Saving the SS United States

[Steve Nelson]

Speaking of cruise ships, there is a fellow from Australia who wants to build a replica of the Titanic and have it sailing the seven seas by 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17890754. I say pretty kool but stay away from icebergs.

Looking at the computer renderings, the replica not only has many more lifeboats (I've heard each with a 150-person capacity) and an extra inset boat deck below the promenade, she also has some other modern refinements like transverse bow thrusters. I would assume she'd have modern engines as well, rather than the massive reciprocating steam powerplants of the original (although I think the center engine on the original may have been a steam turbine.)

SN

[p51]

The SS United States is, in my mind, far more danger than a warship for pur preservation in that it doesn't have the 'wow factor' of a warship for people visiting it as a museum. I don't know of any large ocean liners that are preserved only as museums.
With this goliath of the seas, either getting her rebuilt to a cruise ship or as a hotel are the only two options to assure her future. I certainly hope either fate for her for would love to see her underway carrying passengers from a dock for a cruise (I was born right after she last ran under her own power). My wife and I have done two cruises (the inside passage in Alaska and all the Hawaiian islands) and I'd gladly go almost anywhere this ship is sailing if they ever get her refitted as a cruise ship...

The biggest problem to re-activating the United States is that the 1984 auction sold off everything not nailed down and some things that were.
Tom Bowers

I agree, Tom. That's why the last time I saw her tied up in Philly in 2009, I assumed it was the last time I'd ever see her again...

[Steve Nelson]

Speaking of cruise ships, there is a fellow from Australia who wants to build a replica of the Titanic and have it sailing the seven seas by 2016. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17890754. I say pretty kool but stay away from icebergs.

Sounds like it's just the latest in a long line of this guy's publicity stunts. From the Wiki page on Titanic 2 (Diesel Electric Boogaloo):

"Clive Palmer has been described as an 'eccentric billionare' with a reputation for bizarre publicity stunts, such as the attempt to create a massive Jurassic Park style dinosaur theme park at his golf resort. It has also been noted that the publicity surrounding the Titanic II coincided with Palmer's announcement of his entry in to Australian federal politics, which was made immediately following the Titanic II conference. Palmer had previously claimed that he was the target of a conspiracy involving Barack Obama, the CIA, the Rockefeller Foundation and Greenpeace, who he believed were attempting to close down his mining operation. In 2010, Palmer started a company called Zeppelin International, with the intention of making a commercially viable Zeppelin. After the plan came to nothing, it was ridiculed as the 'bizarre move of the year' by Australian business website Smartcompany. He has gained a reputation in Australia for floating ambitious and unusual business ideas which he fails to see through, and the Titanic II has been described as 'a classic Clive Palmer announcement'."

The Chinese shipyard that's supposedly going to build the thing (in three years no less) says no contract has been signed, and they're not even sure they have the capability. They'd need to expand their facilities, and have never built a passenger vessel, which would involve much higher safety standards and much more red tape than a freighter.


Getting back to the SS United States, it would certainly be nice to see her preserved or even returned to some sort of cruise/excursion status, but unless somebody has several cubic yards of cash laying around, I suspect she'll probably eventually end up with the breakers.

SN

[Fearless Tower]

The Chinese shipyard that's supposedly going to build the thing (in three years no less)

That is actually the most believable part - You'd be suprised how fast a Chinese shipyard can crank out something just based on their track record with new warship construction.....although I sure wouldn't want to be underway on something that came out of one of their shipyards.

[Xray]

The Chinese shipyard that's supposedly going to build the thing (in three years no less)

That is actually the most believable part - You'd be suprised how fast a Chinese shipyard can crank out something just based on their track record with new warship construction.....although I sure wouldn't want to be underway on something that came out of one of their shipyards.

Yeah, a hot shotted Asian Titanic clone sounds none too appealing - At least there are no icebergs in the south Pacific ! I think the main danger would be an engine dropping out through the bottom, or a propeller coming free and piercing the hull.
This guy sounds like he is fixated on Howard Hughes, who routinely had grandiose and whacky ideas, but at least followed through with them, and managed to come up with some world class innovations.

[Chris Brame]

This guy sounds like he is fixated on Howard Hughes, who routinely had grandiose and whacky ideas, but at least followed through with them, and managed to come up with some world class innovations.

Good. Maybe we can talk him into building another Spruce Goose and proving once and for all how well it would have flown...

[C5Bgal]

I do have a personal connection to the SS United States, in late June/early July 1969, my beloved late dad (who was terrified of flying) sailed back to the US from France on her. He befriended a group of Notre Dame college students, partied with them throughout the whole trip and they all wrote to him for fatherly advice until his death in 1977. Mom and I stayed longer in Austria with my grandparents and flew home.

