Ocean liner goes from luxury to scrap heap?

[Bravo Zulu]

PHILADELPHIA -- Once, it was the fastest and one of the most luxurious ocean liners in the world.

On its maiden voyage in 1952, the SS United States set a trans-Atlantic speed record -- New York to Bishop Rock, England, in three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes -- eclipsing by 10 hours the mark set by the Queen Mary in 1938.

But for the past 14 years, the pride of a nation has gone nowhere, rusting away at a pier in South Philadelphia, a fading landmark seemingly destined for one last journey: to the scrap yard.

Its owner, Norwegian Cruise Line, which spends about $700,000 a year to moor and maintain the ship, appears ready to pull the plug.

Ah, but what a run. During its glory years, it represented the pinnacle of American Cold War ingenuity and Hollywood glamour.

The ship was larger than the Titanic, fireproof and could be converted into a vessel for troops within 48 hours, capable of carrying 14,000 soldiers more than 10,000 nautical miles without refueling.

The SS United States was never called upon to do that. Instead, it entertained an A-list of guests -- John F. Kennedy, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Marlon Brando among them -- who danced in opulent ballrooms and feasted upon Scotch grouse a l'Anglaise, paupiette of Dover sole, and braised smoked ox tongue.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042366-84.stm#ixzz0iDQVOAGE

[customerserviceguy]

1. Replaced by jet aircraft

that could take people between continents quicker, and eventually, cheaper.

[HeresyLives]

2. There are lots of luxury ships

going around the world all the time.

[krispos42]

6. Yeah, but those are cruise ships, not ocean liners

Cruise ships are floating resorts. Ocean liners are for moving lots of people from one location to another quickly. Converting the United States from one to the other probably wouldn't be practical.


And we already have two hospital ships. Which is rather too bad, as the Unites States is twice as fast as the Mercy or the Comfort.

[Statistical]

23. ??? Many cruise ships do transatlantic runs. Norweigan Cruise lines even has a couple.

[krispos42]

30. I'm sure they do. But the ships that do that...

...are designed and generally used as floating luxury resorts instead of passenger transport from A to B. Not that they couldnt't do that as well, but they are not optimized for that.


It's like comparing a Greyhound coach to the tour bus used by a major star. One's for moving a lot of people in adequate comfort, one is for a few people is luxurious comfort.

Not that the oceanliners didn't have nice accommodations, but the cruise ships are slower than oceanliners for the same number of humans on board. They have less in terms of engine power and more in terms of luxuries. The United States has over three times the total engine output of the Splendor of the Seas (a quarter of a million horsepower) and is capable of cruising 50% faster, on the order of 35+ knots. Spender of the Seas is no faster than the ill-fated Titanic (about 23 knots) and she was built some 80 years later whereas the United States was built 40 years after Titanic.

Heck, the oceanliners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth were used as troop transports during World War Two, and they were so fast they operated alone, no convoys and no escorts, ferrying 15,000 troops at a time from the US to Great Britian at speeds of over 28 knots. German U-boats lacked the speed to be able to catch them!

Since the primary mode of transportation for people in a hurry is now an airliner, if a person is going on a trans-Atlantic oceanliner it's for fun. So a cruise ship can function on the trans-Atlantic route with the understanding that getting there is half the fun. Businessmen and postal cargo don't get to London from NYC on an oceanliner anymore so speed is much less of an issue than it used to be.

[gateley]

3. Sad -- but thanks for posting. There were some great pics, too, when

I Googled the SS United States.

Here's one: http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/the%20ocean%20liners.html

[Edweird]

4. The USS United States ready for the scrap heap. Talk about a metaphor....

[krispos42]

5. She was used in a Clive Cussler novel.

A Chinese shipping magnate tried to use her to divert the Mississippi River into a smaller river. He had built a new state-of-the-art port facility at the mouth of the smaller river, and by crashing the United States lengthwise across the river and blowing up a levee with explosives he planned on diverting the Mississippi away from New Orleans and to his new port city, creating an instant monopoly.

[Subdivisions]

7. I'm reading Arctic Drift right now. Long-time Cussler fan here. n/t

[Sinistrous]

8. When I was a pup, I used to dream of sailing on the USS United States...

I would devour every picture, every scrap of information about that magnificent vessel.

Never got to fulfill that dream, though.

[Morning Dew]

9. on youtube you can take that cruise... kind of.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5o8xlVhN4E

[saracat]

10. Oh that hurts. I went to Europe and back with my parents as child.

on the USS United States. It was a beautiful ship. A friend of my Dad's actually owned the cruise lines.This makes me really sad. The trip was for my parents wedding anniversary.

[saracat]

11. I despise the term "no commercial value" .Much of our landmarks could also be described that way.

We should throw out all our memorabilia then ditch Betsy Ross's flag. They have no commercial value.With all the money people raise for projects you think they could save this ship. Why should we preserve the Queen Mary and NOT the SS United States?

[anigbrowl]

12. Well for one thing, it's not publicly owned

Now if you think the US should buy and preserve it, that's a possibility, but to be honest I don't think it has historical significance for most people under the age of 50. What would you do with it, other than use it as a floating museum? I'm not sure you'll find much enthusiasm for sinking tens of millions of taxpayer dollars (at least) into the purchase and restoration of a luxury ocean liner. That's some very expensive nostalgia.

