Notable

ss United States

... now moored in Philadelphia

The United States embarked on her maiden voyage on 3 July 1952, leaving New York bound for Le Havre and Southampton. Following an extensive build up in the press and news media, the ship's inaugural voyage was sold-out well in advance.

The ss United States would live up to the expectations of it's owners and the nation when she steamed the 2,942 nautical miles from Ambrose Lightship to Bishop Rock in 3 days 10 hours 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots and, to this day, still holds the world transatlantic speed record. Homebound, she made the crossing in 3 days, 12 hours 12 minutes at an average speed of 34.51 knots and so captured the revered 'Blue Riband' from the Queen Mary. America had proven its superiority once again and reigned supreme as speed champion of the North Atlantic.

Statistics:

Gross Tonnage 53,329
Length Overall 990 feet
Width 101.6 feet
Draft 31 feet
Machinery Steam turbines geared to quadruple screw - 241,000 hp engines has a power-to-weight ratio that has never been equaled
Speed 35 knots (maximum 38.23)
Capacity 913 First-Class cabins, 558 Cabin-class cabins, 537 Tourist-class cabins

She could steam 10,000 miles without stopping for fuel or supplies

Built Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Virginia, 1952 - the largest passenger vessel ever built in the United States.

The ss United States was constructed so that in just one day, she could be converted into a troop transporter capable of carrying over 15,000 troops. She could outrun anything afloat and steam non-stop anywhere in the world in less than 10 days. Although she was briefly on stand-by during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, she was never called to troop-ship duty.

Throughout her brief 17-year career, 1952-1969, the United States held a near perfect schedule and never experienced an engineering failure.

Toward the end of the sixties, faster jet-flights across the Atlantic finally took its toll on trans-Atlantic superliners when, all too frequently, the ship's 1000-plus crew often outnumbered paying passengers. In November 1969, faced with on-going union troubles and declining profits, the United States was sent to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia for her annual overhaul. As fate would have it, her boilers were never fired again, and she remained docked in Norfolk, Virginia with little hope of revival.

As a footnote, it is now known that the ss United States achieved speeds exceeding 44 knots (50mph).

ss United States Foundation.

Photo Gallery of celebrities who sailed on the ss United States'

Marlon Brando and Salvador Dali

James Cagney

Gary Cooper

Walt Disney

Duke Ellington

Judy Garland with husband/producer Sidney Luft on her right.

Cary Grant

Mahalia Jackson

Nelsons, L-R: David, Ricky, Harriet, Ozzie

President Harry Truman

John Wayne

Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly

Joan Crawford

Duke and Duchess of Windsor

Bob Hope and Alfred Hitchcock

The Pentagon, which was largely responsible for her construction, was, ironically, also largely responsible for her demise. Because of the ship's highly secret design specifications, one of the stipulations stressed by the government was that the ship could never be sold to foreign interests.

In the late 1970's Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Lines was looking for a large vessel that they could convert for cruise service. After being turned down by the Maritime Administration to purchase the ss United States, the company purchased the idled superliner ss France from the French government, rechristened ss Norway, and returned her to service as the world's longest cruise ship.

In 1973 the Maritime Administration installed an extensive dehumidification system throughout the United States, leaving it virtually airtight. The system held up remarkably well when an unfaded copy of the New York Times from November 1969 was found in a lounge, ten years later. It was evident at this point that the government had no future plans for the United States. Once the proud flagship of a nation, the Maritime Administration now saw the SS United States as a liability on their balance sheet.

In 1978, the Maritime Administration accepted a bid of $5 million from Seattle-based United States Cruises Inc. who planned to return the ship to service as the world's first condominium-style cruise ship.

The ship's new owner, Richard H. Hadley, planned to finance the $150 million refit by selling cabins on a time-share basis. Brochures were printed, press releases issued and even contracts with shipyards signed, but nothing ever came to pass. Unable to pay the mounting dockage fees, in February 1992, United States Cruises Inc. was forced into bankruptcy. U.S Mar-shoals seized the ship and filed a court motion to sell her at auction.

The ship's fate was sealed. After a failed attempt at returning her to service, the ss United States, it seemed, would wind up at the ship breakers somewhere in the far east.

A stay of execution was granted when Fred Mayer of Marmara Marine Inc., purchased the ship at auction for $2.6 million.

Mayer, chairman of Commodore Cruise Lines, emigrated to the United States in the mid-60's aboard the ss United States. He and his partners, one of whom was a wealthy shipyard owner in Istanbul, Turkey, negotiated a plan with Cunard who would operate her as a running mate to the Queen Elizabeth 2. The ship would sail between New York and Southampton in the summer months while the winter months would be spent cruising the tropics. In June 1992, the ship departed U.S. waters in tow, for Istanbul, Turkey, where. once financing was secured, workers would restore the ship to her former glory.

Originally designed as a fireproof ship, asbestos was used extensively in the ss United States' interior construction. An asbestos compound called Marinite was used in favor of plywood. The ship was loaded with it and if she were to sail in the 90's, the compound would have to be removed completely.

Workmen began the arduous process of stripping the ship's interior right down to her metal bulkheads. As was the case ten years earlier, attempts to secure government assistance for the project proved unsuccessful.

Faced with corporate restructuring, Cunard was no longer interested in operating another ship, especially one the size of the ss United States. It was thought that she would never see U.S. waters again, but in July 1996 the ss United States returned to her homeland, this time to Philadelphia, where the dormant Navy yard would reopen with the task of restoring the superliner to it's long lost former glory.

As before, financing for the enormous project failed to materialize, and the ss United States now remains idle, awaiting the final chapter of her story.

Mike Alfano, ss United States Foundation

ss United States in her hey-day