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January 29, 1951. "S.S. Independence, American Export Lines. Staircase down." 4x5 inch acetate negative by Gottscho-Schleisner. View full size.
I rode both Independence and Constitution during their heyday as cross-Atlantic fast passenger steamers. My father was an Army sergeant and he, my mom and I crossed the Atlantic 5 times before I was 17. Three of those passages were on either of these sister ships. It was a very luxurious passage, even for those passengers who were not in 1st Class. If I remember correctly, the run from Italy to the US (or back) took a week or so. The ships handled weather very well. The other two voyages were on US Navy transports (The General Hodges and the General Rose) and were nearly not so comfortable. The navy crews (contractor) crews were also kind of slipshod and ship handling tended to subject passengers and crew to far rougher passages than perhaps a civilian vessel's line would have tolerated. Thanks for the memories!
Taken a couple of weeks before going into service.
According to an interesting Life Magazine article on the ship's maiden voyage. "Early sightseers last week paid all this their most sincere compliment: they stole 3,000 of the Independence's specially designed ashtrays."
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