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-Short Attention Span Theater-

Historic SS United States may be headed to the scrap yard

2015-10-08

[Daily Press] The SS United States is in financial trouble again, and its owners have made a "gut-wrenching decision" to consider the scrap heap as a final destination for the fabled Newport News-built ocean liner.

A statement released Wednesday from the SS United States Conservancy says additional donors or investors must step forward soon to sustain the dream of transforming the 1950s-era icon into a modern waterfront attraction.

"After much deliberation and consultation, the SS United States Conservancy's board of directors has decided to retain a broker to explore the potential sale of America's flagship, the SS United States, to a responsible, U.S.-based metals recycler," the statement begins.

Absent an infusion of funds or a new sales option by Oct. 31, the preservationist group says "we will have no choice but to negotiate the sale of the ship" to a recycler.

Posted by:Besoeker

#4 I was supposed to travel on her in 1965 but as usual her workers were on strike. Cunard came to our aid and traded our ticket on the SS United States for a QE1 one. The sickness has run deep.

Posted by: 3dc 2015-10-08 12:34

#3 My grandfather was on her maiden voyage - he and a number of other shipyard employees were sent, partly as awards for their work building her, but also to 'be there' if some glitch came up needing attention. That trip set the (civilian) trans-Atlantic speed record (I believe it still stands.)(I suspect the USS Enterprise, which my grandfathers also helped build, would hold the overall surface speed record, but it's still classified.) Gibbs' masterpiece was something special, but jet travel made her obsolete anyway.

Posted by: Glenmore 2015-10-08 09:31

#2 ...I would give anything to see her as a museum/attraction, but the math is brutally clear: ocean liners were only built for a thirty year lifespan, and United States is coming up on her 65th birthday. At best she would be hideously expensive to renovate and operate, and she has had almost no maintenance at all done in thirty years.

We gotta let her go. Save parts - get them to the Mariner's Museum at Newport News (a hidden treasure if there ever was one) and say goodbye.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2015-10-08 05:31

#1 D *** NG, don't recall off-hand which one but IIRC from last month ditto awaits either the Queen Liz OR Queen Mary liners = waterfront tourist attractions.

Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-10-08 00:04