There has been an ongoing dispute between the SS United States Conservancy and Penn Warehousing about unjust docking fees. Joe Holden reports the work being done to save the historic ocean liner.
What a perfect icon of America. A once proud and majestic vessel, now stagnating and rusting as people argue whether or not she's worth even saving. We can spend billions on war, but preserving an American icon of American shipbuilding is just not in the budget.
The SS United States "is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States and the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, retaining the Blue Riband for the highest average speed since her maiden voyage in 1952, a title she still holds today." Seems worth saving.
You know, probably 90% Of the population in this country doesn't even know this ship exists!!! Imagine the government investing hundreds of millions of dollars on this, instead of on issues that are seriously needed like upgrading our aged power grid for one.....
Brit here. The SS United States IS America’s history and MUST be preserved. It was designed in an era when ships could be requisitioned for military purposes which accounts for its incredible speed across the Atlantic in the last days of transatlantic sea travel and her and being the last Blue Riband holder. She belongs to an era when America WAS great, and things American were admired and respected.
This a magnificent ship. I actually felt a true since of pride when I was young and watched this ship named after our great country come into port. There must be a way to preserve this history.
Care to estimate on what it would cost? The near by Battleship New Jersey is going into dry dock to repaint the exterior of the hull.( Sides and bottom ) It is a $ 10 MILLION bill.
Except it is not a part of cruising culture since she is not a cruise ship. She is an ocean liner. And her purpose and built quality is distinct to cruise ships and cruising culture.
@@andrewkessinger5966 Battleship Texas is intact for the most part. This ship has been stripped to the hull. There is nothing left but the hull. It's scrap
This has been put on the back burner for TOO LONG now, so long it's ridiculous how it's neglected- it's America's greatest passenger vessel for heaven sakes! Even slow, periodic work could be financed(which should have been started decades ago). Recent interest in Titanic history has even financially profited the Queen Mary in southern CA, where concerted effort is being made towards structual restoration. So there's really no excuse to continue ignoring this faded icon of US history.
This ship is unique in the post WW2 world and its historic role in moving people around the world is something which should not be ignored. My hope would be to renovate it as a trans-Atlantic liner once again. In lieu of operation, dock it in New York and completely renovate her as a single unit unit hotel/convention center. At the least, cut her some slack as far as rent and taxation goes. She's a significant piece of America's heritage.
I think she should be docked in NYC but not restored to travel as that would be so costly. I just hope that it is restored to aesthetics and allows us to see the rare luxury liner as envisaged by Americans.
@@floro7687 hardly obsolete. The propulsion systems used in this ship was also used in many warships of the time as well. It was known for being powerful, efficient, and fast, and is one of the reasons it held the Atlantic speed record. IIRC, the mechanical systems on the ship were actually classified top secret for some time.
@@audvidgeek It was powered by 4 steam turbines, each of 53000 hp.Belonged to the US Navy, were intended for a cancelled aircraft carrier. It was a hopeless gas hog, burning 600 tons a day, was kept going for 17 years, totally uneconomical, big subsidies were poured into her. A white elephant.
Especially not while the queen Mary is in California and isn’t even American. Here’s an idea sell the QM and move it back to Britain and have the ss us in its place.
