Saving the SS United States

[APG85]

Neat video on one of the greatest ships this country has ever built. In desperate need of help/$$ (lot's of $$) before the scrap man gets her. Yes, I know, not a Warbird (but worthy of maximum visibility before the topic gets moved)...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57 ... ed-states/

[K5DH]

Some years ago, The Big U was purchased by Norwegian Cruise Line. They planned on converting her to diesel-electric power and refitting her as a cruise ship to be used on Hawaiian Islands cruises. She was to retain her US-flagged status and operate with an all-American crew entirely within US territorial waters. Obviously that plan never came to fruition, and she's still laid up at a lonely pier in the Delaware River in Philadelphia. There have been rumors of using her as a floating maritime museum or as a floating hotel (like the Queen Mary), but nothing has come of those. The TSS United States is arguably the greatest American passenger ship ever built. If you're interested in ships, go research her history. You'll be amazed at what she accomplished, and the records she still holds to this day.

By the way, "TSS" means "Turbine Steam Ship". TSS's used steam-driven turbines to turn the screws, as opposed to steam-driven pistons.

[WIXMOD-Charlie]

Yes, I know, not a Warbird (but worthy of maximum visibility before the topic gets moved)...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57 ... ed-states/

I have no problem with this rare off-topic post. The big U is a very important piece of histroy that deserves to be saved. All attention to that is welcome.

[Pogo]

And don't forget the USS Olympia:

http://www.preservationnation.org/trave ... ympia.html

Either or both of these is tantamount to getting a second chance to save that wonderful B-19 from the scrapper.

[tom d. friedman]

i've followed the saga of this ship from the last time she docked. chalk it up to kids & gen xers that don't give a rat's poop shoot about history!!

[Fearless Tower]

By the way, "TSS" means "Turbine Steam Ship". TSS's used steam-driven turbines to turn the screws, as opposed to steam-driven pistons.

Where did you hear that?

I sailed on a few steam turbine ships in the merchant marine and they were all designated SS - no differentiation in the Coast Guard documentation between steam turbines and reciprocating steam as found on the Libery Ships.

FWIW SS United States wasn't that unique in her propulsion - most of the big Atlantic Liners in the 30's had steam turbine propulsion (Queen Mary/Queen Elizabeth for example).

[p51]

i've followed the saga of this ship from the last time she docked. chalk it up to kids & gen xers that don't give a rat's poop shoot about history!!

Not just them, there's no real money coming from people of any age range for preservation (myself included, you simply can't donate money to every project you think deserves money unless you're rich).
When I was in Maryland with the Army, I used to drive up to Philly from time to time to see the USS Olympia and the SS US was impossible to miss. For those who've never been there, you can see the funnels from literally miles away. So sad seeing her in the condition she's in.

[SaxMan]

As tough as it is saving airplanes in terms of labor and money, saving a ship requires many times the magnitude of both, and unlike an airplane, it's near impossible to bring a ship "inside" once it is saved, and preservation is a never ending process.

I saw a news clip on the Yorktown recently and couldn't believe how sad her hull condition was from the inside. I wish there was money to save them all, but sadly, I don't think that is going to be the case. It would be nice if the United States followed Great Britain's lead and had a national lottery for the sake of benefiting historical sites, but given the atmosphere in D.C., I doubt such legislation could ever pass.

[p51]

As tough as it is saving airplanes in terms of labor and money, saving a ship requires many times the magnitude of both, and unlike an airplane, it's near impossible to bring a ship "inside" once it is saved, and preservation is a never ending process.

I agree 100%.
When groups or cities take on such a large project, they almost always forget that when these ships were earning their keep, they had large crews that handled painting and keeping things in running order. Once a ship is mothballed, those guys and gals walk off the gangplank and never come back. It's left up to a volunteer force that is never staffed to keep up with basic preventative maintenance. So, years go by, said ship slowly deteriorates, and the city then screams, "why won't anyone step in and provide the funds to keep this hole in the water afloat?"
Serious lack of foresight can be observed with the vast majority of museum ships today when someone first signs on for a crushing level of responsibility. I applaud all those who take these projects on, but I also question the sanity of doing so.
With an airplane, once you restore it, you can put it into a climate controlled building and for the most part, it'll be in that condition for many years with minimal work done (assuming you don't fire it up or fly it, that is). Same thing with a railroad steam locomotive, for the most part.
But with a ship, once you do even a full dry dock restoration, you've only re-set the clock which starts ticking again the second you let water back into the drydock again...
The USS Texas group was looking to get her out of the water (by daming up the back side of the display space and draining the water out, having the ship sitting on blocks as she would in drydock), but of course lack of funds killed that for now. Having seen this great battleship in September, I agree that's the best for her and ships like her. If you're never going to fire up the boilers again anyway, I see no need to have water surrounding the vessel in terms of longterm preservation.

