Posted on 08/05/2016 8:01:14 PM PDT by rockinqsranch
Any hope of the SS United States returning to the high seas as a modern luxury cruise ship has now faded with Los Angeles-based Crystal Cruises cancelling its plan to restore the vessel after a feasibility study determined that the project was just a bit too ambitious.
(Excerpt) Read more at gcaptain.com ...
The ship I worked on was the Queen Mary in case I left any confusion!
The United States was still in service in 1965, so I thought maybe you could have. Never visited the Queen Mary, though I did sail on the SS France; aka SS Norway.
I crossed the Atlantic on the U.S.S. United States ,from England to NYC when I was a little kid . It seemed BIG !
You have defined the whole issue. She was built for the Atlantic trade and was secretly and easily convertible to troop carrying duties. She was fast enough not to need escorts during war time.
She is an icon, a true artifact of American genius, but there is no way to operate her today at a profit. Sad to say, time has passed her by.
Unfortunately, that is the fate of most ships, it is either the bottom or the breakers.
I said that years ago... but that particular ship holds a spot in my heart as one of grandest models I ever assembled in my youth.
Except that any cruise ship that operates only between American ports is subject to the Jones act. All such ships have to be built in the US and crewed with American citizens.
The Doria-Stockholm collision was off the coast of Nantucket, not New York. But I’ve always found the story of that little girl an earthly miracle.
That is my thought. The ship has never been a viable reality. The only thing it has going for it is it’s name.
We don’t salvage 60’s autos for anything but show. Why try to salvage a ship?
S.S. United States should be towed out to sea and given a dignified burial. Set off charges so that she sinks on an even keel and observe the occasion with due ceremony.
Better than continuing her existence as an undignified rustbucket.
I used to work at a Florida hospital where we had a contract to handle the crew "sick call" for cruise ships while in port.
The pathology and immunology teaching docs LOVED it.
They got to show their residents and students some exotic bugs which they'd never see stateside in fifty years of practice.
To clarify further, I worked on the Queen around 1980, long after the ship ended its oceangoing lifetime.
"Boat" is an acronym for "Bust out another thousand".
When my family returned to the states after a 3 year tour in England (my dad was AF) we were given the option of either flying home or coming back on the SS United States. We came back by ship. This was in 1962 and I still remember the early morning hours as we sailed into NY harbor and watching the beautiful Statue of Liberty all lit up and standing tall in the night! Great memory!
When my family returned to the states after a 3 year tour in England (my dad was AF) we were given the option of either flying home or coming back on the SS United States. We came back by ship. This was in 1962 and I still remember the early morning hours as we sailed into NY harbor and watching the beautiful Statue of Liberty all lit up and standing tall in the night! Great memory!
“if the City of Long Beach had cooperated with Disney”
The City’s government has been a lost cause for 40 years. Their “biggest” accomplishment is banning plastic bags from stores. My friend moved his grocery shopping from Long Beach to Seal Beach as a result.
“if the City of Long Beach had cooperated with Disney”
The City’s government has been a lost cause for 40 years. Their “biggest” accomplishment is banning plastic bags from stores. My friend moved his grocery shopping from Long Beach to Seal Beach as a result.
And/or carbon-fiber. However, such a light ship would be unstable, I suspect, needing an abundance of ballast.
Well, fiberglass sailing yachts have tons of lead bolted to the bottom. If they want stealth, a non-ferrous ship would go a long ways in that direction, not to mention it wouldn't attract magnetic mines.
Money, I assume.
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