@@ironhell813 that’s never gonna happen due to the costs of actually fixing the ship up lmao plus queen Mary has way more history then the states so people are more interested in that
Just like England itself the QM has a lot of history and the states doesn’t but the US isn’t a British colony and it hasn’t the right to inherit anything British, if anything Canada was robbed of that right by the us and England acquiesced…. The QM has zero place in the US and the SS US should replace her
Absolutely not!!! Everything holds significance to someone, or it wouldn't exist. The SS United States served her time. A group tried to preserve her, but since 1999, hadn't been able to restore her. For all the people on here that want to keep a vessel, that has no income, step up and foot the bill. I have no obligation to spend a penny on a relic. I am very much into maritime history. The Queen Mary is barely able to keep financially operational. The City has a financial obligation in that case, and the bills are huge. South Street Seaport has struggled to be able to fund less and less. A few years ago one of their exhibit ships went to Europe, to a new home. Mystic Seaport is having trouble funding their exhibit preservation. The LA Dunton has been placed on Chubs Wharf. I seriously doubt she will ever see the water again. It's great to want to save everything, but a vessel is not one of them. They were built with a life span. They are expensive to operate and maintain, but that is incorporated into their function and fees. So when a commercial vessel leases to be profitable to the business model, the vessel's life is pretty much over. Others may attempt to repurpose her, however the end is nearing. Once the vessel no longer generates revenue, she just becomes a very large liability on many levels. Not the responsibility of the US Government nor the taxpayers. Remember, many, many ships have been involved in significant and/ or historic events, and they're not here anymore. History preservation seems to becoming a thing of "history" in our society. Schools teach less and less, we're not allowed to talk about certain things because it offends someone, statues have been removed erasing the good or bad that they were placed to remember. Keeping a ship only has significance to a few. The few need to foot the bill if that is what they wish to do with their money. I'd rather see tax dollars spent on the responsibilities of the government of securing the borders, defending our nation, repairing and restoring our infrastructure, taking care of our veterans that were promised care for their sacrifices.
Tax dollars should not be called upon to save it. It was and is a private vessel and the UNGODLY amounts of private wealth in this country should step up and preserve her as a icon of their Capitalist fortunes.
Pier 82 owner doesn’t have the right to move it or raise the rent cause it hasn’t been moved out yet, American tenenacy laws says it is to be moved first. I think it’ll be fine
i agree 100% i was telling my wife the same thing why not refubish it into a floating hotel and dock it somewhere that is close to tourism sites ny,baltimore, etc,etc.
The curator of the USS New Jersey did an episode on her engineering spaces. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Mh02P-0-Gfs.htmlsi=rEQyS6upkS7RbLvT
In June of 1963 my family and I were docked in Southampton, UK, returning to the US after three years in Frankfurt. I was 17. Docked near us were the Queen Mary, the Queen Elizabeth, the United States, and the France. We were on the America. It was a grand sight. I have no idea about the number of times all these ships were in port together.
As a ship nerd, as much as it pains me to say it, other than the hull - there's not much left. It was gutted and all fittings sold off years ago. If they rebuild it, everything would be new inside. Would it really be that "historic" at that point? It's a very different situation from the Queen Mary.
The ship was full of asbestos. They had to gut it. I think if people really wanted to restore it, then they could. I do not like the business habits of the conservancy - they have been terrible in getting anything done.
I ate at a restaurant in NC where all the tables' chairs even one of the bars from this ship were being used even the bell, I think restaurant is closed where this stuff went, I do not know.
@wowitskevin: You've actually brought up a viable point there- it's literally a rusting shell with even the interior walls removed. Everything would have to be replicated, which begs the suggestion it would be cheaper to construct a "replica" that do anything with what remains. It would have to be a modern 21st century vessel with the styling & look of the original ship.
Philadelphia is a historical city. This ship should be restored and kept in Philadelphia it could be a tourist attraction the ship is American history. Philly does not have beach front property history museums is the way to go. Shops restaurants clubs save the ship please Philly s side of the river needs this attraction just like the Olympia
Biggest problem that I've heard is the ship is stripped bare. All the interiors are gone and it's just a hull. To turn the SS United States into a hotel like Queen Mary your looking at 10's of millions of dollars if not even more. It's even debated if the ship is worth it in scrap value. If the US gets evicted the most likely and cost effective end for it seems to be it'll be towed out to sea and sunk to create a reef. If it still had all of it's interiors and more historical value I think something would of became of it by now. But since the ship is just a stripped bare hull, yes it "can" be fixed up but it needs so much work it's looking unlikely that it'll ever recoup the costs. I mean I'm pretty sure cruise lines has looked into buying this ship and backed out when seeing the amount of work it needs.
Delusions of grandeur. The ship is scrap metal and nothing more. It is a bare shell having all of its interior stripped decades ago. The ship should be taken to the scrapper or sunk as a reef for seal life. NOBODY is going to pour money into it.
Philadelphia overall is a craphole except for enclave of tourist traps. The city councils, like in Portland and San Francisco are govern by feelings creating high tax, low job, high crime enviroment.