So I look fondly on the SS United States! I hope a miracle happens....

[Noha307]

Almost all museum ships should be put in drydocks/ on land. There is just no future for them in water. It's time people start realising that.

isnt that like saying all flying warbirds shouldn't be in the air either?

Trust me, you're not the only one who noticed that and thought it was ironic.

[APG85]

My father saw the United States docked in Bremerhaven when he was in the Army in the 50's. He said she was an incredible sight. He talked about it periodically through the years and it sparked my interest in the ship.

A new biography is out on William Francis Gibbs who designed the United States. The book is titled: A Man And his Ship. It's fantastic...

[Garth]

Sax Man,
From what my brother-in-law, who is a retired Navy LCDR, told me, the big problem were the propulsion systems in the battleships. When they were first reactivated, the Navy had to recall WWII and Korean War vets to show them how to operate them.

With respect to your brother-in-law, the issue wasn't the propulsion systems. In the 1980s there were plenty of ships in the US Navy with plants similar to the Iowas.

In fact, the first two ships of the Sacramento-class fast support ships, which were in service as late as 2004 used the propulsion plants from the never-completed 5th Iowa-class ship (Kentucky, BB-66).

Per Paul Stillwell's "Battleship New Jersey: An Illustrated History" a LOT of former BB sailors came out of retirement just to serve on the ships one more time. To the point where the New Jersey's medical staff was dealing with a much higher than usual number of ailments like chronic lower-back pain. The area where they made the biggest contribution was with the 16" and 5" gun systems.

The main reason why the Iowas were taken out of service was that they were incredibly expensive, limited-mission ships. They could only carry 32 Tomahawks for the land-attack role, while Aegis cruisers and destroyers could carry a couple times that many, plus Standards and VL ASROCS for the counter-air and counter-sub missions. And do so with a fraction of the manning requirements.

Their real raison d'être for staying in the fleet, once the Soviet Union collapsed and they weren't going to go toe-to-toe with Kirov-class battlecruisers using anti-ship Tomahawks and Harpoons, was the ability to deliver relatively-precise munitions onto targets during just about every weather scenario imaginable. And do so in a very sustained manner (Malcom Muir's book on the Iowas pointed out that they could deliver many times the tonnage of ordinance that a carrier airwing could over the course of a few hours, within the 25nm range of the 16" guns).

When the Iowas left service DARPA was moving forward with a conceptual 100nm range 11" subcaliber sabot shell that would be GPS-guided. Really neat stuff, except for the fact that GPS systems could also be tacked onto Mk.84 bombs ... giving B-52s, and later B-1s and B-2s the ability to fulfill the same exact mission, with much greater precision, over much larger ranges. Such as the ones experienced in places like Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Russ Matthews]

A terrific summation of all the "might have beens" related to returning the Big U to service following her retirement appeared today (Feb 28, 2013) on the Maritime Matters website. You can read it here ...

http://maritimematters.com/2013/02/s-s-united-states-the-turkish-years-1992-1996-what-might-have-been/

[ZRX61]

That guy has a 727 sat at VNY.

"Clive Palmer has been described as an 'eccentric billionare' with a reputation for bizarre publicity stunts, such as the attempt to create a massive Jurassic Park style dinosaur theme park at his golf resort. It has also been noted that the publicity surrounding the Titanic II coincided with Palmer's announcement of his entry in to Australian federal politics, which was made immediately following the Titanic II conference. Palmer had previously claimed that he was the target of a conspiracy involving Barack Obama, the CIA, the Rockefeller Foundation and Greenpeace, who he believed were attempting to close down his mining operation. In 2010, Palmer started a company called Zeppelin International, with the intention of making a commercially viable Zeppelin. After the plan came to nothing, it was ridiculed as the 'bizarre move of the year' by Australian business website Smartcompany. He has gained a reputation in Australia for floating ambitious and unusual business ideas which he fails to see through, and the Titanic II has been described as 'a classic Clive Palmer announcement'."

[Mark Allen M]

Just saw the movie 'Dead man down' ... A nice amount of S.S. United States footage. Maybe Hollywood is just what the old ship needs to help stay alive a bit longer. Movie was interesting.

[Cherrybomber13]

Don't let James Cameron get a hold of her...

[Mark Allen M]

Don't let James Cameron get a hold of her...

Oh but to the contrary my friend! James Cameron would be an ideal candidate. Plenty of financial resources, plenty of connections to others with plenty of financial resources, plenty of interest in maritime endeavors, plenty of influence with valuable powers that be ... And is known as actually a good guy. Problem is he's also known as a shrewd investor. Not sure the return would be worth the investment for this fellow. But as for a Hollywood exposure for the old boat, that actually sounds like a good thing for no more than the exposure Hollywood can generate.