Our Honolulu
Retiring liner sails in nostalgia

By Bob Krauss
Advertiser Columnist

Our Honolulu must add another vessel to its list of ships that have made a difference to Hawai'i — like the Lurline and the Falls of Clyde — when the Independence sails for the last time on Tuesday.

The word is she'll be mothballed in San Francisco after cruising in the Hawaiian Islands for more than 20 years. But her biggest fan, Claire Engle, a luxury liner aficionado, hasn't given up.

"I have a feeling that her life isn't over even though she's 50 years old," said Engle. "She's too young to die. She still has a contribution to make."

Engle breaks with feminists by referring the Independence as "she." When I remarked about this, Engle explained: "The reason ships are female is because they are beautiful, graceful, hospitable, tough, resilient and forgiving.

"You cannot call a ship an 'it' because it has life. You have to ride in a ship at sea to understand that."

Born miles from the Cleveland waterfront, Engle got a heady whiff of salt air when she went to college in the whaling town of New London, Conn. "What really intrigued me was seeing the luxury liners when we drove to New York," she said. "I counted the funnels along the Hudson River."

In her junior year, 1953, her roommate talked her into sailing to Europe in a new luxury liner called the Independence, only 2 years old. With the Constitution, she was the first American-built passenger ship since before World War II.

The two vessels would also be almost the last because the jet airliner took over the passenger business in 1959.

For Engle, the Independence became her dream boat, the symbol of sea romance. "My roommate attracted boys," she said. "So we met a family with four boys. They were friends of Henry Dreifuss, the famous industrial designer who gave the ship her lines.

"Dreifuss was on board. So we were invited to a take a bow-to-stern tour of the ship with the designer."

Engle ended the tour with stars in her eyes. Then, at Cannes, the Independence saluted the Andrea Doria with a blast of its whistle. How romantic can you get?

From then, she followed the career of the Independence: "I was distressed in the late '60s when she was sold to a New York travel agency to become a party ship and painted psychedelic colors." Then C.Y. Tung, Hong Kong shipping magnate, bought the Independence in 1980 and sent her to cruise in Hawai'i.

The ship arrived empty. But Engle, working at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawai'i, arranged a proper boat day. She enlisted 750 chamber members to board at Pearl Harbor, cruise past Diamond Head, and disembark at Pier 10 as if they had come from Hong Kong, people throwing streamers and the Royal Hawaiian Band playing "Aloha Oe."

Since then the Independence has probably visited more Hawaiian Islands more times than most old-time interisland steamers.

Bob Krauss can be reached at 525-8073.