At 17 stories tall and four city blocks long the SS United States could hit 44 knots – 14 knots faster than today’s largest cruise ship. She now sits at a Philadelphia pier with an uncertain future. There was a bid by Norwegian Cruise Lines to restore the United States, but that fell through. It seems that this ol’ girl is destined to be cut up for scrap unless the SOS conservancy can make something happen.
I saw this story in Sea History, a quality quarterly magazine produced by The National Maritime Historical Society. The article says that after recent tests, the ship’s hull strength is 92% of original condition from when she was built in 1950. The building of the SS United States was a joint partnership between the U.S. government and United States Lines as a passenger ship built to Navy specifications so that she could easily be converted to a troop transport ship. Technically, I guess she belongs to all of us. Hopefully the story will have a happy ending.
Another good article on the SS United States in Popular Mechanics .
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