Fastest Atlantic liner crossing (Hales Trophy holder)

What to remember

In July 1952, the liner SS United States crossed the Atlantic in 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes. It stands as the fastest crossing by an Atlantic liner, the mark tied to the Hales Trophy.

A transatlantic crossing is the passage of people or cargo across the ocean between Europe or Africa and the Americas. Most passenger traffic has used the North Atlantic, between Western Europe and North America.

The route has deep roots: long after the occasional Viking trips to Markland, the Spanish West Indies fleets opened a regular trade link across it in 1566, in the wake of Christopher Columbus's voyages. In 1952 the United States reduced that ocean passage to a matter of days and hours.