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no additional cost. The Excalibur voyage set the pattern: the Four Aces would depart and return with roughly the same number of passengers. On Tuesday, November 2, the second of the Aces, Exochorda, which had needed a faulty valve replaced, departed on its maiden voyage more than five weeks late (much longer than the promised fortnightly interval). On Wednesday , December 1, the third of the Aces, Exeter, delayed an extra three weeks by a longshoremen’s strike, departed on its maiden voyage—not from Jersey City but from AEL’s Pier 84 at the foot of West Forty-Fourth Street in Manhattan. (That pier would later be home to AEL’s upscale and larger twin sisters Independence and Constitution.) Excambion, which had originally been slated for a November 2 departure, had to wait until its three sister ships got out of the chutes. On November 19, Excambion successfully completed sea trials just like those run by Exeter, whose four-hour endurance run included revving the engines up to at least the rated speed of 16.5 knots, stopping suddenly, backing up, and turning (New YorkTimes, 1948).Three days later,AEL formally accepted delivery of the ship that was now officially renamed Excambion (Vessel Status Card). Its new home port—Pier D, adjoining the Harborside Building, Exchange Place, Jersey City—was directly across the Hudson River from Fulton Street in downtown Manhattan. Although ready to depart on November 30 (its rescheduled departure date), Excambion held back a little longer so that Exeter got the chance to leave first. Finally, on Friday, December 3, Excambion fired up engines for its maiden voyage. As notices in the New York Times advertised , the ship accepted outgoing mail until 6:00 a.m. on departure day.That was standard procedure. It carried letter mail and printed matter to Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon , Syria, and Trans-Jordan and parcel post to Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon,Syria,and Trans-Jordan.Although carrying mail may not sound glamorous, it qualified the ship to receive the government ’s annual operation-differential subsidy—which AEL executives maintained was central to the economic viability of the Four Aces.Like the other Aces,Excambion sported a bright T he Four Aces—“staunch,sturdy and steady ships”(American Export Lines, 1951)—were scheduled to make their maiden voyages in 1948 in the same order as their prewar predecessors. But late deliveries from the shipbuilding yard, technical glitches, and labor unrest combined to delay their announced Tuesday sailing dates. AEL generally docked its ships stern in, rather than bow in (the customary practice for most other lines). Stern-in docking made it easier and faster to undock: a ship could slide straight out into the harbor without having to back up and turn around (Alcorn, 2007). On Friday, September 24—only two days late—with 101 passengers Excalibur, the first of the Aces, left Pier F, Jersey City.That part of the Jersey shore is included in the huge area known collectively as the Port of New York. The Four Aces Take to the Seas Snooty Manhattanites joked that the only reason they would ever set foot in New Jersey was to board one of the Four Aces. The company provided a free shuttle coach for passengers and their light hand luggage via the Holland Tunnel to and from a waiting room at the ritzy Hotel McAlpin on Broadway and Thirty-third Street, between Penn Station and the Empire State Building. This arrangement allowed out-of-towners to arrive early so they could see some of the sights of the Big Apple from the top of what was then the world’s tallest building or from the open seating on a double-decker bus along Fifth Avenue. Passengers would have already sent heavy luggage, trunks, and automobiles to the ship; most staterooms could accommodate one trunk,and each passenger was allotted another twenty-five cubic feet for baggage in a centralized area down a deck or two. On its way back,the ship cleared customs in Boston with 116 passengers (19 disembarked there) and returned to the Port of New York pier on November 9 with 97 passengers. Passengers could disembark at either Boston or New York—whichever was more convenient to get them to their final destination—at C h a p t e r 5 The New Four Aces Th e N e w F o u r A c e s 83 curvaceous overhanging counter stern, Excambion...

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