SS Independence

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.

Between 1974 and 1982 Independence sailed as Oceanic Independence for Atlantic Far East Lines and American Hawaii Cruises, before reverting to the original name. Independence was then operated by American Global Line between 1982 and 1996, and again American Hawaii Cruises until being laid up in San Francisco in 2001.

In 2006 the ship was renamed Oceanic and, after being mothballed for seven years, left San Francisco for Singapore on February 8, 2008. That destination was later changed to Dubai, and in 2009 the aged liner left there under tow as the Platinum II for the shipbreaking yards in Alang, India. After having been turned away from those scrap yards due to hazardous materials on board, the then 58-year-old ship was grounded off Alang. There, the rusting ship's hull broke in two aft of the smokestacks (making refloating impossible) and was scrapped on the spot.