Would be cool if some city along the east coast were to buy the ship and do what Long Beach has done with the Queen Marry. I feel it would look right at home docked in Miami, Tampa, or Savannah Georgia. Restore the ship to be as historically accurate as possible, and make it a floating hotel/museum.
@@garymartin9777 that is completely and utterly false. No idea who started that rumor, but it is untrue. The QM has recently had a bunch of work done to spruce her up. There is currently ongoing restoration work on the decks and interiors. She never had any sort of hull breach.
If they hadn't completely stripped the interior of the ship, it might be worth saving. The only reason the Queen Mary survived is because it was kept in tact. Otherwise, it would suffer the same fate. They will never come up with the 200 million plus it will take to restore it. Heck, they can't even raise the amount to dry dock it and paint the hull. They should tow it the 1400 miles out to where the Titanic is, have a televised ceremony, and sink it
The ship was full of asbestos, to achieve Gibbs' fire rating. In removing it she lost all her interiors, and the Turkish shipyard also stole and sold off her aluminum lifeboats.
@@andrewwarcup684 The interior parts were butchered and destroyed instead of disassembled and stored for future restoration. All of the furnishings and fixtures are gone that had nothing to do with asbestos
I used to give to this until about 8 years ago when they were offered significantly cheaper berthing and their board of directors argued about it and decided against it. It's always one proposal after another, but none of them ever get very far. I understand the post Covid-19 world is still recovering financially, but they've been batting ideas around for over a decade now.
I saw an interview years ago where Susan Gibbs told a real NO NO. She said, I was never interested in the ship, I never stepped a foot on it . But when i heard it might be scrapped, i decided i needed to do something. That speaks volumes . I think this whole thing is about giving her life some meaning, something to do...putting her in the limelight. Im sure she knows that nothing will ever become of the ship except reefing or scrapping, anyone with half a brain knows this is true. but desperately doesnt want this journey to nowhere end. Because then she wont have a purpose or anything to do. Strange that back in the early 50s she wouldn't want to sail on her Grandfathers brand new ship.
In 1960, I traveled with my mother from Montreal, Canada to Southampton, England on the Cunard ocean liner RMS Ivernia. One early morning, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean crossing, another ocean liner appeared on the horizon in the distance behind us. Within about ten minutes the mystery ship pulled up along our port side and was identified as the SS United States. The passengers of both ships waived and yelled greetings and two liners exchanged blasts of their fog horns. The SS United States soon overtook us and plowed ahead. Within another ten minutes the SS United States slipped over the horizon ahead of us and disappeared from sight. She was fast! It would be wonderful to see it maintained and avoid the cutting torches.
its really sad to me that it will probably be decided to scrap her. its all about money in the end. shes a beautiful ship and could be beautiful still. such a shame.
My father served on her briefly in 52 and 53. Mainly he served on the SS United States in the engine room. He’s gone now but he always wanted to see her refitted and restored. He and my mom visited her quite a few times. I would at least like to see her get a paint job!!! She’ll never be anything other than a nod to our nations past when we actually build things in this country. Hopefully she’ll be saved some how. Our law makers send money all over the world to other countries. You think they could find a little for this American icon of our past!
I came on this ship when I came back to the US from England in '69. It was quite an enjoyable trip. I would be sad to see it go. We didn't get Norwalk virus like so many ships now spread.
I thought title said "work about to be done"... I live on the other side of the globe, and still hope this piece of history will be saved, and restored to it glory, just how it was..
just a hunk of rusting steel - interior was gutted decades ago & would be unbelievably expensive to to refitt the interior appointments & still appear exactly same as you see here.
From what I can see, I would say that it would not be possible to restore this ship to anything like an a seagoing vessel. It would almost certainly be a money pit.
There's no practical use for the rust bucket, renovations are prohibitively expensive all it has is nostalgia which won't keep it from its tow to the scrap yard.old ship needs old money, and there's very little of that in 2024.
I wasn't being sarcastic,if the conservancy can't afford $52,000 dollars a year for the slip then the ship is done for.i live near Philadelphia I've seen it hundreds of times,it's an eyesore, paint peeling off rust all over it and it's been stripped of anything valuable.the people who want to save it are the people who took trips on it and and have great memories of those times.several times people have looked over it for use as a hotel or restaurant or something else and found out how ridiculously expensive even just sanding and buying paint and actually painting it costs was a deal breaker every time and sooner or later its going to start leaking and sinking then I'm sure one way or another the piers owners are going to demand it be removed before it damages the pier more as it already has..
