S.S. United States - Abandoned Ocean Liner Exploration
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- Опубликовано: 24 янв 2022
- In this video we were given the amazing opportunity to explore the S.S. United States. This ship has been out of service since 1969. In 1984 the contents of the ship were sold off, and from 1993-1994 she underwent asbestos removal, so much of the interior is empty today. The S.S. United States conservancy hopes to restore her and have been raising money to do so since 2009. For more information visit SSUSC.ORG
Special thanks to Jake Williams for arranging this opportunity and the conservancy for having us onboard and giving us a tour.
Check out Bright Sun Films Abandoned video for a full history of the ship:
• Abandoned - S.S. Unite...
And his exploration video he filmed while we were with him:
• Inside The ABANDONED S...
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I sailed on the S.S. United States in 1958 from La Harve to NYC with my parents to return to the U.S. after 3 years living in France so my father could serve in multiple roles for the U.S. Air Force (e.g., NATO, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). I was not familiar with the ship's achievements at that time and spent much of my time seasick in a deck chair. No discredit to the ship, my most vivid memory is spotting the Statue of Liberty and feeling a sense of relief on several levels, including an end to my seasickness and a sense of once again being "home.".
What you didn't know is that its best to have a deep honk and bring it all up plus a bit of ginger and block one ear up to confuse balance. Royal Navy did this for hundreds of years learn from your forefathers!
@@bertiewooster3326 Honking it up and ginger I can agree with but wouldn't blocking one ear just make the dizziness worse?
Le Havre not "La Harve"
what a cool experience ! back when people dressed up to travel - Going under the Verrazano Bridge is the first symbol of coming home - the Statue and of course those twin Towers - back in the day
Must’ve been a great American life we all read and hope for!
I sailed on this fabulous ship in the Fall of 1968, on my way for a year's study in Germany. It was magic and I remember it like yesterday. Half the passengers were fellow students on their way to Universities in Europe. 1st stop Le Havre, 2nd, Portsmouth, last, Bremerhaven and we docked across from the Russian Liner Alexander Pushkin, waving at its passengers, with a rainbow over the harbor. I never before had experienced that kind of elegance & we explored places even where we were not supposed to go. Days 3 & 4: heavy seas and many students were sea-sick and had to skip the elegant meals. I hoped some day to sail on her again but it was not to be, she was retired the next year, moored many places, towed across oceans, and now rests stripped & deteriorating as we see in this video. Hey Elon, Jeff, Larry, Warren, Bill, all of you could pitch in & resurrect this American Icon. Gerald Osborn
how fortunate. another world.
Wow thank you for sharing 👍👍👍 great Story ‼️♦️♦️♦️
Thank you for sharing this story! 😊
Yes, we're are the billionaires?...they could refurbish this to look like a early vessel and run it like a seagoing adventure holiday...if they can do it for the movies why not here??
@@ahall1459 Because they want to see a guaranteed return and profit on their investment and it's simply not going to happen in this era unfortunately.
After I was adopted in Germany in1966, my parents brought me to the US aboard this ship..We still have some 35mm slides, original paperwork & brochures from that journey..Thank you for the video.
Was you an Orphan or whats the story?
@@adventureguy4119 Birth mother couldn't afford to keep me, so I was put into a youth center as an infant..At that time, Germany was encouraging American military families to adopt children & give them a better life..Probably better than what they would have had if they remained in the orphanages & youth centers..I was probably one of the lucky ones at that time.
I've seen her in person I hope restoration for her does happen. We don't have too many ocean liners left and we have even fewer large ones and even less of the notable ones. This ship made history and its held its record longer than any other liner. Its deserving of a restoration it deserves its second chance at the fame and glory it once had. I hope to one day visit her again in a much better state.
I was a passenger twice on the SS United States. Thank you for bringing back some of my fondest memories. I have a model of it where I live. There was nothing like being on the ship!
I remember the car ferries. That smell, that one thought was sea water and rotten sea plants, are actually epoxy paint. That smell on ships, are something that have burned in my brain for some strange reason.
I grew up in Norfolk, across the river from this great ship's birthplace and still have a few towels, First Class cabin service linens and an ashtray from my voyage.
I was on the 1st island of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel the sad day the ship was towed out of the Chesapeake on her way to 'renovation' in Turkey.
