Pride of America

MS Pride of America is a cruise ship operated by NCL America, a division of Norwegian Cruise Lines, to sail itineraries in the Hawaiian Islands. Construction of the ship began in 2000 in the United States as part of a plan for a U.S.-built and U.S.-flagged cruise ship under Project America, but the project failed and she was eventually purchased by Norwegian Cruise Lines and completed in Germany. She was inaugurated in 2005, and was the first new U.S. flagged, U.S.-built (aside from the outfitting) deep water passenger ship in nearly fifty years since the SS Argentina of 1958.

For much of her early build history, Pride of America was known as Project America 1; the first of a pair of 70,000-gross ton cruise ships to be built with heavy federal subsidies. Project America was intended as a means of improving the competitiveness of U.S. shipyards in constructing merchant ships, as well as creating the first U.S.-registered passenger ships of any real size in decades.

The ship was intended to primarily operate in the Hawaiian islands under the revived name of United States Line, and replace the temporary MS Patriot and American Hawaii Cruises aging SS Independence, both American Classic Voyages subsidiary brands. A letter of intent was signed on October 6, 1998, with Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi to construct two passenger ships for Hawaii inter-island service with options to build up to four additional vessels. The keel was laid down for Project America 1 at the Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard in October 2000. The ship was to feature a four-deck-high atrium, a 1,060-seat dining room, an 840-seat theater, a 590-seat cabaret lounge, and a "uniquely Hawaiian" outdoor performance stage, with interiors by designer John McNeece and his company.

The Project America program collapsed in 2001. American Classic Voyages, the parent company, filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. Work on the ship would be suspended on October 25, 2001, after the United States Maritime Administration decided to cease all funding for the vessels' construction, leaving the shipyard no choice but to stop production. The ship was 40 percent complete, and 55 percent erected, with 91 percent of the material having already been purchased.

In August 2002, Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd acquired the 40 percent completed hull, along with all the materials and equipment for the Project America vessels. The hull was towed from Litton-Ingalls Shipbuilding to the Lloyd Werft Shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany for completion as Pride of America for their newly launched NCL America division. In the process, the ship was lengthened from 850 feet (260 m) to 920 feet (280 m), increasing the gross tonnage from 72,000 to more than 80,000.

Under NCL America, the ship was initially slated for completion in 2004, but the delivery date was pushed back to 2005 after a major storm hit the Lloyd Werft shipyard in January 2004 that caused considerable damage to the vessel causing her to sink at her berth. Damage assessments reveal that the ship had suffered no damage to the hull, although extensive work was required to repair and replace equipment and interior fixtures, which were submerged for more than a month. The delay caused Norwegian Cruise Line to reshuffle its fleet, and move the Norwegian Sky to the NCL America brand, renaming it Pride of Aloha, and takeover the Pride of America's original 2004 itineraries.

Pride of America was repaired, and completed sea trials in May 2005. In June 2005, it left Lloyd Werft Shipyard in Germany, passing the retiring fleet mate SS Norway (which had been used to house workers for Pride of America) and sailed for New York City for its christening.

The ship was christened at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal on June 17, 2005 by then-United States Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao who released the traditional bottle against the ship's hull. The naming ceremony was significant as the first new U.S.-flagged cruise ship in nearly fifty years, and would fly the American flag donated from the U.S. Capitol Building on its inaugural voyage.