This episode opens with the QEII leaving New York on her 999th voyage. The close of WWI saw many of the great liners lost as casualties, such as the Lusitania and the Britannic. With blame for the war laid at Germany's feet, her fleet was seized as reparations for the victors. The peacetime also saw an end to immigration with newly enacted quotas in the United States, forcing ship owners to woo the new rising middle class with cheaper fares and modified accommodations (formerly 3rd class, now "Tourist" class). Yet, even with the advent of the Great Depression, some of the most beloved liners of the Art Deco and Modern Age came into existence, like the Normandie and the Queen Mary.