It is sad to think that the United States permitted this travesty to happen and we have NO Flag liner, to carry our banner.
truly? wow.
It is so important that we save heritage sites like this. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This is a national treasure. It should be treated as such.
It needs to be recycled or buried at sea. Anything else is a total waste of somebody’s money…god forbid it be the taxpayer’s. The only reason it continues to rot at a dock in south Philadelphia is the irrational effort by Gibb’s daughter to try and save an antiquated vessel. Life goes on. You can’t save everything from the past, especially things that would be ridiculously expensive to preserve…for what purpose? No one would ever cruise on it without exterior balconies…and they make lousy hotels (a la Queen Mary). The fact, the good people of Long Beach would love to give you their money pit…if it wasn’t rotting away and stuck in the mud.
With one-tenth of what the U.S. sends to Ukraine in one day, this ship could be made shipshape.
@@legalmexicananalogy to aiding human beings is asinine. Also….make it shipshape for what purpose? To rot away at some other dock? Perhaps you can send in some $$$ to get that project started. Me…I’ll send money to the food bank.
Money could be found to save a piece of crap from Britain but the symbol of our own country sits all but abandoned like this?
Itts been stripped of just about everything of value and interest. Its basically a hulk that would cost more than its worth to restore.
Having sailed on Her in the late fifties when I was a child making the crossing back to the USA and having worked for United States Lines in Savannah Georgia for many years - until the end - this brings tears to my eyes. Heart breaking.
She was an incredible ship, icon of the 1950's, our family made the East West run in 1955, a long time ago and incredible journey. Its hard to have the visions presented in this video act as a fading mirage against her beauty.
Isn’t it? It’s sad to see her in this condition. 3:41 I remember diving into that pool as a little kid and was quite surprised it was salt water!
@@tundrawomansays5067 Me too :-) Everything about her was a class act, I remember the waiters bringing out our meals under silver domes, and walking along those decks watching huge waves as we sliced through them like butter. I didn't want the experience to end as we pulled into the docks.
She certainly was fast. In 1960, at age 8 my mother and I crossed the Atlantic from Montreal, Canada to Southhampton, England on the Cunard liner HMS Ivernia. In the middle of the Atlantic, south of Iceland, I was one of the first to spot another ocean liner that had just appeared on the horizon behind us. Within about 8 minutes the ship was alongside us. The horns from both vessels were blasted in greeting and passengers were on the decks of both waving greetings. It was the S.S. United States. 8 more minutes passed and we watched the S.S. United States slip over the horizon in front of us.
I’m only ten, nut I would say if the democrats restore it it will sink, but if the republicans restore it it will cross the oceans packed with people again.
@@thomasrudder9639 Yes, it would take the Republicans and 700 million dollars to restore an ocean liner that hasn't had it's engines running for 53 years. Restoring a dinosaur and living in the past would be a typical Republican endeavor.
@@chrisgraham2904 well, the democrats would take half of the money it took to restore it, lie to us about what really happened, come back for more of our money, only to make sure it failed, full of people, to keep us in fear and make sure we are under their control.
@@thomasrudder9639 LOL I thought you said you were only 10? Someone's indoctrinated you pretty well.
@@chrisgraham2904 my Dad
I was at that port like a month ago. It really is something to see in person
It is! Videos don’t do it justice
I sailed of her with my family in May of 1958, from Scotland to New York. I still have memories and some photos of that voyage.
UK not scotland
@@Chris-nn3vu I know where I lived for part of my life, Glasgow, Scotland.
Even in it's current decaying state she looks FAST.
Truly ahead of her time. 👌😃
Shortly after I was born in Feb of 53, my mother and siblings went to Europe aboard this ship to join my dad. I dont remember any of it of course but all my life my mother recalled the trip . It was obvious it impressed her a great deal. Thanks for the video. This is the first Ive ever seen.
Such an important part of American history should be preserved for present and future generations...
Sadly, maintenance of a large vessel is a tremendous and costly undertaking that few can afford.