[Fearless Tower]

The USS Texas group was looking to get her out of the water (by daming up the back side of the display space and draining the water out, having the ship sitting on blocks as she would in drydock), but of course lack of funds killed that for now.

As I understand it, the big issue with the 'drydock' idea was that the condition of the hull has deteriorated to such an extent that she would not support her own weight if out of the water. Last I heard, they were looking at possible options involving filling the hull with concrete inside and then encasing the outer hull with concrete as well, but that was about 5 years ago. Not sure what the latest plan is.

[Fearless Tower]

I saw a news clip on the Yorktown recently and couldn't believe how sad her hull condition was from the inside.

Haven't seen YORKTOWN yet, but have been aboard both LEXINGTON and MIDWAY. Midway is actually appeared to be in decent shape. LEXINGTON not so much. She is in horrible condition and probably won't be long before she is in extremis like TEXAS.

[tom d. friedman]

As tough as it is saving airplanes in terms of labor and money, saving a ship requires many times the magnitude of both, and unlike an airplane, it's near impossible to bring a ship "inside" once it is saved, and preservation is a never ending process.

I saw a news clip on the Yorktown recently and couldn't believe how sad her hull condition was from the inside. I wish there was money to save them all, but sadly, I don't think that is going to be the case. It would be nice if the United States followed Great Britain's lead and had a national lottery for the sake of benefiting historical sites, but given the atmosphere in D.C., I doubt such legislation could ever pass.

some real perspective their as to your statement. the truth hurts cut & dry!!

[Pat Carry]

Ten years from now several of the museum ships will be artifical reefs. There is no getting around it.

[Pat Carry]

Neat video on one of the greatest ships this country has ever built. In desperate need of help/$$ (lot's of $$) before the scrap man gets her. Yes, I know, not a Warbird (but worthy of maximum visibility before the topic gets moved)...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-3445_162-57 ... ed-states/

Two good websites to check out for lots of info about the SS United States. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States & http://www.ssusc.org Interestingly the ship cost 78 million buks to build in the early 50's. Thats a whole bunch of money especially in 1952. Scrap value today would be what, a milion buks?

[Noha307]

i've followed the saga of this ship from the last time she docked. chalk it up to kids & gen xers that don't give a rat's poop shoot about history!!

Hey! I take offense at that! I've been receiving e-mails about this effort since at least August 2012. (Man, that sounds petty.)

Actually, I'm not really all that offended. No worries.

By the way, "TSS" means "Turbine Steam Ship". TSS's used steam-driven turbines to turn the screws, as opposed to steam-driven pistons.

Where did you hear that?

I sailed on a few steam turbine ships in the merchant marine and they were all designated SS - no differentiation in the Coast Guard documentation between steam turbines and reciprocating steam as found on the Libery Ships.

Yeah, I thought the TSS designation was a bit odd as well.

some real perspective their as to your statement. the truth hurts cut & dry!!

To be a bit more optimistic, though I really do appreciate honesty, there's the sucessful repair job done on the Laffey's hull. You can find some excellent pictures of the work - as well as examples of the corrosion issue - on the NavSource website.

The thing that kills me is that the one type museum ship we have plenty of is WWII submarines. I would give two of them just to save the Olympia. Not that I would rather we not have them mind you. Subs are so much smaller than just about every other type of ship (or at least the older ones are) so they're easier to take care of. They're the one type of ship that you can feasibly put on land. Have a look at how many surviving Oberon-class subs there are - I can't think of any other class of warship so well represented with surviving members.

On a final note, in the spirit of "maximum visibility", here are some other warship preservation related threads from the Military Matters subforum:

• Good News for the HMVS Cerberus
• The Big 'E' ties up for the last time
• Another museum ship [Requin] needs repairs
• WWI Cruiser HMS Caroline to be preserved