SS France was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique ocean liner, constructed by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard at Saint-Nazaire, France, and put into service in February 1962. At the time of her construction in 1960, the 316 m (1,037 ft) vessel was the longest passenger ship ever built, a record that remained unchallenged until the construction of the 345 m (1,132 ft) RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004.
SS Île de France was a French ocean liner that was built in Saint-Nazaire for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. The ship was named after the region around Paris known as "L'Ile de France", launched in 1926 and commenced her maiden voyage on June 22, 1927. It was the first major ocean liner built after World War I, and was the first liner ever to be decorated almost entirely with modern designs associated with the Art Deco style. She was neither the largest ship nor the fastest, but was considered the most beautifully decorated ship built by CGT, becoming the favored ship of the pre-World War II era, carrying young, wealthy and fashionable Americans to Europe and back.
SS Southern Cross was an ocean liner built in 1955 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast, Northern Ireland for the United Kingdom-based Shaw, Savill & Albion Line for Europe—Australia service. In 1975 she was rebuilt as a cruise ship and subsequently sailed under the names Calypso, Azure Seas and OceanBreeze until 2003 when she was sold for scrap to Ahmed Muztaba Steel Industries, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
The fifth SS Rotterdam, also known as "The Grande Dame", is a former ocean liner and cruise ship, and has been a hotel ship in Rotterdam, Netherlands since 2010. She was launched by Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in a gala ceremony on 13 September 1958, and was completed the following summer.
MS Regal Empress was a cruise ship that recently operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line. She was built in 1953 by Alexander Stephen & Sons at Glasgow, Scotland as the ocean liner SS Olympia for the Greek Line. Greek Line withdrew the Olympia from service in 1974. Following an extended lay-up period and reconstruction into a diesel-engined Caribbean cruise ship, the ship re-emerged in 1983 as MS Caribe I for Commodore Cruise Line. In 1993 she was sold to Regal Cruise Line and received her final name. She operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line from 2003 until 2009. The Regal Empress was also the last vintage passenger ship to regularly sail from the United States.
MS Homeric was a cruise ship built in 1986 at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, West Germany as Homeric for Home Lines, and their last newbuild to remain in active service. In 1988 she was sold to Holland America Line, renamed Westerdam, and in 1990 lengthened by 36.9 m at Meyer Werft. In 2002 she was transferred to the fleet of Costa Cruises and renamed Costa Europa. In April 2010 she was taken on a ten-year charter by Thomson Cruises, under the name Thomson Dream.
SS Raffaello was an Italian ocean liner built in the early 1960s for Italian Line by the Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico, Trieste. It was one of the last ships to be built primarily for liner service across the North Atlantic. Her sister ship was SS Michelangelo.
MS Vistafjord was an ocean liner that was built as a combined liner/cruise ship in 1973 by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders in the United Kingdom for the Norwegian America Line. In 1983 she was sold to Cunard Line, retaining her original name until 1999 when she was renamed Caronia. In 2004 she was sold to Saga and sailed as Saga Ruby until sold in 2014 for use as a floating hotel and renamed Oasia. This never came to fruition. Her owners went bankrupt, and in April 2017 she arrived at Alang, India for scrapping.
The Olympic-class ocean liners were a trio of British ocean liners built by the Harland & Wolff shipyard for the White Star Line during the early 20th century. They were Olympic (1911), Titanic (1912) and Britannic (1914). All three were designed to be the largest and most luxurious passenger ships at that time, designed to give White Star an advantage in the transatlantic passenger trade.
SS Independence was an American built passenger liner, which entered service in February 1951 for American Export Lines. Originally, she plied a New York-Mediterranean route, specializing in a high-end clientele, sailing one way while her sister ship, SS Constitution, plied the route the opposite. Starting in 1980 she sailed as a cruise ship. She was shortly joined by her similarly graceful counter sterned sibling, the pair sharing the Hawaiian islands together for the better part of two decades until their retirements.
RMS Sylvania was an ocean liner built in 1957 by John Brown & Co (Clydebank), in Glasgow, for the United Kingdom-based shipping company Cunard Line. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings. The ship was later heavily rebuilt as a cruise ship, and sailed under the names SS Fairwind, SS Sitmar Fairwind, SS Dawn Princess and SS Albatros before being scrapped in 2004. She was renamed SS Genoa for her last voyage.
