The Liners

Ships of War

The passenger-ship history continues, looking at the liners' role as troop ships and immigration transports, and moving on to the era of the great Blue Riband luxury vessels like the Ile de France and Queen Mary.

The Great Duel

Intense rivalry between Britain's Queen Mary and France's Normandie liners drove transatlantic speed records faster and faster during the glamour days of the early 1930s. But by WW2, the Queen Mary and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth had been seconded for war duties along with every other British-owned liner.

Endless Voyage

The final episode tells of the post-Boeing years, when the liners were running half-empty and all seemed doomed to the breaker's yard. Then came the age of the cruise -- and companies like Disney and Royal Caribbean now vie to outdo each other with ever larger and more luxurious floating cities.