursed. The creator frames the whole list as a second round of “terrible ship makeovers” for people who enjoy watching good ships get cosmetically (and sometimes physically) ruined.

#5: RMS Strathnaver — “Scrapnaver”

  • The host opens by admitting they personally love the Strathnaver (a P&O ocean liner that once carried their family to Australia in 1959).
  • The ship had a distinctive, elegant 1930s look: a white hull and three rounded, squat funnels (with only a particular “modernization” logic changing later).
  • After WWII, P&O wants it to look more minimalist and “modern” (less funnels = more modernity).
  • Two funnels are removed—only the middle one remains—leaving the ship visibly unbalanced, like it now has a huge “forehead.”
  • The interiors also decline with age and wear: it becomes a one-class migrant ship.
  • By the late 1950s it’s breaking down so often it earns the nickname “Scrapnaver,” and it’s scrapped in Hong Kong (1962).

Highlight/joke: The host repeatedly emphasizes the ship’s new “massive forehead” look—an affectionate roast of a once-handsome liner.

#4: Castel Bianco — rebuilt… too successfully (and then not)

  • This one is tied to Mr. Alexander Vlasov (head of the Italian Sitmar line), who bought WWII cargo ships and converted them into passenger liners.
  • SS Vassar Victory → Castel Bianco
    • The conversion includes passenger upgrades after a brutal first voyage: it collides, runs aground, then gets wrecked in a storm and must repair in Sydney.
    • It’s rebuilt again in the early 1950s with major changes: new decks, promenades/sports decks, more lifeboats, and updated funnel styling.
  • But the host points out a “they didn’t notice this” engineering problem:
    • Added weight makes the ship hopelessly top-heavy
    • It becomes notorious for rolling even in calm seas, making it terrible for seasickness sufferers
  • After only two years with Sitmar, it’s sold again to a Spanish line:
    • Renamed Begona
    • Eventually scrapped after an engine fire (1974)

Highlight/joke: The ship becomes a “terrible roller,” and the host humorously imagines it as the kind of ship you wouldn’t want if you get motion sick.

#3: MV Georgic — the “Corrugated Lung” that shouldn’t have survived

  • The story starts with White Star planning a luxury superliner, derails due to the Great Depression, and leads to Georgic being built as a medium diesel-powered running mate to Britannic.
  • It’s initially reliable and popular—but WWII destroys it:
    • Converted to a troopship
    • Attacked in 1941 while anchored waiting to take Italian POWs
    • Hit by bombs causing severe flooding and a fire that guts the stern
  • Somehow, the crew and Captain Greig manage to start the ship and steer it onto a reef, preventing it from fully sinking.
  • It’s left to burn for two days, abandoned—but surveys later reveal the structure and machinery are still usable.
  • A major salvage operation refloats and repairs her enough to sail again; by 1944 it’s been rebuilt into a war-ready version.
  • After the war, it becomes a migrant ship again—but the makeover is ugly:
    • A key funnel part never gets fully restored
    • The foremast is shortened
    • Interiors are never truly returned to their old luxury
    • The hull plates remain warped, causing a wobbly side profile
  • This earns it the nickname “Corrugated Lung.”
  • It keeps running for migrant/troups duties, then is scrapped in 1955.

Highlight/joke/reaction: The host describes the survival-and-rebuild arc as almost miraculous, then ends by roasting the “PR Cunard White-Star” vibe due to the ship’s warped look.

#2: SS Norway — the beloved cruise ship with a “forehead” problem

  • The host preemptively warns they’ll upset viewers because Norway is fondly remembered.
  • This is an “aesthetic judgment” video, and the ship is allegedly guilty of the classic makeover crime: big, blocky additions.
  • Origin
    • Built as France (1960) for French Line to replace Normandie
    • It’s described as extremely beautiful, with twin funnels that look like they have wings
    • Gorgeous and popular, but demand declines due to jet aviation and changing travel patterns
    • After the 1973 oil crisis, it’s pulled from service and sold
  • Converted for Norwegian Caribbean Line (NCL)
    • Renamed SS Norway
    • Early modifications are mostly internal, so it stays visually appealing
  • The “bad makeover” happens in 1990
    • A huge blocky structure is added on top with many new cabins
    • It works commercially (people like the new rooms), but it messes up the silhouette
    • There’s also a new overhanging pool deck
  • Despite the looks drifting away from the sweeping 1960 design, it remains popular.
  • It sails for the last time in 2004, gets sold for scrap, and dismantled at Alang (2008).

Highlight/joke: The host calls out the recurring “massive forehead” effect—suggesting that certain redesigns turn beautiful liners into top-heavy caricatures.

#1: SS Ryndam II / Atlas — peak 1970s spaceship + mystery funnel

  • In the 1950s, Holland-America builds Ryndam II, originally meant as a freighter but completed as a liner.
  • It’s functional and reasonably modern, including one tall funnel and a sleek superstructure.
  • After migrant service ends, it’s sold to a Greek cruise line and rebuilt in the 1970s by Epirotiki:
    • The host describes the design choice as intentionally over-the-top: “everything curvy” because it’s the 70s
    • The funnel gets replaced with something bizarre—so strange the host doesn’t even know what it is, joking it might be “a funnel?” or maybe even spitting smoke in old photos
  • Renamed Atlas, then later becomes a floating casino (Pride of Galveston → later Copa Casino).
  • By the 1990s it’s described as a neglected wreck permanently moored on the Mississippi.
  • Port authorities demand removal; it’s sold for scrapping and towed for destruction in India, but:
    • During the tow, the ship sinks in 2003

Highlight/joke/reaction: The “mystery funnel” is the comedic centerpiece, with the escalation from “modern cruise ship” → “70s spaceship” → “wrecked casino” → “sunk on the way to scrap.”

Overall tone / recurring gag

The host treats ship design changes like personal insults to a ship’s silhouette, especially:

  • The repeated “forehead” comparison (Strathnaver, Norway)
  • The “it didn’t work” theme:
    • Castel Bianco rolling
    • Georgic’s damaged/warped silhouette
    • Atlas’s eyesore funnel

The humor is mostly affectionate roasting—framing “modern minimalism” and “1970s aesthetic” as the culprits.

Personalities mentioned

  • Mr. Alexander Vlasov (head of the Italian Sitmar line)
  • Captain Greig (captain of the MV Georgic)
  • “Mike” (a named-in-text hypothetical viewer responding to the Norway/height joke)

Original video