Transmission 27: Jim Winchell
I sailed to Southampton on the Big U in 1963 three days after the then Hapag-Lloyd ship “Bremen” did, and in a day and a half, we were passing her at sea. The captains of each ship thoroughly enjoyed the moment. You could truly feel her immense speed under your feet – she was the epitome of the nation at that time, our very best at peace.My dad, William A. Winchell, was assigned Port Authority officer for the U.S. Army in Southampton. After two years, he returned to the United States while coordinating Army personnel disembarking from the Big U.Someone at U.S. Lines gave him a rare metal model of the ship on a green jade base with her name engraved as a present acknowledging his successful participation. At some point the model, as well as his photos of the ship and the menus he saved, will come to me. I’ll be happy if they can find a place aboard her…-- Jim Winchell, who sailed from New York to Southampton in 1963, and from Southampton to New York in 1965.