Think of all the RR stations, bridges and equipment that vanished in the 70s when times were tough. These are the days, gentlemen. These ships can vanish as a static ship really is the definition of a “hole in the water you put money into.”
I used to stand at the fence and just stare at her when I was stationed in the Area and would go up there. Got to see her again in July when I took my wife to DC and swung up there to see Independence Hall. I got out and took some photos, she couldn’t have cared less. It was raining pretty hard at the time and I only managed this shot:

I think that’s the issue right there. At least with a warship, you can sort of explain what it’s doing as a museum. Unless it was rebuilt to haul people again, most people just don’t see the “need” to keep giant ships around like this.

William Francis Gibbs was the designer. Her underwater hull was top secret, as were her advanced sickle shaped screw propellers, until almost 1980. The power plant was similar to an oil fired carrier's. This is the most advanced trans-Atlantic liner ever constructed. The only exception to the no wood rule was her Steinway piano and the butcher block in the galley. The anecdote about the wooden shelf being replaced is true. To recount it, a cook had installed a tiny wooden shelf for his own convenience. Gibbs went aboard and spotted it, had it removed and a perfect casting of the same shelf, but in aluminum, was presented by Gibbs to the chef. Gibbs greeted the ship on every return from a crossing and inspected her frequently. Her fastest recorded speed was on her maiden voyage, when she made close to 48 knots. It was never repeated, as her status as an auxiliary troop carrier was public knowledge. BTW, she never ran "fully open", so we'll never know how fast she might have really moved. It is likely that with the exception of hydro-foils, she is the fastest ship in the world to this day. One has to remember that in her prime, #6 fuel oil was cheap, and wasting it to achieve high speed might be done on a whim.
I remember when Nixon killed her in 1969, with good reason, of course, how she was immediately secured for temporary storage. She was built for $70 million, and since then, she's been an enormous suction for dollars. She's passed from buyer to buyer at an enormous loss each time. I think we've met somebody who is going to cut their losses this time.

She had two chances in the past to serve as a troopship -- the Korean War, and the Vietnam war. (It is my understanding that Gibbs played a role in vetoing her use for the Korean War.) The concept of troopships is history; the government will now send them via the commerical airlines and cargo planes.

The details that made her so fast are the same ones that doom her. Her steam powerplant (the same as Essex class carriers; IIRC) is too thirsty to ever run again; but the hull is too fine to justify the cost of repowering her (the box boats that serve as cruise ships now are slower; but carry more passengers in greater luxury for less in fuel cost. Who cares how fast you are going when you are cruising?)

I would love to see it rebuilt as a hotel ship; but the recent restoration of the S.S. Rotterdam proved how expense it would be (and she was still intact.) The RMS Queen Mary proves that hotel service cannot be forever, unless you have some sort of trust fund or other money train to overhaul the hull every 20 years. Plus, it would have to be modern hotel facility, since there is nothing to adaptively reuse; and it would be crazy to recreate the cramped cabins she had at sea when most people are used to have more than that at a budget hotel.

I have heard (but cannot confirm) that the rubber membrane that prevent inter-metal corrosion between her aluminum superstructure and steel hull has rotted away; so she will needed major work before you could even begin to do anything with it. (I'm sure her hull also needs drydocking by now; or will shortly.)

I have been keeping an eye on her for several years now; but marine preservation is in the same pickle as railway preservation. We can't keep everything; and there has to be a sound plan for maintaining things into the future. Much as I hate to say it; any money that did appear would better be served drydocking and restoring the U.S.S. Olympia than it would the S.S. United States.

The past three years have been terrible for marine preservation; I have found that 10% or greater of the vessels that I documented on my "Surviving World Steamship" CD are gone now; with mostly smaller vessels (steam launches) and remains left. All of the vessels depicted on the jewel case liner are all gone now -- the S.S. Catalina on the back, and several of the ships stored in the James River reserve fleet on the front cover. But I will still shed a tear if and when they tow the S.S. United States off for the last time.

I was told by a friend, who was a marine engineer, that the United States' engineering plant is a prototype of the Forrestal class carriers plant, just on a smaller hull. Does anyone know if that is true? If it is then spare parts would be easy to come by, since the last of those carriers are out of service and in storage in places like Bremerton.

Thanks for confirming the "butcher block" story and adding the Steinway piano and the chef's shelf. I was amazed at the "48 knots" speed record; getting anything that big going over 50 mph (land miles) is quite a feat. I would presume it was done far from land and other ships. The terms "put the hammer down", "Run 8" and "On the brass with full field shunts" and "Ahead Warp factor 8, Mr. Sulu." come to mind. Not sure where this fits in, but consider the retirement of the Concorde SST taking the maximum speed of commercial aviation down by a factor of two or thereabouts, and the downgrading of allowable speed on many US railroad lines.

Having served on an Esex class carrier in Viet Nam (USS Ticonderoga, CVA-14) I can tell you that our top speed was 34 knots. And at that the old girl shook so bad that all of the bells on the bridge would ring from those vibrations. But we were a shade under 1000' and a heck of a lot wider and heavier than the U.S. I see her every time I go over the Walt Whitman bridge. I used to see her when she was tied up in Baltimore. Sad but true is the fact that she is obsolete and although I would love to see her used as anything, it won't happen. We can't save them all. Sadly.

