The SS Andrea Doria was an Italian luxury ocean liner, the pride of postwar Italy, known for its glamour, design, and speed, but infamous for her tragic sinking on July 25, 1956, after a collision with the MS Stockholm, leading to one of history's most dramatic sea rescues.

SS Normandie was a French ocean liner built in Saint-Nazaire, France, for the French Line Compagnie Générale Transatlantique. She entered service in 1935 as the largest and fastest passenger ship afloat, crossing the Atlantic in a record 4.14 days.