Draft:Tage Wandborg

Tage Wandborg (1923-2023) was a Danish naval architect active during the late 20th century, most known for his designs of passenger ships and his work converting the ocean liner SS France into a cruise ship.

Wandborg began his career designing ferries, establishing himself as a well-known architect for hybrid Roll-On Roll-Off-passenger ferries. This reputation put him in touch with Knut Jolester, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines. On behalf of the company, Wandborg designed the first Caribbean cruise ships and converted the famed SS France into a modern cruise ship.

Early Life
Wandborg was born in the Danish city of Snekkersten in 1923. As a teenager, he worked as an apprentice at the nearby shipyard in Helsingør before graduating from a local technical college in 1944. The Second World War had devastated the demand for ships in occupied Denmark, witched forced Wandborg to work as a designer of trains and other railway vehicles with the Scandia corporation.

For the next several years, he served as a Second Lieutenant of the Royal Danish Guard before moving to Stockholm in 1947 to work as a designer with. Under the company, he assisted in the design of the passenger steamer Birger Jarl, his first design of a ship.

Ferry Design
Eight years after being hired by Finnboda Varv, Wandborg joined the vessel design firm Kund E. Hansen and worked on the design of the shuttle ferries Sundbuss Henrik and Sundbuss Pernille. By the 1960s, he became the led architect for most of the firm's ferries. One of his first notable designs during this period was of a four ship series of Roll-on/Roll-off ferries, groundbreaking due to the design being the first of such craft used in the English Chanel. He would also design six ferries for Stena Line, which composed some of the first new-build ships operated by the company.

Between the 1960s and 1970s, he lead the design of ferries and passenger ships built by the firm, infusing his personal style with that of the company's. Wandborg often designed the superstructure of the ferries he oversaw, and a common trait of his work was the inclusion of cost-cutting prefabrication of interior spaces, an observation lounge located on or near a mid-ship false funnel, and bright colors and logos.

Norwegian Caribbean Line
In 1964, businessman Knut Kloster was looking to diversify his cargo ship company, and turned to Wandborg, who by this point firmly established himself as a name in the ferry industry. Kloster wanted a large, oceangoing ship that could carry both people and vehicles between Southampton and Gibraltar. The need led the naval architect to design the M/V Sunward, which was launched in 1966. The Sunward 's service was soon permanently interrupted when Spain banned British tourists, destroying the economic viability of the route. Meanwhile, another company lead by Ted Arison had booked passengers for short Caribbean cruises that were on hold following the bankruptcy of the line's shipbuilders. Kloster - with ships but no passengers - and Arison - with passengers but no ship - combined efforts to form Norwegian Caribbean Line (NCL), now Norwegian Cruise Lines. The Sunward was then sent to service the passengers on Caribbean Cruises. This venture proved to an unmitigated success, and Kloster asked Wandborg to design more passenger ships built specifically for this Caribbean market. To fulfill the order, he designed the sister ships M/V Starward and M/S Skyward with vehicle space in case the cruise business would fail. The fallback design was proven to be pointless due to the popularity of the cruises, and Wandborg removed the spaces in favor of more passenger cabins while the ships were under construction. When launched, the Starward became the first purpose-built Caribbean cruise ship.

Due to these successes, Wandborg became close partners with Kloster and NCL. He quickly made designs for another duo of ships, based on that of Starward with greater emphasis on Caribbean cruises. These two new ships, named Southward and Seaward, began construction soon afterwards in Italy. However, financial issues on the side of the shipbuilder saw the yard demand an extra million dollars to be added to the contract, which was refused by NCL. Following a series of negotiations, Southward was delivered to NCL, while Seaward was sold off as the Spirit of London.

Despite those issues, NCL operated a proper cruise ship fleet of four vessels, all designed by Wandborg. His next project for the company was to re-design the Cunard Adventure, a previous ship he designed, to meet the yacht-like ascetics of NCL. Renamed Sunward II, the vessel quickly replaced the first Sunward, which was sold off in 1973.

SS France
By 1979, the cruising industry had stalled due to competition with conventional resorts and jet travel. This economic reality led Kloster wanting to find a unique way to gain an advantage over competitors, especially other cruise lines. Wandborg was first to propose the possibility of refitting the famous ocean liner SS France as a cruise ship, which had been laid up due to low demand and the Oil Crisis. Wandberg was sent to inspect the ship for potential viability with the company, in which he was awestruck by the ship's beauty. He later described the France as,

""A masterpiece of marine engineering...the materials that went into her construction and engineering were the very best that money could buy. I felt awed by the sheer size of her hull and by her grace and elegance.""

Once he returned, Wandborg was given three weeks to make a final decision on the possibility of her overhaul. Following another trip in which he studied the vessel in depth, Wandborg was in full support of the project.

Old ocean liners, such as France, had the power to disrupt the cruiseline industry, due to their massive size, potential to carry a large amount of guests on a single voyage, space for many amenities, and low cost compared to new-build vessels due to the ships already being built.

Serving as the architect in charge of the refit, he partnered with the interior decorator Angelo Donghia. Now named Norway, the ocean liner had her speed cut in half, bow thrusters added to improve maneuverability, two decks rebuilt, cabins added, and an enlargement of her deck space.

To see the conversion though, he partnered with interior decorator Angelo Donghia. Renamed Norway,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1980/06/08/queen-of-the-fleet/cafc86a4-4b82-42d0-99f8-8b1a985c63f6/

Their goal was to, '' Re-create the feel of an old J. P. Morgan yacht'

Megaships
When introduced, Norway was the world's largest cruise ship and saw the industry adopt newbuild designs to resemble floating resorts compared to liners or ferries. Norway alone carried 40% of all Caribbean cruise passengers a year, greatly benefiting NCL and her re-designer. To both Wandborg and Kloster, she proved how large, resort-like ships were both economically possible and well worth the financial risk.

The duo soon embarked to design, finance, and build a "Mega ship" to be named Phoenix World City. The project's guiding principle was to procure a ship that has every amenity any city would have and one that would serve as a metaphorical and literal symbol of international cooperation and potential. To achieve the goal, the ship was to have a GRT of 255,000, length of 1,235 feet, a total capacity for 8,800 people, and space for international forums. It was decided that the Phoenix World City was to be built in the US, as the nation made up the origin for most of the cruising industries' revenue. Wandborg, acting as the vessel's chief architect, joined fellow supporters of the idea an an attempt to secure support from the US government and potential shipyards. The planned megaship inevitably failed to materialize by 2004, due to both lobbying against governmental involvement and competing lines incorporating concepts from the idea into their own ships, leading the Phoenix World City to loose originality.

Death and Legacy
Wandborg died in 2023, the news announced by his former employer, Kund E. Hansen. In the company's press release, Professor Bruce Peter proclaimed him to be, "Undoubtedly the most significant designer of passenger ships – ferry and cruise – of [the late 20th century]." He is survived by his spouse and family.

Ships Designed
Below is a list of ships Wandborg had a notable role in the design of, either as an architect, consultant, or lead designer.