State can afford easily ..it would cost less 1 jet fighter (which USA has 1000s)
@@dzonikg It would cost less to just build a new SS United States. And scrap this POS. The only reason Queen Mary has been a somewhat sucessful museum ship is it was brought to Long Beach under it's own power in running condition with everything intact on board. And even then, they've had a ton of issues with stuff rusting away, and mismanagement. The only kind of "museum" ships I like are ones like the Jeremiah Brown, that are kept in actual sea-worthy condition and taken out on short cruises now and then. Tying up a boat to a dock permanently and with no working machinery is a joke. People won't go and pay money to visit something like that, maybe once and then it becomes a "been there, done that" thing. ruclips.net/video/fWRP-PLFj6E/видео.html
@@dzonikg way less than all the foreign aid we give to people that hate us.
@@brnmcc01 Does it matter if people will pay..its part off history ..its still fastest ship that ever crossed Atlantic ..and i am sure there would be lot who will pay .Look i am not even from USA but it would be terrible mistake to scrap this ship and not bring it to normal condition ,save it for future generation..maybe this generation and not interested to see it but future generation will
@@dzonikg the US must advanced fighter cost about 35million each. There's no way that ship is restored for anything close to that. It would cost ten times that or more.
I was on her in 1963. There is something about her is magnificent. I have been on many modern cruise ships but none today have the service that was on this ship.
I never thought much of her until I visited her in Philadelphia a few years ago. This beast of a ship needs to be saved. I hope the next time I see her restoration will be going on.
Years ago, I took family on my boat on a day trip that included sailing alongside her, right where she’s docked, and right under her bow.
An awe inspiring sight, given her history.
I so wish I had the wealth to restore her to her former glory.
Although this video saddens me, thank you for touring her and producing this video.
It was the most beautiful ocean liner of them all! I really think the US Government should organize a rescue of this symbol of American ingenuity and achievement.
growing up in philly we always called this titanic, it was really cool seeing the ship all the time but you get used to it and videos like this remind you of the importance it has
I came all the way to Philli to see this beautiful ship. I stood at the gate and cried, it is so amazing and such a history to be left to sit. You would think with all the money in the world, this ship would be preserved or at least be used as a floating museum. I agree with Ms. Gibbs, I would sink it to before seeing my family's legacy stripped apart. People pass by it every day; we should all support this cause because it is the last. I hope on my next visit I can run into to someone that would allow me a closer look. I'm sure there are more people that would love to tour.
Most fascinating! How awesome it would be to fully restore this ship, and turn it into a sophisticated, all out traveling vessel for the lucky few, of which I am not included, but would love to know it is out there sailing again.
"Better to burn out then fade away" slow decay not the way any of us want to go; this grand lady certainly doesn't deserve it.....
I agree, we really should let her go
Such a shame most American's of the United States lost the ability to look for options to save something and instead just give up.
Interesting video, but also a bit sad for me. I went on this amazing ship when she was docked in Norfolk in the 80s. In fact, it must have been 1984, just before all the contents were sold off. I was a teen-ager, and I remember my Father taking us there, and being so excited to see this little (big little) piece of America. He was loving it, and couldn't take it in fast enough, or get enough of it. We all loved it. Such an amazing, graceful, beautiful ship. I remember seeing all the wood, and just marveling at it. And the beautiful, rich carpet inside the craft. The dining room. Some of the halls and breeze-ways. Just amazing. We brought home a few trinkets, which are still in the Family. We've read a fair amount about it, and it's just a little piece of our Family... in some way. I come from a Family of Waterman, and so it means just a little bit more to us, I guess.
Many videos available show this ship as a strange oddity, a lost cause, and the photography is artificially "enhanced" to make the it appear even more rusted, decrepit and ruinous than it actually is. But your video shows it just as it is and I was able to get more real and useful information about it's features (in the limited areas you filmed) than from an hour of the other style of video. I just wish your video was twice as long as it was. Your commentary was very respectful and informative. Thanks for posting.
I sailed on her in around 1967. I just found one of the menus from that voyage last week. Sad to see such a proud ship left in this condition.
In February of 1964 My father and I got to go onboard the United States as it was docked in Bremerhaven ,Germany for about an hour before it sailed back to the USA . We were on our way back to the USA from France where our family was living while my father was in the U.S. Army . We left Bremerhaven , the following day , on the USS General Simon B. Buckner a U.S. Navy ship .
It's sad to let go of our past. I don't see how this ship will ever end up with any fate other than the scrap yard.
All it would take to restore her would be 20 or 30 million from about 5 of our richest billionaires and she'd be a museum or hotel for the ages. Diesel electric and latest tech. I'd love to sail on her.
