US Lines

We showcase the United States in Part Two of our series, as it sailed the same transatlantic route as the Cunard Queens and was a familiar sight in Southampton.

Short sequences of two other American contemporaries are included.

The construction of the United States was largely financed by the US government. It was the height of the Cold War and she could be converted into a troop carrier at a few days notice. Launched in June 1951, she was built for speed. Her revolutionary Westinghouse turbines produced an astounding 240,000 horsepower.

This power was immediately in evidence. Her maiden voyage across the Atlantic took ten hours off the record set by the Queen Mary fourteen years previously. During the following decade, the United States became a favourite for transatlantic passengers - particularly Americans who preferred her to the Cunard Queens. But despite an attempt to reinvent her as a cruise liner, she too could not escape the onslaught of air travel and she was laid up in 1969 after more than 400 Atlantic crossings.

The US government took possession of her in 1973, and repeated attempts to revive her career stumbled over finance or tangled negotiations with federal agencies.

Recently purchased by the Norwegian Cruise Line, ambitious plans have been put forward to convert the grand old lady into a modern cruise ship. However, to date there is little evidence of progress.

We have four short films of United States in Southampton.

Independence and her sister Constitution were built for the New York to Italy service and were launched in 1951. At the time of delivery, she was the fastest American-built liner, achieving over 26 knots. In 1967 she was taken off the Atlantic routes and began cruising under a succession of new owners. Renamed Oceanic Independence in 1974, she operated as part of the American Hawaii Cruises fleet until its bankruptcy in 2001. She was laid up in Suisan Bay, California for three years but in 2004 the ship was purchased by the Norwegian Cruise Line and will hopefully be refurbished.

We only have a single ten second pan along her superstructure - taken in Lisbon.