Museum ships are expensive to maintain. And the revenue they bring in does not offset the cost. It's going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars to get that ship fixed up. No one is going to put in 250 million dollars to fix that ship
After 55 years they still have not managed to give the ship a new place & function... high time to go to the breakers with this rust pile...it is a bottomless money pit....
Thee ship is still holder of the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing by passenger liner. My estimate is that restoration will cost 1-2 million per meter ships length depending on the desired level of finish. See financial debacle back in 2008 of the SS Rotterdam which is now a hotel. Quoted 20-30 million, ended upwards to 200 million. And the ship was in way better shape than the SS United States since it was still seaworthy. It would be great to see it restored and have a good business model to make revenue on it. But maintenance is incredible expensive so operational costs would be very high as well, for whatever purpose the ship will be used.. museum, hotel, conference center.... etc..
if they can find a way to permanently dry dock the ship (tall order I know), but it would reduce the maintenance costs considerably. Then that money could go into to restoring her, either as a museum ship and/or hotel and restaurant.
I heard recently that it is not in great shape. The ship has changed ownership hands multiple times in the past I want to say 15 years. Each owner done their own surveys of the ship and each one comes back with vastly different answers. Some said its in good condation to be renovated some say it is not in good condition to be renovated so on and so forth. Either way, it's going to cost massive amounts of funds to renovated the ship for any purpose and from reading the history of it, these company's who bought it and sold it in the past realize that it's a lot to chew. Point is as each year goes by, the ship decays more and more.
They've been trying. It's nearly 1000 feet long. Because Americans can't do numbers - that's over 3 football fields long. Finding it a home is no small task.
Return it to the sea and allow it to rest in peace. Those that cite the Queen Mary in Long Beach CA have no clue the headache that ship gives the taxpayers. It’s a failed hotel, tourist attraction…and takes up space….and it arrived in 1967 fully intact! All of the classic interior was there…and still…it’s been a financial failure…for 57 years. Truth be told…the SS United States is just another ship, paid for by the US Maritime Administration to serve as a troop ship in a different era…and operated by the United States Lines as a passenger liner in “the interim”. It was too little too late. Ms. Gibbs wants everyone else to pay for her fantasy of finding a perpetual use for her “grandfather’s” ship…but there’s no good reason that this hulk should be saved over any others. It needs to be evicted (if tugs can pull from the mud)…towed offshore near Newport News, VA where she was born…and returned to the sea. Anyone inclined to give money to the conservancy should direct their benevolence to charities that actually help fellow human beings.
She was called the greyhound of the seas because of her speed... she was never called the queen of the seas. Only far more beautiful, bigger and luxurious ships from Europe were ever nicknamed queen of the seas, like the Normandie, the Queen Mary, France, Queen Elisabeth 2 and so on.
@@user-zf3ey9bf9b I hate when patriotism gets in the way of judgement. You're delusional if you think that the far more legendary and famous Queen Mary should be scrapped and replaced with the S.S. United States. I'm sorry, but the Queen Mary is a far more historically significant ship than the S.S. United States ever was.
@@user-zf3ey9bf9bWell, timing is one thing, The QUEEN MARY was retired and sold to Long Beach, in 1967. SS UNITED States retired in 1969...how that for a REASON...LOL.
@@user-zf3ey9bf9bsorry but the ss United States isn’t more historically important and famous than this hunk of junk rotting away stop letting patriotism lead you
I feel if nothing has been done in thirty years nothing will be done and that’s so sad because todays ships are made so badly they are easily disposable. No ship will ever be built like this one again or th SS America which sank of the coast of Feutoventura in 1992 after splitting in two. Sad but Alang Alang here she comes. She will be worth a fortune in a million pieces which will no doubt only pay off her wasted years in dock.
I have said, for many years (I am in the UK) that it is disgusting that this American symbol has been allowed to get to this state. If that was a US warship of historical merit, the money and a new home would be found in no time. Shame on you America.
