Description

SS CONSTITUTION OCEAN LINER

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY BOAT MODEL

Dimension approx.: 40"L x 6.5"W x 13.5"H
The model is already built. THIS IS NOT A MODEL SHIP KIT

The SS Constitution, launched on 16 September 1950 from Bethlehem Steel’s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, was one of the last great American‑built ocean liners of the postwar era. Constructed alongside her sister ship, SS Independence, she was designed for long‑range transatlantic and Mediterranean service — fast, modern, and unmistakably American in profile. Completed in 1951, she departed on her maiden voyage on 25 June 1951, beginning a career that would span nearly half a century.

Owned by American Export Lines, Constitution operated on the celebrated New York–Genoa–Naples–Gibraltar route, carrying passengers, mail, and cargo across the Atlantic. During the 1950s and 1960s she became a fixture of the company’s famed “Sunlane” service, offering warm‑weather cruising to Europe and the Mediterranean. With a gross tonnage of 23,754 GRT, a length of 682 feet, and a service speed of 23 knots, she was a capable and comfortable liner — admired for her clean lines, spacious decks, and mid‑century American interiors.

As the jet age reshaped transatlantic travel, Constitution adapted. Through the 1970s and 1980s she sailed under several owners, including Atlantic Far East Lines, American Global Line, and American Hawaii Cruises. Under American Hawaii Cruises, she found a new identity as a U.S.‑crewed vessel operating exclusively in Hawaiian waters — one of the few ships able to meet the strict requirements of the Passenger Services Act without calling at foreign ports. Her passenger capacity varied with refits, ranging from 395 to over 1,000, but she remained a popular ship for relaxed, resort‑style cruising.

Constitution also earned a place in popular culture. In 1956, she appeared in the iconic I Love Lucy episode “Bon Voyage,” where Lucille Ball’s character famously misses the ship and must be lowered aboard by helicopter. That same year, Grace Kelly sailed on Constitution from New York to Monaco for her wedding to Prince Rainier — a moment that cemented the ship’s glamorous reputation.

By the mid‑1990s, age and rising operating costs caught up with her. Constitution was retired in 1995, ending more than four decades of service. Her final chapter came in November 1997, when she was under tow to shipbreakers. Roughly 800 miles north of Hawaii, she sank unexpectedly — her exact resting place still unknown beneath the Pacific.

Today, the SS Constitution is remembered as one of the most significant American ocean liners of the postwar period. She embodied the optimism of mid‑century travel, adapted gracefully to the cruising era, and left a legacy marked by elegance, versatility, and cultural charm. Her disappearance at sea only deepens the mystique of a ship that once carried movie stars, royalty, and generations of travelers across the world’s oceans.