"Final days of the SS United States" Topic

Almost at the end of the line:

link

She looked to be in a terrible state when I saw her 26 years ago. Sad, but nearly all ships go for razorblades in the end. I saw the first ship that did the North West Passage, the ST Manhattan, at Yosu in Korea, waiting for buyers, to be broken up, in 1986 or 87. She would have been worth saving too, and at a far more realistic cost!

I cannot help thinking what a great armed merchant cruiser she would have made in the early days of WWII….

- too fast to torpedo
- faster sustained sea speed than most cruisers
- prodigious range at speed

She could be raiding on one side of the ocean at the beginning of the week, the other side mid-week, and back again at the end of the week.

The Queen Mary is at Long Beach. A beautiful ship. Too bad the United States can't have a similar end on the East Coast. Strange that we can preserve an English ship while letting our own history be lost. Many truely historic ships get broken up and years later we wonder why it was allowed to happen.

"The minimum bid for the ship reportedly dropped from $20 USD million last year to $1.5 USD million."
I heard for that price they'd throw in the whole city of Philadelphia for free.

I had the pleasure of returning from France (Air Force brat) in 1963 on that beautiful ship, first class no less (thank you Uncle Sam). Unfortunately, we sailed through the wake of an Atlantic storm. I had a regular schedule. I could keep busy and distracted until about 1 pm each day, whereupon I would loose my lunch. Oh, but what a lunch. We also landed in New York on December 23rd in the middle of a blizzard. There was no way to get across town to our hotel, so Dad left us (Mom and 5 kids) at the pier and headed out into the blizzard in his uniform. My brother and I took turns guarding all 23 pieces of luggage down by the exit, freezing to death everytime someone opened the door. A half hour later he came back with some unlucky bell boy in tow. He had found a hotel, but it was 'full' until the manager came out. He was Air Force reserve and suddenly we had a suite to ourselves! I still remember Mom and Dad looking over the room service menu to find something they could afford to feed us while we watched some Hercules movie on TV (no TV for 2.5 years in France).

Yes, we'd see her everytime we drove I-95 up to Mom's
in N. Philly.

Seems she'd be a natural fit with the other historic ships
at Penn's Landing, just up the river a mile or so, but
I suppose it's not meant to be.

I remember when she was parked in Norfolk at the commercial piers in the late 70s early 80s till Reagen ordered her reactivated.

Great story Streitax. I live just outside Philly and there are a lot of historic ships docked at Penn's Landing including Admiral Dewey's flagship from the Spanish American war and the USS New Jersey from WWII, both of which are available for tours.

I saw her in the distance while visiting the USS New Jersey in November last year. It's a pity to hear yet another historic ship disappearing …

Not too surprising really. NCL did the same thing to the France/Norway after saying time and again that she would be repaired and returned to service after the boiler explosion. Part of the agreement that formed NCL America (if I remember correctly) was that they would have American flag ships and crews, and would bring the SS US back into service. That lasted just long enough for the tax breaks to expire.

Just another reason never to give any business to NCL or its sister companies.
BWW

The fact that she's been gutted rather precludes preservation.
Could I point out that, if anything, RMS Queen Mary is Scottis, as she was built at John Brown's yard on the Clyde. She was otherwise British, owned and operated by Cunard. Not English though…..
Why is it thay passenger ships are always thought to be andidates for preservation, whereas the ships that were typical of their time, hence truly historic, have been allowed to go for scrap without anybody even looking up.

A couple of buddies and I spent a few hours walking around the USS BONHOMME RICHARD about two weeks before she was scrapped out. The last three war carrier. Sad.
Count NAtokina.

Well an idea would be for HMGS to buy it and convert it into a floating Convention site….

I mean…from what it sounds like, and some of the descriptions of The Host that I have read about, they sound about the same….

My grandfather was a chef on the United States. When I was a small boy he took me on a tour while she was tied up at a Hudson River dock.

Hmmm…I'm wondering…could we put a flight deck on her?

It's been done before…..

Such a shame to let this bit of floating history go to the scrappers. Maybe there'll be a chance to save her.

I sailed on her in the 60's to England. The Mid atlantic BEFORE stabilizers.