@@boataxe4605 I think both of you greatly underrestimate how much it would cost to restore to anything approaching its past glory. If what you think it cost is all it took, it would have happened long ago.
Its a relic of a bygone era. If they ever were to restore it, I don't see how it could compete with modern day cruise ships, and as a museum ship not sure it would generate enough money to recoup the restoration costs.
@@wildbikerbill6530
It’s been stripped of just about everything interesting anyway. The bridge is completely gone lol. Getting rid of the rust and repainting it would probably cost 10x more than it’s worth.
Will end up as an artificial reef ...
I sailed on this great ship in 1964 with my family. I was 15. We were leaving the afb in Châteauroux France after the Cuban missile crisis. We sailed for 5 days from Le Havre to NYC. I was in a family of 7, and the ships crew put me in a room with 3 other 15 year old boys, on another deck from my family. Boy, did I have fun. I also remember the Statute of Liberty, and I thought when seeing it, I am glad to be state side. What memories, like it was yesterday.
It’s difficult to comprehend how a ship of such historical significance and majestic beauty can simply be left to rot by a nation which otherwise takes its history so seriously…
You'll probably see the Woke Mafia buy it up and refurbish it as the "SS Saint Anthony Fauci"
The USS Enterprise was a historical ship from WWII, and was sent to scrap in 1958. The Navy could no longer afford her storage after 13 years.
In the end, they preserved the Intrepid, wich is less significant historically.
I wish history was taken seriously in the U.S. It's manipulated to fit agendas for producing regional bias for political agendas. Even at the earliest levels. This ship would be taken care of IF it served a role to that purpose.
better things have been scrapped. We can't keep everything that has historical significance. Its historical significance is that it broke a speed record which has been done plenty of times, so really not that significant (admittedly the ship still holds the record for the fastest ocean liner). Yes, its a nice looking ship, but there are plenty of those about. Its beyond being restored now because it has mainly been stripped of everything of value and/or interest and it looks like it has lost/is losing structural integrity in some places due to rust. It may have life as a restaurant, function room etc but even then the cost to turn it into that would be prohibitive. Just to strip the old paint off and apply new paint would cost millions. I am afraid ultimately this ship will be scrapped in a few years.
@@cplcabs I agree with most of what you’ve written, but I think you’ve missed my point.
You can see this ship in her glory on one episode of Perry Mason (black & white). She is beautiful! As one who has done many restorations, that's a lot of cleaning, needle scaling, and sand blasting so the more volunteers the better. After many hours, you think you're going no where but one day if all goes well, She'll be a shiny new diamond that everyone who took part in can be proud of. They need to get her into dry dock like the battleship Texas. They are having success so you might want to use their method of operation.
Compared to Royal Caribbean, this is small but I can't imagine how big this was at the time, I think my parents went on this. It's incredible how big the ships are now, how times have changed, this must of been a gorgeous ship!!
"Royal Caribbean" isn't the name of a ship. It's a shipping company. The SS United States wasn't the biggest ship of her time but she was built for speed primarily. As such outright size would have slowed her down. This was at a time nobody believed that jet airliners would bury the transatlantic passenger shipping in just a few years. The SS United States was an ocean liner. Your "Royal Caribbean" are cruise ships built like floating malls. You're essentially comparing an old, classy hotel with some glass skyscraper with the latest commodities in Las Vegas. And it all can all be be reduced to a question of size. Sigh.
"I think my parents went on this" You think? Why don't you *ask them* ?? Rest assure that if they didn't go on a trip to Europe back in the 1950's they had no reason to board this ocean liner. This wasn't some cruise ship for casual travelers looking for cheap thrills. Tickets weren't cheap. Affordable transcontinental travel didn't emerge until the 1960's with jet airliners.
Last of all. The SS United States developed 250,000 horsepower in her Westinghouse steam turbines. By comparison the most powerful cruise ship of the Royal Caribbean - the Wonder of the Seas - merely develops 81,000 horsepower. While the top speed of the "Wonder" of the Seas (gaudy name) is a modest 22 knots (41km/h or 25mph) the service top speed of the SS United States was 35 knots (65km/h), she could easily sustain 38 knots (71km/h or 44mph). This is why this ship held the *Blue Riband* (fastest time across the Atlantic) for almost 70 years. And it is STILL the fastest ocean liner ever. Fact is the only faster crossing of the Atlantic was by a record catamaran specifically built to beat the outright record. This record catamaran is only 5600 tons and a mere 91 meters (270ft) long.
