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The 'SS United States.
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For those who don’t remember , the SS United States was the proud flagship of American passenger ocean travel in the post-war era. After entering service in 1952, the luxury liner began a career which saw 700 successful Atlantic crossings until 1969. Using the highest maritime technology, still a marvel today, the SS United States crossed the Atlantic a full half-day faster than its most serious competition the Cunard Queen Mary. On her Maiden voyage in 1952 she won the coveted Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, a record which still holds today!
The SS United States was hardly a precursor to modern cruise ships, those top-heavy “love boats” which ply the Caribbean, but a proud and stately Grande Dame of the high seas who moved with grace, manner and speed along with European liners such as the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and the France. She sailed between New York, Le Harve, France and Southampton in Britain.
Since 1996, the United States has been at moored in south Philadelphia. The once opulent ocean liner who carried American Presidents, European royalty, Hollywood movie stars and thousands of ordinary travelers including this writer in the early 1960’s, now rests astride an IKEA parking lot rusting in the rain and sitting as a silent but painful testament to changing times and modes of travel.
“We are trying to get a stay of execution.” Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of the acclaimed American naval architect William Francis Gibbs told me at a recent function sponsored by SS United States Conservancy. The current owner Norwegian Cruise Lines who spends about $750,000 annually to keep the ship in dock, is seeking tenders for scrap. The vultures are gathering. And let’s not forget, the majestic ocean liner France which entered service in 1962. Years later the ship was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Lines, sailed as the SS Norway, was eventually decommissioned, only to meet its fate in an Indian scrap yard.
Amazingly people are responding to the SOS for the SS United States. A recent New York gathering of conservationists, enthusiasts, and maritime historians brought together an overflow crowd. The message was starkly simple, this American icon of the seas must be saved. A poignant documentary film by Mark Perry, “SS United States; Lady in Waiting” underscores the reasons why; history, elegance and of course national pride.
The era of ocean liners now known as cruise ships is not quite over In April 2004, I recall seeing the new Cunard Queen Mary II alongside the Queen Elizabeth II majestically steaming out of New York harbor towards the narrows and the open sea.The booming fog horns, the fireboat whistles and the clanging bells recalled the nostalgic ocean liner age with its thriving passenger traffic and busy ocean terminals.
But back to reality. In the short run, the plans are simply to stop the clock on the ship being sent to the scrap yard. The Conservancy in the meantime must raise at least $1.5 million to purchase the storied steamship. Though the vessel has been stripped of asbestos in Ukraine some years ago, there would have to be a massive retrofitting to convert the United States into a convention center/hotel either in Philadelphia or better on New York’s West side near the old ocean terminals from where she once sailed. As an example, the former Queen Mary, retired in 1967, today is berthed in Long Beach California serving as a hotel and tourist attraction.
Until there’s a clear reprieve from the wreckers, the still proud flagship of United States Lines remains in limbo alongside a south Philadelphia wharf. So let’s sound the SOS for the SS United States, all hands on deck to save an American ocean legend.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for WorldTribune.com.
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