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Originally regular naval vessels were used to carry troops overseas, typically in an ad hoc fashion. During the Napoleonic Wars, the French built a fleet of 2,000 special-purpose barges as part of a plan to invade Britain, but these were never used. In the 20th century, navies began to charter civilian ocean liners, painting them gray and giving them minimal armament; their speed, originally intended to minimize travel time, was valuable for outrunning submarines. Navies also built dedicated transports of lesser performance, protecting them by operating them in convoys.

The RMS Queen Mary and the RMS Queen Elizabeth were two of the most famous converted liners of World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough. When they were fully optimized, each of them could carry well over 10,000 troops per trip. In the era of the Cold WarThe Cold War (c. 1945- 1991) was the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between groups of nations practicing different ideologies and political systems. On one side was the Soviet Union and its allies, often referred to as the E the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in designed the SS United StatesCareer Keel Laid: February 8 1950 Launched: June 23 1951 Sea Trials:May/June 1952 Maiden Voyage: July 3 1952 Fate:Laid up General Characteristics Tonnage:53,329 gross tons Length:990 ft (301. 8 m) Beam:101 ft (31 m) Height:175 ft (53 m) Service Speed:35 k so that it could easily be converted from a liner to a troopship, in case of war. More recently, RMS Queen Elizabeth 2The Queen Elizabeth 2 often called "the QE2 " was the flagship of the Cunard Line from 1969 until she was succeeded by RMS Queen Mary 2 in 2004. The QE2 was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the Queen Mary 2, and was the carried 3000 troops to the Falklands WarThe Falklands War or the Malvinas War ( Spanish: Guerra de las Malvinas , was an armed conflict between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas between March and June 1982. Though surprised by an Argentine attac.

By the end of the century, nearly all long-distance transfers of soldiers were being done by air.