In top speed tests the SS United States was reported to do 42 knots. That's 78km/h or 49mph. That's faster than most modern yachts and common speed boats.
"this is small but I can't imagine how big this was at the time"
That says it all. You completely missed what this ship is famous for and what's still impressive about her (no modern ships can outrun her).
Thank you for sharing the history of a great ship that our country has...
Such a beautiful ship. I hope she's kept and restored, sadly it'll cost millions.
Probably hundreds of millions ?
Wouldn't be an issue if we weren't funding the war in Ukraine.
@@erikrhafer6644 The Galeb (look it up) restoration cost 7 million dollars, even some more, and it's a much smaller ship...
Probably not worth it yet. But when oil fuels will be reserved to planes while boats probably be running on nuclear or hydrogen power, an old vessel like the SS United States could be retrofitted with new tech and be a thing again
@@maricallo6143 wrong 450" vs 990" she all most 2!time the length and probably in aera 2 time the size. I read 9.6 million and the united states is in much worse shape.
My dream for this beautiful ship , that community comes together, and with the help of retired ship builders, restore this treasure.
nothing lasts forever, this lady was laid down as an ocean liner when that idea was the combination of luxury and speed, she was the last of this breed ever built. The current surviving liner, the Queen Mary, is luxurious but it isn't fast, not as fast as the old Queen Mary that held the Ribbon for so many years. This ship was built in cooperation between the owners and the Navy, with the owners wanting a fast luxurious liner that could compete with the Mary and the Elizabeth, and the Navy wanting an extremely fast troop carrier and were willing to pay for that. Much of the cost of construction, especially the engineering plant, came out of government funds on behalf of the Navy. The government even subsidized the operating cost as she burned a lot of fuel and with her two engine rooms, she needed double engineering crews to man her. She was specifically designed for the north atlantic operation, lacking air conditioning that would have been mandatory even in her heyday if she was to operate in the Med or the Caribbean cruise trades, her size, particularly her draft would restrict the ports that she could enter and she needed powerful tug assistance for inport maneuvers that in many cases would not be available. The cost of adding Air Conditioning to an existing ship would be considerable and I gather that is was not possible to regularly operate only one engine room except in an emergency. She was in the late sixties a vessel built for a market that for the most part no longer existed. I remember as a youngster during the fifties reading about the many liners and companies that served the Atlantic trade, I lived in NYC, and it was well covered in the press. however when the jet plane emerged and was able to transport you to Europe in some luxury (planes were different then) in eight hours instead of six days the role of the passenger liner ended, the same was true of long distance trains. At that point she was no longer able to fill her staterooms with paying passengers and the government was no longer willing to supply her never ending need for operating subsidies, as a result she ended up tied to a pier and abandoned. There were efforts to resurrect her and make her a cruise ship but these ended up removing most of her beautiful interior details and running out of money before they were replaced. This really makes her ineligible to function as a museum ship as happened to the Queen Mary and QE2, there is nothing inside her to see . Replacing her interior would probably cost way north of $100M and that doesn't address the issues of a 70 year hull and engineering plant. Modern cruise ships (and liners) are all diesel, the newer ones diesel electric with steerable engine pods and powerful bow thrusters to make tug assistance for docking and port maneuvers unnecessary. The only American cruise ship that coupled the Hawaiian islands just recently went bankrupt and very few of the tankers carrying fuel into American ports and none of the gigantic goods carrying container ships fly the American flag, the US doesn't have the shipbuilding industry to build these vessels, the engineering to power them, and the cost of American merchant crews would make their operation economically impossible.
