SS United States

[Eagle Kammback]

My favorite ship, if I had the money, and the time, I would do whatever I could to save her, I remember seeing her the first time I went to Philadelphia when I was a kid, and I had always loved stuff like the Titanic, and this ship just spoke to me. 98% of her hull is still intact too. I just figured some of you would appreciate this video

[Barry Donovan]

I remember your past posts..
I still cannot believe why this is not given anything needed by the gov't.


comparing to a 707 is ridiculous. A 707 never carried 14000 people at the same time.

it must be that diesel versus ricer plague upon that giant. Real shame.

[pdub]

That's a fantastic video, thanks Eagle for posting it. I watched every bit of it, amazing.

I'd even think about donating, buying a few square inches of it if I thought it would do any good. But some things are just outdated, just like I am. But what a great storyline. I didn't even know about that ship until I watched that video. Never heard about it before. Amazing. If a few hundred thousand tons of steel could talk...what stories that ship could tell.

[DanStokes]

I watch Sunday Morning every week - sort of my "church". It's what TV ought to be. So I saw the article when it was aired. Great that you posted it here. She's a great ship and I hope they can find a way to save her, like the Queen Mary.

Dan

[Scott Liggett]

Doesn't she still hold the "official" record for an Atlantic crossing from around 1952? I seem to remember Richard Brandt trying to beat it with nutty off shore boats. Not sure if he beat the record. I know he failed twice.

I say official because who knows what the Navy has down. They usually don't brag about such things. I'm pretty sure any one of our nuked carriers could beat the time.

[DanStokes]

She turned in a pretty good timeslip IIRC. For some reason I'm seeing Tory on Mythbusters water skiing behind an ocean liner......

Dan

[tiresmoke!]

WAAAAY too much history and nationalpride in that old tub to just let it go to some scrappers in India/China to be turned into soup cans.

I certainly hope she doesn't suffer the same fate as her sister ship "America"....I'd certainly go to Philly with the family to spend a few nights aboard a restored/converted S.S. United States. Her current condition is a bit of a metaphor for us all....weathered, beaten up a bit...but still standing.

[BangShift McT]

S.S. United States holds the Blue Riband for fastest eastbound and westbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean.

Eastbound: 4 July 1952, avg. speed 35.59 kt/N (40.96 mph)

Westbound: 15 July 1952, avg. speed 34.51 kt/N (39.71mph)

[Scott Liggett]

It wouldn't be the only ship that has come to that fate.

The carrier USS Hornet came very close to being scrapped. A retired admiral, who captained the Hornet, found out it had been sold for $975,000. He did some checking and found out the Navy didn't take enough bids on it. He got someone in gov't to force the Navy to buy it back. He also was able to get an Historical Landmark, or some such, on it so the Navy couldn't sell it. It's now a museum in Alameda, the old Navy yard.

[Eagle Kammback]

Another ship that is possibly nearing the same fate, the USS Olympia,


Unfortunately, even the SS United States has more of a chance than her, even though she is a museum ship