TS Maxim Gorkiy was, until 30 November 2008, a cruise ship owned by Sovcomflot, Russia, under long-term charter to Phoenix Reisen, Germany. She was built in 1969 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, West Germany for the German Atlantic Line as TS Hamburg. In late 1973 she was very briefly renamed TS Hanseatic. The following year she was sold to the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union and received the name Maksim Gorkiy in honour of the writer Maxim Gorky, renamed to Maxim Gorkiy after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. On 20 August 2008 Maxim Gorkiy was sold to Orient Lines. She was due to enter service with her new owners on 15 April 2009 under the name TS Marco Polo II, but in November 2008 the relaunch of the Orient Lines brand was cancelled. On 8 January 2009 the ship was sold for scrap, and she was beached at Alang, India on 26 February 2009.
SS Shalom was a combined ocean liner/cruise ship built in 1964 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, St Nazaire, France, for ZIM Lines, Israel, for transatlantic service from Haifa to New York. In 1967, SS Shalom was sold to the German Atlantic Line, becoming their second SS Hanseatic. Subsequently she served as SS Doric for Home Lines, SS Royal Odyssey for Royal Cruise Line and SS Regent Sun for Regency Cruises. The ship was laid up in 1995 following the bankruptcy of Regency Cruises. Numerous attempts were made to bring her back to service, but none were successful. The ship sank outside Cape St. Francis, South Africa, on 26 July 2001, while en route to India to be scrapped.
A four-funnel liner, also known as a four-stacker, is an ocean liner with four funnels.
MS Golden Princess was a casino cruise ship owned by Eurasia International, operated on short casino cruises out of Hong Kong. She was built in 1967 by the Wärtsilä Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland as Finlandia for the Finland Steamship Company. In 1975 she was sold to Finnlines, who converted her into the cruise ship Finnstar in 1978. In 1982 she entered service for Pearl Cruises as Pearl of Scandinavia. In 1988 she was renamed Ocean Pearl. In 1994 she entered service with Croisières Paquet as Pearl. Between 1995 and 1998 she sailed for Costa Cruises as Costa Playa. In 1998-1999 she sailed as Oriental Pearl for Mega Wave International, and in 1999-2000 as Joy Wave for Costa Cruises. In 2000 she was sold to Eurasia International and entered service under the name Golden Princess. In 2009 she was sold for scrap to China.
SS Roma was an ocean liner built for the Italian shipping company Navigazione Generale Italiana of Genoa by Ansaldo shipyard in Sestri Ponente. She was the sister ship to MS Augustus. The ship was later transferred to the new Italian Line after the merger of Navigazione Generale Italiana. When Second World War broke out, she was acquired by the Navy for Conversion to aircraft carrier name Aquila. She was taken over by the German occupation forces in 1943 but was partially scuttled by Italians. She was raised and scrapped in 1951.
Sparviero was an Italian aircraft carrier designed and built during World War II of the Regia Marina. She was originally the ocean liner MS Augustus built in 1927 for Navigazione Generale Italiana, but was transferred to the new Italian Line after the merger of Navigazione Generale Italiana. The conversion was started in 1942 originally under the name Falco but was never completed, and the ship was never delivered to the Regia Marina. She began to be scrapped in 1946, a process completed by 1952.
MS Giulio Cesare was a luxurious ocean liner built for the Italian Line. She was a sister ship to MS Augustus which was launched in the same year. She was built for the South America service like her sister. These two ships' specification and design were very similar.
SS Stella Solaris was an ocean liner built for Messageries Maritimes in 1953. She mainly provided passenger service between France, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan.
SS Atlantic was an American-built vessel that operated for 42 years in various capacities. First designated SS Badger Mariner, she was originally built as a freighter in 1953. However, her career as a cargo vessel was relatively short. In 1958, she was rebuilt as a passenger liner. Renamed SS Atlantic, this ship became familiar to many American tourists during the 1960s, making cruises to the Caribbean and Mediterranean.
