News To Me re: SS United States

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rp2813

rp2813

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I couldn't find the previous thread(s) about this ship so I started a new one.  I chose Super so all members can view it.

 

I was just now watching What's My Line on Buzzr and the contestant was the captain of the SS United States, so I decided to google the latest news.

 

It's looking good.  It may be sailing again as soon as 2018.

 

eeeeeeeeeew.jpg


 

 

[this post was last edited: 8/31/2016-01:20]

http://www.theyachtmarket.com/articles/general/ss_united_states_could_sail_again_as_early_as_2018/
 
Thanks Greg.  I guess I should have looked a little further.

 

I'm not surprised Crystal backed out.
 
Maybe Crystal should consider restoring the ship enough to use it as a stationary attraction/museum.Bet that would be less expensive than trying to repower her to use her as a seagoing ship.The SS United States is a beautiful ship instead of the barge like things being called "cruise ships" today.And they are trying to stuff too many riders on them.This would make for a trip that would be "unfun"!
 
Turning it into an attraction that stays docked is a great idea. If you've ever taken the tour of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif. you'll appreciate the idea too. The Queen Mary is such a beautiful piece of maritime history. Not quite a plush as I may have expected, at least the cabins. But then people didn't have the same expectations.

It's a shame that it can't be restored for transoceanic cruises again. I agree that these new cruise ships look out of proportion, like a good storm and its the Posiden Adventure all over again. I and my husband have zero interest in a cruise on one of these new ships. But one of the old ocean liners, that sounds like it would be a once in a lifetime experience.
Eddie
 
Crystal Cruises Found Out Nothing New Really

It just is not cost effective to restore the S.S. United States to seaworthy condition. For the vast sums involved you could build another or perhaps even two entirely new ships. Several other cruise lines have proposed and or even looked at the ship and came away with the same conclusions. In fact the S.S. United States has been towed back and forth across the Atlantic several times in aid of such a refitting, and always the deal falls through.

There is nothing left of the old girl except what you see; a vast husk slowing going to rot and ruin. Her propellers, engines, power plant and really everything else were stripped out of her years ago.

Had she been laid up like the Queen Mary years ago and kept with much of her old fittings including power plant things *might* be different. Even then finding a capable trained crew for a steam powered ship might prove nearly impossible. In the absence of such there are great risks including explosions (which has happened).

Even *IF* the wildest dreams of her supporters came true and the S.S. United States were restored what then? She was built not as cruise ship but transatlantic ocean liner. This means a ship built for speedy crossings across the Atlantic while also capable of withstanding the sometimes rough seas that route is known for.

While there is *some* demand for passenger ship travel between Europe and the USA, it is nowhere near what it was prior to 1960's and certainly before WWII. Cheap and fast airline seats have taken over that market. Even the latest Queen Elizabeth liner is built as a hybrid for ocean crossing and cruise ship. IIRC she makes the former during calmer weather months, then in winter does cruises.

Changing her power plant, propulsion system, and replacing her aluminum superstructure would all likely mean a much slower S.S. United States. Diesel is also not a 100% reliable source of power, witness all those reports of modern cruise ships stuck without power. [this post was last edited: 8/31/2016-18:53]
 
As with the once great railroads of the USA

Ocean liners made their money from freight/cargo/shipping including mail. The great companies like Cunard also made vast sums from carrying "steerage" passengers from Europe to North America and other places. Even late as post war period right through the 1960's for both travel and emigration purposes people came from Europe and elsewhere to the USA via ship. Just look at how full the Andrea Doria was and with what types of passengers when she was hit.

Happily for many of us this moving house by ship meant many persons brought all sorts of things to the USA including large appliances. Today with nearly everything going by air shipping large and or heavy objects is *VERY* expensive. Most only do it now if someone else is picking up the tab (military, company, diplomatic corps, etc..).

The arrival of jet air travel and as airliners built up a safety record killed transatlantic ocean liner travel at least far as passengers, mail and some cargo was concerned. One of the largest airlines in the world is owned by UPS whose planes fly all over the world with nothing but freight cargo.

Cunard kept things going for awhile with the QEII and other ships that stuck to the ocean liner class, today the newest ships are all of the Vista cruise ship class. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vista-class_cruise_ship

An new ship built along the ocean liner lines of the past probably would not generate enough traffic after the novelty wore off to pay bills. I mean if there was a new "S.S. United States" during the Downton Abbey craze it might have resulted in good bookings. Sadly otherwise think the market for scheduled transatlantic crossings is just to small for anyone to bother with.

If such a ship ran on schedule and kept to it, then perhaps it could win some freight business which would support passenger service.
 
Well...

There is always Queen Mary 2 which is the only purpose built transatlantic liner left in service today. She traverses the North Atlantic from April through December in the busy "summer" season, then sets out on her Round-the-World cruise in January and that generally lasts well into March or early April. In between her crossings there are cruises to Northern Europe, the Med, Caribbean, Canada/New England, etc. Cunard's other two ships, the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth are as Laundress pointed out, modified Vista class cruise ships which make an annual crossing in January as part of their respective world voyages.

http://https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnUfwa6SPlg
 
Old girl was great in her day....

But think unless plans are found soon for a dedicated purpose it is time to let her go to a decent burial at sea.

http://www.ss-united-states.net/SSUnitedStatesWebpageFiles/WebPages/PagesGoldenYears.htm

http://www.beyondships2.com/ss-united-states-story.html

Thing is as noted above new regulations and so forth mean mostly everything that made the S.S. United States great cannot be rebuilt nor recreated by refurbishment.

