Peace Ship

Oscar II Peace Ship leaving New York Dec. 4, 1915

The Peace Ship was the common name for the ocean liner Oscar II, on which American industrialist Henry Ford organized and launched his 1915 amateur peace mission to Europe;[1] Ford chartered the Oscar II and invited prominent peace activists to join him.[2] He hoped to create enough publicity to prompt the belligerent nations to convene a peace conference and mediate an end to World War I,[1] but the mission was widely mocked by the press, which referred to the Oscar II as the "Ship of Fools" as well as the "Peace Ship".[3] Infighting between the activists, mockery by the press contingent aboard, and an outbreak of influenza marred the voyage.[4] Five days after Oscar II arrived in Norway, a beleaguered and physically ill Ford abandoned the mission and returned to the United States.[5] The peace mission was unsuccessful, which reinforced Ford's reputation as a supporter of unusual causes.[6] The ship was named after the former Swedish Monarch H.M. King Oscar II of Sweden (until 1905 also King of Norway) who, according to Ford, was a peaceloving monarch.

  1. ^ a b Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 228.
  2. ^ Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 229.
  3. ^ Traxel, David (2006). Crusader Nation: The United States in Peace and the Great War 1898-1920. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 206.
  4. ^ Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 234.
  5. ^ Watts, Steven (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 235.
  6. ^ Henry, Jim (June 15, 2003). "Noble cause becomes a farce ; Peace Ship cements Henry Ford's image as a well-meaning but naive do-gooder". Automotive News. Retrieved 7 December 2012.