SS United States Could Be Heading for Scrap By End of Month

[IDemo]

Source: Cruise Industry News

The Board of Directors of the SS United States Conservancy released the following statement today announcing that "despite considerable progress toward finding a permanent home and viable redevelopment plan for America’s Flagship, the organization will be forced to sell the historic vessel to a responsible metals recycler by the end of October unless new donors or investors come forward."

The Board is thus embarking on a fundraising push to cover the $60,000 monthly tab to keep the ship tied up in Philadelphia. The $60,000 covers insurance and dock fees.

“After much deliberation and consultation, the SS United States Conservancy’s Board of Directors has decided to retain a broker to explore the potential sale of America’s Flagship, the SS United States to a responsible, U.S.-based metals recycler," said the Board.

“We have achieved an extraordinary amount of progress in support of the SS United States’ potential redevelopment in recent months, including detailed plans, financial models, renderings, and engineering approaches with support from a number of major firms. In so many ways, we’ve never been closer to saving America’s Flagship, but we have also never been closer to losing this irreplaceable piece of our history.



Read more: http://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/13123.html

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Sad to hear she couldn't be saved; I still have memories of crossing the Atlantic as a toddler in the early 60's.

[TygrBright]

1. How very symbolic, considering the level of "United" there is here, now. As in... very little. n/t

[hedda_foil]

2. Interesting metaphor there.

Isn't the once mighty United States itself being sold off as scrap to privatizers, foreigners and thieves?

[Orrex]

3. Can I get a show of hands?

Everyone who never heard of this thing before 45 seconds ago, check in here.

[SeattleVet]

5. Heard of it, and built a model of it when I was a kid.

This ship still holds a transatlantic speed record. It was unique in the way it was constructed - no wood used anywhere (well, there *is* a butcher block in the galley), to keep the fire dangers low. Built for quick conversion from cruise ship to troop carrier. Unprecedented use of aluminum in the construction.

It would be a shame to lose this historical ship to the scrappers, but unless a major benefactor steps forward with a viable plan it looks like this may be the end.

[awoke_in_2003]

16. I've heard of it. nt

[shraby]

4. By the looks of the ship, basic maintenance hasn't been done, i.e. painting and

rust removal.

[Sunlei]

6. Held 15,000 troops & refitted as a luxury liner? This sure would house a lot of families,

if it could be moved by sea and dry docked at some coastal area. It was built to last, all it needs is some paint.

To minimize the risk of fire, the designers of United States used no wood in the ship's framing, accessories, decorations, or interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal, and spun glass fiber to ensure compliance with fireproofing guidelines set by the US Navy. Specially commissioned artwork included pieces by fourteen artists, including Nathaniel Choate and Gwen Lux. Although the galley did feature a butcher block, the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were aluminum. The ballroom's grand piano was of a rare, fire-resistant wood species—although originally specified in aluminum—and accepted only after a demonstration in which gasoline was poured upon the wood and ignited, without the wood itself igniting.[14]

The construction of the ship's superstructure involved the greatest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time, and posed a Galvanic corrosion challenge to the builders in joining the aluminum structure to the steel decks below. The extensive use of aluminum provided significant weight savings.[15]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States

[PufPuf23]

7. Friends of the S.S. United States Send Out a Last S.O.S.

Another article from the NY Times.

A Titanic-sized supership that once ferried presidents, Hollywood royalty, actual royalty and even the Mona Lisa has a place in the history books as the fastest oceanliner in the world. The owners are now racing to avoid having the ship, the S.S. United States, relegated to the junk heap.

A preservationist group, the S.S. United States Conservancy, saved the vessel from being scrapped a few years ago. Its members are working with a developer to give the mothballed vessel a new life as a stationary waterfront real-estate development in New York City, the ship’s home port in her heyday.

Their big dreams, however, now face a financial crisis: Short of money, the conservancy in recent days formally authorized a ship broker to explore the potential sale to a recycler. In other words, the preservationists might have to scrap their vessel.

It came down to hard numbers. The preservationists have struggled for years to raise the $60,000 a month it costs to dock and maintain the ship, known as the Big U, which is longer than three football fields and once sailed the Atlantic with three orchestras on board. A developer only recently started shaping plans to fill the ship with tenants, an undertaking of the kind that can stretch for years even when it is not this unusual.


More and pictures at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/business/friends-of-the-ss-united-states-send-out-a-last-sos.html?partner=msft_msn&_r=0

[LeftinOH]

8. Lots of people have heard of the SS United States - it's all we have

left - the only American passenger ship that still exists.

[cpompilo]

9. My family & I crossed to Le Havre, France in December of 1964, outrunning a 100 year North Atlantic

storm & setting a speed record in the process ( a record that would be broken later by the Normandy). The captain retracted the ship's stabilizers to keep ahead of the storm making for a rather rough ride! So sad to see its current condition. More memories to the scrap heap, I guess.

[IDemo]

10. We made the reverse trip the year before

I was quite young and don't have many memories of it; slate gray seas and skies, and coming into New York harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty in the late afternoon.

[cpompilo]

11. Sweet sight that! And it was a beautiful ship.

[NuclearDem]

12. And political cartoonists across the country just lost their damn minds

"Ho boy, this is sure symbolic! Just like our country going downhill! Snarf I'm clever!"

[onehandle]

13. Crap. Just down the street from us. When we go to Ikea, we get a snack in their restaurant...

...and watch it rusting through the windows.

There's even a plaque in the Ikea restaurant commemorating it.

Ikea should buy it and fix it up.

[snooper2]

14. what is a responsible metals recycler?

Somebody who gives the steel a little rub and a sorry before firing up the cutting torch?

[dembotoz]

15. how bout we make it seaworthy and use it to move refugees accross the meditarainian

has to be better than rubber boats

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

17. I rode on that as a kid, Southampton to NY

with a short layover in France. 1962.

As a teenager, I had little appreciation of the ship. The ocean was endless swells of dark gray water, it was cold (in summer). I remember the icebergs, they were interesting.

I guess we won't need to transport huge quantities of soldiers by sea. At least I hope not.

Adieu, SS U.S.

[IDemo]

18. World traveler IDemo, circa ~1963

Looking much better in those days:



Perched precariously with Sis' and Mom



Dad and a windy day on deck



Bunking down with Teddy and a comic



Unforgettable way to end the voyage

[petronius]

19. Sad. I'm hearing this song now...