We should strip it and sell the steel. Not dump more money into it because it's "Iconic". Can we start focusing on the future and stop spending money on the past?
The Federal Government should refurbish this ship and turn her into a high speed Hospital Ship. That’s one thing that the world can desperately use. Especially when there’s an earthquake or some other natural disaster that causes a large amount of injuries. While the Navy currently operates two very capable hospital ships, the truth is, they’re far too slow in getting to locations where they can do the most good. A future USNS UNITED STATES would be the absolute best way to show our country’s compassion for human suffering throughout the world, by simply having a first rate hospital ship that can get to locations faster than anyone else can in order to save more lives.
NO taxpayer subsidy for that tub! NONE! I am so sick of the feds bailing out every one and everything. We are broke. More than broke. Scrap that boat unless private partied can step up to the plate and provide the funds needed. Otherwise scrap it.
illegal wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; 7 trillion wasted. low taxes on MNCs and billionaires. 1-term chump doubling the national debt in a mere 4 years. Hmm..., yeah, cant think of a single reason why the US is having money problems... >_>
Could it go to Michigan? Muskegon has a ship in its docks. The ship is probably too big to get through the locks. Probably to big for Muskegon. It is worth checking. The ship should be saved.
Old static ships need to live in climates that are conducive to low corrosion, rust. The Queen Mary was fortunate to wind up being permanently birthed in Southern California. Never any snow, extremely low annual rainfall, no freezing temperatures, warm sunny days mid 60s to 90s summer. Perfect. Philidelphia hasn't been good for her, Michigan is a poor choice, snow, rain, extremely cold winter temps. This ship is severely rusted and corroded, it needs a temperate climate like yesterday.
With all the billionaires in just the US alone, it's hard to believe that they haven't been successful in finding investors. It would be sad to lose her.
I doubt there is enough money to restore this ship. It has deteriorated too much to restore. When you see the struggle to preserve the QUEEN MARY, and that ship is in far better condition, the viability of restoring and preserving the SS UNITED STATES plus the ongoing maintenance costs would be staggering. Ask any group trying to preserve museum ships how difficult it is.
I was fortunate enough to see this ship come in and out of Southampton a few times in the late 50's and early 60's. Like all these great liners of yesteryear, what do you do with them when they reach the end of their commercial life. Normally they go to make razor blades, but one feels this should be made into a floating hotel somewhere, it has a great history, but it wouldn't be suitable for a modern day cruise ship.
Everyone talks about history being lost and how things should be saved and yet this is exactly why pieces of history get lost or thrown away and eventually not saved because it's always about money
In good shape only cosmetic. She needs major work. It will cost millions to renovate this Ship. I would not like to put a figure on bring this ship back to original form and we have not seen the inside or her fittings. But the old Sail Ship Peking that once was at dock in Newyork and was almost at the point of been scrapped was thrown a life line of been returned to Germany and to her Home Hamburg. To do so they would need to find the money to bring her back to Germany and then unde go a lengthy restoration program. The preperations and transporting her back to Germany cost 1 million Euros. Her restoration cost another 38 million Euros that money alone came from the Federal Goverment. As part of a larger sum of money for the Building in Hamburg of the German harbor Meseum. After her restoration during covid she was under tugs sail up the Elbe River to the City of Hamburg and is currently moored at the Hamburg Habor Museum with several other important cargo ships and passanger ships. More work on her is still been undertaken like making new sails and internal fittings this is funded via donations . Once the new national Museum is finished she will be moved the short distance to there and both locations will be run under the same name. But it shows you the historical ships like USS America can be saved and returned to their former glory if the will is there. I am a none German myself so I was amazed at the lenghts they went through to return this ship back to its port of origin almost 100 years after she was built one of a handfull of the famed P Liners and the last of the fast sail only powered cargo ships. I hope they can save this great Liner. Fingers crossed.
"it's in good condition" my ass. There's a reason that it's been sitting for so many years and has changed hands numerous times, the simple cost that it would take to restore it simply isn't worth it to most people. And I know I'm gonna get hate for this it really isn't that prominent of a historical piece just because it holds the transatlantic record. I think they are just putting off the inevitable at this point.