Later!
Mr. Ed

I heard a story once that on trials the Navy got the Enterprise (CVN-65) up into what sounds like it must have been the 50 knot neighborhood. And they could have gone faster, but they were afraid she would have shaken herself apart! Haze Gray only says 30+ knots for all of carriers, but that is a public site, of course.

Mr. Ed,

My grandfather was the damage control officer on the Ticonderoga, I inherited quite a few pictures and momentos from her when he passed away. The Essex class were good looking ships, it was quite interesting touring the Interpid a few years back, big bloody things. Anyway does the name William Bush ring a bell at all?

Thanks, Taylor

Enterprise currently holds at least one speed record for a East Coast- Med transit. She's currently the oldest active ship in the Navy,and due to be decommissioned sometime in 2011-2012. Word was that the only thing that could keep up with her at flank speed was a hydrofoil.

Sent to the New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs, for distribution:

On Wednesday evening, March 24th, the Philadelphia Chapter of The
Explorers Club is hosting Dick Long, President of DUI (drysuits) and a
founder of Ships to Reefs. We are particularly interested in the
massive and derelict SS UNITED STATES, sitting forlornly along the
Philly waterfront for the past decade and facing imminent scrapping.
Our plan is to have this magnificent vessel sunk as an artificial reef
off Cape May. Imagine diving a 1,000 foot long, 100 foot wide, 185 foot high
underwater behemoth. And what fabulous fishing habitat the SS US would
make. But we must act quickly and with the effort of many.

Please join us in Philadelphia on Weds March 24th for a sumptuous
buffet dinner and two fascinating presentations as detailed below.
Kindly pass this message and invitation on to your fellow NJCDC
officers and members, particularly Legislative Affairs Director Jack
Fullmer. I've lost his contact info, but Jack and I go back over 20
years.
Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Peter Hess
(302) 690-1715
Hessians@aol.com
* * * * *
Explorers Club,
Philadelphia Chapter
Wednesday, March 24
The Downtown Club @ Independence Hall
Cocktails: 5:30 PM
Dinner: 6:30 PM
Speaker: 7:00 PM
Cost: $45.00 includes sumptuous buffet dinner, desert & coffee and
program plus $4.00 validated parking
** Please RSVP and pay in advance no later than March 22 **
Send checks to:
The Explorers Club,
Philadelphia Chapter
Attention: Doug Soroka
1008 West Schwenk Mill Road
Perkasie , PA 18944

Veteran Explorers, husband and wife, Bonita Chamberlain and Dick Long,
travel from San Diego, California to join the Philly Explorers on
Wednesday, March 25th at the Downtown Club, 6th & Chestnut Streets. We
will be treated to two fascinating presentations that evening:

Dick Long, FN-97, is the President of Diving Unlimited International,
better known among underwater explorers as DUI. He is also a founder
of California Ships to Reefs, which has pioneered the concept of
taking mothballed vessels slated for the demolition yard and instead sinking
them offshore as marine habitat and diving and fishing sites. Since
its inception, Ships to Reefs has overseen the creation of dozens of
new shipwreck sites around the United States . Dick will describe the
process of creating such an artificial reef from an old vessel as well
as preliminary plans for a spectacular site off of Cape May, New
Jersey.

Bonita Chamberlain, Ph.D., FN-96, led a harrowing expedition in the
1980's into the heart of Afghanistan 's treacherous Hindu Kush range in
search of the gem mines of antiquity for which the region had long been
renowned. Complicating the expedition was the fact that Bonita was
forced to disguise herself as a man for its duration--no mean feat in
itself. On top of this, the expedition took place during the height of
the Mujahadeen uprising against the Soviet Union , the bloody conflict
which would ultimately result in the collapse of Soviet state. And yet
it resulted in 1996's "Gemstones of Afghanistan" which Bonita
co-authored. She has since been a tireless champion of Afghani women,
marketing their magnificent handmade jewelry across the United States
in order to raise money for their education and sustenance. Bonita
will be bringing a collection of Afghan jewelry for display and sale at
our meeting.

In reference to a controversial thread here sometime back, I suggest that it get sectioned. Such a project would make a more awesome sculpture than hanging an ATSF 2900 from a crane. Anyone have Jeff Koon's number?

I hope the idea of turning the big "U" into an artificial reef gets some serious consideration from NCL.

Back about 50 years ago, a number of Los Angeles streetcars were sent to "Davy Jones' Locker" to form habitats for sea creatures. More recently, retired New York subway cars were sent to the bottom for this purpose. Maybe some of the more aquatic folks on RYPN can tell us whether the fish have set up "reefkeeping" in the old electric railway cars.

As a reef, she is less a cash cow than as high grade aluminum scrap. This is aluminum scrap in nice big, solid, chunks, great for export and smelting. I hate the idea, but the owners are going to try to retire as much of their debt as possible. The super-structure wouldn't last very long in the corrosive sea. The hull might last for decades.

Aluminum superstructure is not good for reefing in salt water, because the salt helps to corrode it quickly. The steel hull is a better choice.
The recent New York City subway cars were stainless steel, thought to hold up well in salt water. Earlier cars were of less exotic steel, but thicker, and they are lasting well. The fish love them all. The ecology folks have a movie showing why the subway cars are not suitable for marine life - the double doorways are so narrow that adult sea turtles have to tilt to get inside.
The Los Angeles trolleys were older than PCCs, with more wood in the bodies, and only lasted about 10 years.