Record Holder

You may know that I have a bit of history with ships and for a number of reasons, I’m not writing about most of them here. But today I thought I’d talk about a ship that I’ve been familiar with for a good number of years, but never directly involved in the story. 

The SS United States was historic right from her beginning. She was the fastest ocean liner in her day — and — is still the fastest. 
After World War II, the U.S. realized how valuable it would be to have luxury liners that could be converted into troop ships. The SS United States’ designer, William Francis Gibbs, did research for years about how to make the fastest ship possible. 
The SS United States was designed as a top-secret, convertible troop carrier and Cold War weapon that could transport 14,000 troops 10,000 miles without refueling.

The ship was built (in secrecy) at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company — it was the first major ocean liner to be built in dry dock — primarily to keep prying eyes away. The ship was built from keel-laying to delivery in just two years and three months. The job employed over 3,100 shipyard workers. 
The designer used all aluminum to keep the ship light. She was 100 feet longer than the Titanic, and all the furnishings were made fireproof — almost no wood was used on board. But what was used was flame-proof — even the wooden piano.

In her maiden voyage, the SS United States reached a speed of 36 knots. During sea trials, the ship topped out at 38 knots (44 mph.) The ship shattered the previous transatlantic speed record and that record has yet to be broken by another ocean liner. 

The ship was nicknamed America’s Flagship and carried many celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Judy Garland as well as four U.S. presidents. It turns out that even the commander of the ship was a celebrity — Commodore Harry Manning had been a co-pilot of Amelia Earhart. 

But as famous and record-breaking as she was, the ship has been sitting in Philadelphia for years. So why did she wind up out of use in Philadelphia? The answer is the jet-age arrived — and ship crossings fell in popularity. The ship was taken out of service and sealed in 1969. The U.S. Navy kept her ready until 1978. Over the years a series of private owners had big plans for the SS United States — like sea-going time-share condominiums. The Norwegian Cruise Line bought the ship in 2003 and planned to rehabilitate it for cruise service, but the recession put an end to that plan. Just recently, a contingent contract was approved to move the ship to Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida, where she will be intentionally sunk offshore and transformed into a diving mecca.
So if that happens, she’ll be able to add another record to her impressive list — the world’s largest artificial reef.
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