Aloha

Hundreds of Hawaiians lined Honolulu’s Waikiki Beach one day last week to say goodbye to the famed old liner Mat-sonia. As the ship passed, on her last voyage to the mainland, a few sentimental spectators wept. One of Hawaii’s most popular links with the mainland, she was headed for San Francisco and the auction block. In her place this week was a younger (1932) Matson ship, the 18,163-ton Lurline, making her first commercial postwar trip to the Islands.

The 22-knot Lurline, also a troopship during the war, had been stripped and rebuilt from the hull up. Manhattan’s Raymond Loewy Associates had designed lanai (porch) suites with private sundecks and air-conditioned cabins that were combination living and bedrooms. First-class fare: $150, up to $850 for the lanai suites.

To refurbish the Lurline, Matson Navigation Co. had laid out close to $19,500,000, more than twice the ship’s original cost. The heavy expense forced Matson to shelve plans for rebuilding her two sister ships, the Mariposa and the Monterey. Even the Lurline was a gamble as competition from the airlines (Pan American and United Air Lines) has cut deeply into Matson’s business.