POST-WAR SHIPS OF AMERICAN EXPORT LINES THE GENIUS BEHIND THE CONSTITUTION, INDEPENDENCE & FOUR ACES
Presented by Christian Roden
January 25, 2019 @ 6:45 pm
When American Export Lines began making plans to resume transatlantic service after World War II, vice president John Slater realized that economic circumstances were changing significantly. Technological developments meant that affordable high-speed air travel was projected to reduce transoceanic journeys from a week to a matter of hours. It was thought that within a decade, ocean liners would become obsolete. Until then, however, large ships were still the most economically viable option, and American Export felt that the company’s investment should remain as profitable and competitive with airline traffic for as long as possible.
To help ensure this, the company hired the renowned industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss, a Brooklyn native, to oversee the design and construction of the postwar fleet. His firm, Henry Dreyfuss Associates, had been a major player on the industrial design scene for fifteen years. Major clients included Western Electric, Bell Telephone Systems and the New York Central Railroad for which he designed an Art Deco streamlined shroud for their Hudson locomotives along with four train sets for the 1938 20th Century Limited.
On the maritime scene, which was the focus of this talk, Dreyfuss designed six ships for the American Export Lines between 1945 and 1951, beginning with the Four Aces, and then most famously, the CONSTITUTION and INDEPENDENCE.
Christian Roden is the Assistant Director of Data Management and Prospect Research for the University of Pennsylvania Library. He was a 2011-2012 Fulbright Research Fellow to France, researching the career of the S.S. ILE DE FRANCE at the Association des Lignes Francaises in Le Havre. He has subsequently worked as the Curatorial Associate for the SS United States Conservancy. His lifelong passion has been the history of ocean liners.