Her lightweight was due to aluminum superstructure which now is not allowed IIRC. Have already spoken about her power plant (steam). In the post war years you still had plenty of merchant marine, Navy and others who knew about steam powered ships including boiler operations. The US Navy long since went to diesel then nuclear. Other ships around the world also slowly went to diesel. The S.S. United States drank fuel when she was going at speed, in fact to conserve was one of the reasons speed was reduced and time for crossings lengthened.

This is sad in away because if you could run scheduled transatlantic service that was "fast" (the S.S. United States could do it in three days and ten hours), you *might* attract more passengers.

All that being said not sure how many today totally unused to either used transatlantic crossings period, or only on modern ships would like the "Big-U" if restored to original. The girl had a tendency to roll, and boy did she, especially in bad weather.

For those who have never experienced being on a large ship as she rolls and pitches; this clip from Brideshead Revisited pretty much sums it up. If you aren't a good "sailor" or even those whom are it can cause some nasty sea sickness.

 
Page one of second link

"Construction of the ship began on February 8, 1950 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock yard in Virginia. On June 23, 1951, the ship was launched, not by the traditional method of sliding down a slipway but rather by flooding the drydock where she was being constructed. This was a first for a passenger ship and has become the way almost all passenger ships are launched today.

At this ceremony, the ship was also officially named “SS United States.”

Sea trails were held in May and June 1952. During those tests the United States was able to do a top speed of over 38 knots (44 mph). She was also able to do 20 knots in reverse, which is better than some cruise ships can do going forward.

On June 22, 1952, the SS United States was handed over to the United States Lines."
 
"restoring the ship enough to use it as a stationary attraction/museum."

That may have worked if it was done before the first private owner got to the S.S. United States. But now am afraid even that would cost far too much for what it would bring in revenue.

When Richard Hadley got his mitts on the "Big U" the girl was still in remarkably good condition. Having been laid up basically hermetically sealed with dehumidifiers running the interiors were in good shape, as were the fittings, power plant, etc....

Sadly as would happen time and again afterwards Mr. Hadley's big plans (for a type of cruise ship), fell apart and in order to defray the costs of keeping the ship in dry dock he held one vast sale. In short order almost everything that could be stripped out of the S.S. United States was taken and sold off. Linens, fittings, china, silverware, equipment, even the ship's whistles and horns, all gone. The ship would suffer further stripping (or looting if you will) when she was sent abroad for asbestos removal and payment didn't arrive in a timely manner. So the company doing that work took what bits it could as payment.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/15/us/richard-hadley-80-planned-floating-condos-for-ocean-liner.html

http://maritimematters.com/2013/02/...turkish-years-1992-1996-what-might-have-been/

As stated previously anyone who knows anything about the S.S. United States and her current condition pretty much all agree it is time to let the old girl go. After the Hadley fiasco and subsequent insults the Big U is like a floating vampire; only the shell of what it once was remains; meanwhile her soul (what was inside) has departed this earth.
 
Seeing her from the waterfront street is pretty spooky - I should scan my photos and post them at some point.

I'm glad I had a non-flying mother and we sailed on the last Stefan Batory and QE2. But not with this lovely lady, her husband, sister and brother in law....

davey7++9-2-2016-14-59-10.jpg
 
This is a sad story

One of the things I remember about the ship was that she was built to be as fireproof as possible. Most of the fabrics like draperies and bedspreads were made of fiberglass which is fireproof. I remember ads for this ship in National Geographic and similar serials.
 
I would hate to sleep with a fiberglass bedspread!The Itchy and scratchy show!Hope the best for the ship--hope she doesn't end up at the shipbreaker!At least turn her into a stationary attraction-better than the scrappile!
 
Watched the little video-VERY GOOD-those folks were enjoying their trip-but--what happened to the loser in that turtle race--turtle soup?Loved the music in this video-normally when music is played during videos-turn the sound down-this one was so enjoyable!!Again a big wish this ship could sail again-but doesn't seem likely at all.Remember seeing an abandoned video about this boat on YouTube where an urban explorer was given permission to film his tour aboard the ship while it was parked in Philadelphia.Was kinda sad-the boat was stripped-just a hulk of her former self.
 
Rather sad, but better than many, endings for a storied career.

I came across a discussion somewhere, can't remember where, about how the interiors were a lot less interesting, and in fact, somewhat cold, due to the emphasis on fire safety, which harmed the ship somewhat in it's career.
 
"...can't remember where, about how the interiors were a lot less interesting, and in fact, somewhat cold, due to the emphasis on fire safety, which harmed the ship somewhat in it's career."

True, true...

SS United States was primiarly built to carry troops (it was only way US government was going to pony up money towards cost of building), and post WWII there was huge worry about fire breaking out such as if SS United States were attacked.

Also fresh on some minds was fire that gutted SS Normandie in NYC harbor.

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



Result was nearly everything possibly flammable was banned when building and fitting out the SS United States. Compared to French, Italian and British ocean liners of time SS United States interiors were cold, sterile and very utilitarian.

Above may not have mattered to some or many as SS United States was built to be a speed merchant. She goes to her watery grave still holding Blue Riband as no ocean liner or ship after has broken her speed records.


Only wood allowed on SS United States was a piano and butcher block, nothing else.
[this post was last edited: 2/23/2025-11:21]
 
It sounded like the president of United States Line was extremely concerned about fire safety in and above/beyond general requirements for flammability that the Navy was requiring. I gather that the USS America was a more characterful and charming running mate.
 

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