[Maritime] SS United States: The Final Call? Scrap?

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:40 am

http://ssunitedstatesconservancy.org/SS ... scrapping/

Quote:

March 2, 2010 – The SS United States Conservancy has recently learned that America’s national flagship, the SS United States, is in imminent danger of being bought by scrappers. This great vessel, which still holds the trans-Atlantic speed record, may soon be destroyed. Bids for purchase of the ship by scrappers are being collected by NCL this month.

The current owners of the vessel, Genting Hong Kong (formerly Star Cruises Limited), through its subsidiary, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), listed the vessel for sale in February 2009 but have not announced a purchaser to date. There has been acute interest in the ship by scrapping companies. While NCL graciously offered the Conservancy first right of refusal on a sale of the vessel in 2009, the Conservancy has not been in a financial position to purchase the ship outright. The organization has been working diligently to lay the groundwork for a public-private partnership that can save the ship and sustain her for generations to come.

See also

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/03/04/am ... ip-he.html

and peruse the comments there, some bright and some not.........

survivingworldsteam · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:49 pm

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/op ... 8jhKjBIVBL

tomgears · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:34 pm

I sort of makes restoring a C&O 2-8-4 look like a cake walk.

eze240 · **Joined:** Sat Feb 06, 2010 9:29 am **Posts:** 319

It surley does....The saddest part of this is that the United States is now the last american built ocean liner left, since the Independence was wrecked near Alang a couple months ago.
I believe the asking price has been about $5 million, interestingly, the actual scrap value is probably substantially less. it would seem that NCL/genting is looking to "quietly" dispose of it as they did with the Norway/France a couple years ago.
Too bad Washington is so unwilling to make some jobs by preserving it, I'm sure it would be a bargain, good for making several hundred new jobs- and they could easily print a few million dollars to pay for it.

PCook · **Joined:** Sat Jul 02, 2005 7:16 am **Posts:** 2127

A great ship, but unfortunately also a vessel with an enormous potential to be come a big hole in the water into which you pour money. If I recall correctly the comparatively tiny S.S. Nobska took over a million dollars of public funding to the scrapyard with her.

PC

Stationary Steam · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:29 pm

Olympia or United States? Which is more worthy of preservation?

Kevin Gillespie · **Posted:** Fri Mar 05, 2010 11:43 pm

Stationary Steam wrote:

Olympia or United States? Which is more worthy of preservation?

No contest, Olympia. The Spanish American War pushed the United States into the front rank of military powers. In particular, the Battle of Manila Bay cemented our country's place as a Pacific naval power which so far we have never relinquished.

Furthermore, she is of a size that will be much more economical to maintain over the years than the much larger United States.

My humble opinion!

robertmacdowell · **Posted:** Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:59 pm

PCook wrote:

A great ship, but unfortunately also a vessel with an enormous potential to be come a big hole in the water into which you pour money.

There's a solution for that.

Step 1 BUY LAND near the beach with appropriate topology.
Step 2 Build drydock. Yank her out of the water.
Step 3 Your boat on your land. Nobody can frack with you.

The most powerful word in preservation is "Your".

Dave · **Posted:** Sat Mar 06, 2010 4:13 pm

Most commonly followed by "problem."

dave

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 7:58 pm

Another doomsaying article, June 2008 Popular Mechanics:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technol ... 63478.html

davew833 · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:34 pm

It seems like the most practical option for "preservation" for the 'Big U' might be to sink her as an artificial reef/diving attraction. Since she's already been gutted and most, if not all, of the hazardous materials removed, it should be pretty straightforward. If this doesn't happen, I fear she might end up as the France/Norway. The tip of Norway's bow's been preserved- for what it's worth.

http://www.maritimematters.com/images/F ... 2.2009.jpg

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Mon Mar 08, 2010 8:56 pm

Don't expect a reprieve for the great ship. Unless she's preserved as an architectural antiquity, you should expect her to go straight to Alang. Her superstructure is almost all heavy gauge aluminum, and the rest of her is clean metal. I'd love to see her docked as a convention center in the Hudson, but these are not times when that kind of money rolls in. Take your pictures, enjoy her presence, and graciously let the era slip through our fingers. I love this ship, but this is a preservation undertaking that could easily refurbish dozens of idle steam locomotives.

Bob Davis · **Joined:** Sat Aug 28, 2004 3:25 am **Posts:** 1025

Was the SS United States the ship that was built in the early 1950's and got a write-up in Popular Mechanics? As I recall she was designed with every possible precaution to make her fireproof (memories of the SS Normandie were still fresh in the minds of seafarers). One comment was that the only wood on the ship was the butchers' cutting boards in the galley. Unfortunately she had been in service for less than ten years when the Boeing 707 and its competitors made ocean liners a thing of the past.

Txhighballer · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:49 am **Posts:** 773

A few years ago I managed to get inside the yard at Philedelphia and took some pictures of her engine room and bridge, and also managed to get aboard the USS Constellation and shoot some film...all I can say is that ships like that should not die at the hands of a scrapper..but perhaps there may be some scope for the Navy to place her in their protective custody,since she was built to Navy specifications and you just never know when you might need a fast troopship.....

davew833 · **Posted:** Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:25 am

The MV Doulos was pulled from service at the end of last year.

http://www.doulos.org/index.php?option= ... Itemid=251