The M.S. Batory was a large (14,287 BRT) and luxurious ocean liner of the Polish merchant fleet, named after Stefan Batory, the famous sixteenth-Century king of Poland.
M.S. Batory survived the war years (1939-45) being known as a "Lucky Ship" due to her wartime successes - she took part in many military actions such as the evacuation of the French-Polish-British corps from Narvik (1940), evacuation of allied troops from St. Nazaire and St. Jean de Luz (1940), invasion of Algier and Sicily (1942), military voyages to India (1943), six months services as a troop carrier from Egypt to Italy (1943) and the invasion of southern France.
During many years of service, M.S. Batory carried out 222 round trips across the oceans, first on the New York run, later the India Line and finally the Canadian Line, carrying over 270,000 passengers altogether. She also performed around 75 cruises, tourist trips, transportation of children to Poland for summer holidays with over 30,000 passengers taking part. During her war time service of over six years, she carried about 120,000 soldiers. She visited about 150 ports in all parts of the globe.
A painted lady sings a lullaby
A raindrop falls from an empty sky
A steamboat's lying on a river bed
The captain smiles and his eyes are red
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
A lady's riding bareback on a horse
I know that Babylon must be her course
An old man's laughing at the dead of night
But I don't care if he is black or white
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
The summer heat burns the skin on my face
And the trees shimmer so in this quiet place
A bird up high sings a song that I know
And those sweet melodies fall down like snow
A crowd of people watch an empty stage
There's no performers but still they stay
Moonlight dances on a slide trombone
The captain whistles as he wanders home
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water
Mississippi water
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me
Mississippi water washing over me