[saracat]

18. "No historical value for most people under the age of 50?" Well damn,

lets blow up everything that anyone under the age of 50 isn't familiar with. The Smithsonian would be a good start.Lots of stuff in there they aren't familiar with. The government and the navy had a lot to do with the construction of this ship and she contributed a lot to the pride of this nation.She represented an era when America was known for leading the world in innovation and the American worker was respected.She is an officially designated historical landmark. I find it hard to believe that an historical landmark can be designated as "scrap".I think that the bigwigs who raise all kinds of money for the preservation of landmarks should intervene just as Jackie did with Grand Central Station and the ship should indeed be a floating museum. A country that can't preserve its history is a very small country indeed. But I guess that is to be expected in our disposable society.

[anigbrowl]

20. If you want to campaign to purchase the ship for the public, by all means go for it

I would point out, though, that the landmark designation is a complex process and the ship does not enjoy any special legal protection. You could try contacting/supporting this organization: http://www.ssunitedstates.org/mission.htm but they haven't updated their website in 3 years so they may have just given up.

[KamaAina]

26. Neither is the Queen Mary

it's used as a floating hotel in Long Beach, Cal.

[anigbrowl]

27. So?

The people who own the Queen Mary had a viable business plan for it. NCL (who own the SS United States) apparently don't have one for this ship. Upthread I shared a link for a group who have been working to preserve it, though i don't know if their campaign is still active. It would be nice if it were restored and preserved, I just don't see much likelihood of that actually happening given the economic climate and so forth.

[Hawkeye-X]

29. We got an invitation to stay at the Queen Mary the night before our cruise

which is scheduled for August.

Nevertheless, I cannot afford the expense of a luxury hotel, and the cruise is for our 10 year anniversary, paid in 2008. It was supposed to set sail in 2009, but due to economic reasons, was delayed one year.

Hawkeye-X

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

13. I rode the ship in early 60's

my family took the ship from England to NY. Nice ship, but the North Atlantic is no "cruise", just one dark grey swell after another, endless. With an occasional iceberg to add to the scenery (the ship kept its distance from them). Even in summer, it was cold on the deck.

Not that it affected me in any way, but to this day I don't like boats, and I don't like getting dressed up for dinner.
:rofl:

Interesting that it was a "wolf in sheep's clothing", the veneer of a luxury liner added to a very fast (at the time) troop transport.

[A HERETIC I AM]

22. I crossed on her from Bremerhaven to NYC in September of 1967

We had a pretty good passage. Not rough at all, with the exception of crossing the North Sea to Southampton. That was rough as hell.

I've still got the menus from breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Scrapping her would be a national tragedy.

[trumad]

14. Heck---we might as well rollerblade through it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6gA7mHB6MA&feature=related

[Liberal In Texas]

15. What a shame. How ironic it's owned by NCL -- a foreign company.

NCL also sold the Norway for scrap in 2006 and was finally torn apart in 2008 - she was the old SS France. It's too bad these old liners can't be used like the Queen Mary as a hotel/tourist attraction as once they're scrapped we'll never see the likes of them again.

United States


Architectural Rendering of a restored SS United States as a stationary attraction
http://www.ss-united-states.net/


Norway - Gone

[Uncle Joe]

21. That's a nice looking ship. n/t

[PCIntern]

24. I cruised the Caribbean twice on the Norway...

Great lines...old but gorgeous. I nearly cried when I read that it had finally been cut up. I think they saved the prow and placed it somewhere. Sad...

[Thothmes]

25. They could be if some city or group is willing to cough

the several hundreds of millions of dollars that it takes to buy, refit and maintain these giant vessels. It is a very expensive proposition. Philidelphis has notified the U.S. Navy that they are no longer able to maintain the armored cruiser USS Olympia. She is considerably smaller than the SS United States or the liner France.

[PhD]

32. NCL bought the SS United States and 2 other ships to get into the US market

American law requires ownership of US built and flagged vessels to avoid high port fees.

[Tailormyst]

16. That would make a nice new reef somewhere.

[LeftHander]

17. Google Map for the curious

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=39.918192,-75.136448&spn=0.002049,0.004372&t=h&z=18

[kittykitty]

19. I remember when it was brand-new. My friend's father was First Mate

We traveled from Cleveland to NYC on the New York Central. Her father took us on a tour of the ship. He was quite a figure in his uniform with lots of gold braid.
It was a magnificent ship, and overwhelmingly impressive for two high school girls.

Too bad that era of trans-Atlantic travel is over.

I sailed to France on the Liberte, returnng on the Queen Mary. It was nice to make the transition from one culture to another in 3-4 days instead of hours.

[IDemo]

28. I crossed the Atlantic on the United States

Unfortunately, I was only 5 years old at the time, so don't remember a great deal. I can remember the waiter who entertained my sister and me by folding a napkin into a puppet. And I can remember sailing into New York harbor and seeing the Statue of Liberty for the only time in my life. I thought that the captain had made an announcement about setting a record, but this would have been about 1961 or 1962, so it would not have been the westbound trans-Atlantic record of the maiden voyage in 1952.

[PhD]

31. Bill Clinton sailed on the SS United States

He sailed on the ship as a Rhodes Scholar in 1968.