Since 2011, the SS United States Conservancy has owned and been raising funds for the SS United States, a retired ocean liner docked at Pier 82 in Philadelphia. The elegant and majestic United States was designed by naval architect William Francis Gibbs and christened in 1951, holding the transatlantic speed record for an ocean liner with claims of reaching 42 knots (48 mph) during the voyage. Unfortunately, following years of disputes with Penn Warehousing, the SS United States Conservancy, which leased Pier 82 (Philadelphia, PA) for the historic SS United States, was ordered to vacate the ship from the pier on the 15th of November and be sunk off the coast of Okaloosa County, Florida. To move the 53,000 Gross Tonnage ship, the Walt Whitman and Commodore Barry bridges will temporarily be shut down by the Delaware River Port Authority and will require the use of numerous tugboats and careful planning. Due to the landing of Hurricane Helene at its destination in Mobile, Alabama, the final voyage was postponed to an unknown date.
Its departure marks the end of a popular tourist attraction; be it the unparalleled engineering, the iconic red-white-and-blue funnels that tower over the ship, or the graceful lines, thousands flock to see the ship each year. With the voyage delayed, sightseers, longtime Philadelphians, and ship reminiscers boarded the Spirit of Philadelphia cruise ship to wave goodbye.
The ocean liner sailed through the Golden Age of Television and into the Space Age, retiring in 1969 after 17 long years of service. Its retirement at Pier 82 marked the end of the era of the ocean liner, as the advent of airplanes offered faster transatlantic travel at lower prices. In the years that followed, the ship faced acquisitions, lawsuits, ownership changes, and eventually its home at the conservancy.
The ship isn’t just a symbol of American pride, it’s an engineering feat. At the time of its construction, the United States boasted advanced steam propulsion innovations, a capacity of 1,928 passengers, and 4 propellers, each over 18 feet in diameter, being described as a “superliner” in its advertisement! Today, it sits at the dock with peeling paint, a removed interior, and a grim outlook. Signs hang on the fencing reading Goodbye and Rest In Peace, for the fate of the ship is one that saddens and disheartens many. According to the conservancy, in its heyday, the ship was a haven for American passengers to enjoy comfortable rooms in a ship they could take pride in. However, be a ship resting at the bottom of the ocean, rotting in a scrapyard, or used as a hotel like the Queen Mary, its value is not in its faded paint job or seaworthiness, but its memories.
