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The 'SS ''United States''' (also known as "The Big U") is an ocean liner built in 1952 for the United States Lines. At 53,329 gross tons, she is the largest ocean liner to date built entirely in the United States and is still the fastest liner ever built. In 1952, on her maiden voyage as the new flagship of the United States Lines, the ''United States'' captured the Blue Riband with the fastest transatlantic crossing on record. The entry of the ''United States'' marked the first time a U.S.-flagged ship held the Blue Riband, surpassing European speed records which had stood for decades. The ''United States'' plied the transatlantic passenger service until 1969, and outlasted the demise of her original owners. The ship is currently docked in Philadelphia until funds are raised for her restoration.

Contents

Construction

Service history

Recent history

In fiction

References

External links

Construction

Inspired by the exemplary service of the British liners ''Queen Mary'' and ''Queen Elizabeth'' which transported hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Europe during World War II, the United States government decided to sponsor construction of a large and very fast merchant vessel capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs, the liner's construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. The U.S. government underwrote $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship's operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, she was designed to be easily converted into a troopship or a hospital ship in the case of war.
She was built from 1950-1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid and her hull was constructed in a graving dock. The ''United States'' was built to exacting Navy specifications, which required that she be heavily compartmentalized and have separate engine rooms to enable her to survive should she be damaged in war.
Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the ''United States'' did not use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fiber to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminum. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood .
The construction of the ship's superstructure involved the largest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time, and presented a special challenge to the builders in joining the aluminum structure to the steel decks below. The significant use of aluminum provided an extreme weight savings. At beam, the ''United States'' was built to Panamax capacity, ensuring that she could clear the Panama Canal locks with just to spare on either side. The ''United States'' featured the most powerful engine installation in a merchant marine vessel and the most powerful in any vessel, civilian or naval, apart from later U.S. supercarriers. She was capable of steaming astern at over and could carry enough fuel and stores to steam non-stop for over .

Service history

Embarking on her maiden voyage on 4 July 1952, the ''United States'' smashed the transatlantic speed record held by the ''Queen Mary'' for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making her maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbor to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of . The liner also broke the westbound crossing record by returning to America in 3 days 12 hours and 12 minutes at an average speed of , thereby obtaining both the eastbound and westbound Blue Ribands. The ''United States'' maintained a crossing speed on the North Atlantic in a service career that lasted 17 years. During her career her Captains were Harry Manning, John Anderson and Leroy J. Alexanderson. She was very popular and proved to be a worthy competitor to the Cunard Line's Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth.
The maximum speed of the ''United States'' was deliberately exaggerated, and kept obscure for many years. An impossible value of was leaked to reporters by engineers after the first speed trial. The actual top speed — — was not revealed until 1977.^[1]

Recent history

While the the ''United States'' was at Newport News for her annual overhaul in 1969, her owners decided to take her out of service and she was laid up at Newport News. A few years later, she was moved to Norfolk. Since then, ownership has been passed between several companies. In 1978 the vessel was sold to private interests who hoped to revitalize the liner in a time share cruise ship format. Financing fell through and the ship was placed up for auction by MARAD. In 1984, the ship's remaining fittings and furniture were sold at auction in Norfolk, Virginia. Some of the furniture now represents a substantial portion of the interior of Windmill Point, a restaurant in Nags Head, NC. (These items include dining room tables and chairs in the main restaurant and the bar and lounge tables and chairs in the upstairs lounge as well as other items.) In 1992, a new consortium of owners bought the vessel and had her towed to Turkey and then Ukraine, where she underwent asbestos removal. No viable agreements were reached in the U.S. for a reworking of the vessel and eventually the ''United States'' was towed to her current dock in South Philadelphia, where she has been moored since 1996. She can be easily viewed from shore and Interstate 95, as the ''United States'' is located directly across Columbus Boulevard from Philadelphia's IKEA store.


In 1999, the SS United States Foundation and the SS United States Conservancy (then known as the SS United States Preservation Society, Inc.) successfully worked to have the ship placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
In 2003, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) purchased the ship with the intent of fully restoring it to a service role in their newly announced American-flagged Hawaiian passenger service. In August 2004 NCL commenced feasibility studies regarding a new build-out of the vessel. In May 2006, Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Star Cruises (which owns NCL) said that the company's next project is "the restoration of the...''United States''."^[2] In May 2007, NCL stated that it had completed an extensive technical review and determined that the ship is in good condition. NCL has cataloged more than 100 boxes of blueprints of the vessel and while this is not a complete set, NCL says the documents will provide useful information to the project team that is seeking to refit the ''United States''.^[3]
While the ''United States'' was the last superliner to hold the Blue Riband, she eventually lost the eastbound transatlantic record in 1990 to ''Hoverspeed Great Britain'', an Incat-built Norwegian-owned wave-piercing catamaran ferry. The ''United States'' still retains the westbound speed record.

In fiction

The fictional novel ''Flood Tide'' by Clive Cussler features the ''United States'' in a major role. The liner was accquired by Qin Shang Maritime Limited, a massive shipping company owned by the villain Qin Shang. It was planned to have her steamed from the Eastern Seaboard to China for her refitting as a "robo-ship." Shang intended to use the ocean liner as a diversionary dam in the Mississippi River, diverting the river's flow to his own shipping port, Sungari.
In the children's television series TUGS, the SS ''Princess Alice'' is based on the ''United States''.

References

1. "How Fast Can It Go?
2. Maritimematters.com
3. Cruising Future Seen For a Rusting South Phila. Hulk John McDevitt

External links

★ Archival film footage of a cruise aboard the SS United States

★ SS United States Conservancy, a non-profit 501(c)3 preservation group

★ SS United States Foundation a Federal 501c3 nonprofit historic preservation site

★ SS United States Google Group

★ ''SS United States'' Yahoo Group

★ SS ''United States'' site