From Deb Sims…My father was a US Air Force officer. We were stationed in England for three years during the mid-1960s. At end of tour, the military sent us home aboard the gorgeous SS United States. I was 15 and my brother was 13. We set sail from Southampton and five days later, slid past the Statue of Liberty. Seeing this film brought back very happy memories. We swam in that indoor pool and got kicked out because we were in heavy seas and the pool water kept rising and falling big time due to the rolling of the ship. That is the most unique and fun time I’ve ever had in a pool! The cabin service was superb, the food (14? course meals) was delicious. It was unique playing shuffleboard with the pucks going haywire with the sea waves. Most of the crossing was fair weather, but heavy seas had about everyone throwing up in their cabins, leaving my brother and I, immune from sea sickness, having the run of the ship. In the theatre we got to see new, not-yet-released movies. Most of all I remember the elegance of the ship. Her jet black hull, pristine white outer decks and her stunning, raked back red double stacks made one think of a thoroughbred waiting to be released. Now, those red stacks along with the interior, are faded and stripped. And she has been put out to pasture and all but forgotten. I am now 72 years old, but I will never forget her.
My father was one of the designers of the S.S. United States, working for the naval architectural firm of Gibbs and Cox in New York City. I remember when I was a little kid, there were several photos of this ship around the house.
I would so much love to see this beautiful ship restored to it's original Glory and to see her sail again as I am and always have been a fan of the Titanic!!😊
"Safer than the Titanic." Well any ship in history that has completed its maiden voyage is !
Wouldn’t any ship with damage like that one of the Titanic not sink?
@@AdekL1011 Not sure the titanic's water tight bulk heads didn't go all the way to the ceiling and i'm not sure she had a double hull. Also there is some questions about the quality of the riveting. Also there is new evidence of a fire in the Titanics coal storage bay that contributed to the sinking. So the ship wasn't as safe or in as good a shape as led to believe I don;t think.
@@chatteyj Not true. There was nothing wrong with Titanic. She was a proven design. Her full sister ship RMS Olympic enjoyed almost a 3 decade career. It was a series of events and bad decisions that lead to her demise. Facts!
You are so right! I did laugh a little bit with that comment.
@@jeffreyhinton8634fact is that the Titanic sank👀🤦♂️🤦♀️
What a metaphor for the country and ship that bear the same name.
My mom crossed on its madden voyage. I was in Philadelphia and saw it.... took photos of it and sent them to her. She emailed me photos back, that were from when it was about to depart on it madden voyage, with her standing on the deck with the funnels in the background. It is nothing like the Titanic, as the United States only wood was the butcher block. Even the piano was aluminum. Titanic had tons of ornate carved woods throughout. Enjoyed your video.
It’s pretty cool how you did this I live in Philly and go to south Philly a lot and always seen this ship just docked on Delaware Ave in south Philly I never really knew anything about it but I always wanted to know …pretty cool and thank you for making this video of this ship !!!
My dad’s parents sailed on this ship using the transatlantic route I think and to me, this brings back memories of my dads parents.
Thank you for this. I've seen its outside many times, but never the inside. Amazing.
you were able to take some really amazing, candid shots. for those of us who will never be able to get that close to this ship, thank you.
Like most of our County's memorial ships, she will be forgotten by the younger generation and eventually sold off for scrap, or scuttled for an artificial reef. Our warship memorials too will suffer the same fate. Her condition is allegory to the state of our Nation.
Absolutely. She is emblematic of the broader ruin of her namesake. And similarly, there's limited time to save her.
As a European I find It hard to belive that in the US, the most powerful nation on this planet neither a federal state organisation nor any billionaires are feeling proud or responsible to save this national icon of technological achievement dressed in elegance and style from rotting away, sorry ...
@@Cairol58 The billionaires are too busy brainwashing our children and fixing our elections. All they care about is power.
@@gvs376 so it‘s the same like in Russia 😂😂😂
@@Cairol58 Yes. Except Russia actually has fair elections, and a president who is not a clueless dementia patient.
I believe that it was in 1957 that as a small boy my father was transferred back to the United States from England and he, my mother and two brothers traveled on the SS United States. As I recall that trip was a very comfortable cruise. Being six years old my perspective was a bit limited but I always thought that it was a great experience. It saddens me to see that vessel in such a decrepit condition. 😢😢😢
Wendell you sailed on her the year I was born only 7 ears later I sailed on her to England then two years later back to the USA what a great ship it’s a shame but at least she’s not scrapped
Save the SS United States what a wonderful vessel!!!
I celebrated my 7th birthday, New Years Day 1957, traveling home when my dad completed his assignment at the American Consulate Rotterdam NL. It was a rough crossing and half the restaurant was empty as a result. My comment when I first saw her dockside in Le Harve was: Wow!
The mix of old footage and current day is just stunning.
The juxtaposition of the old footage you cut in really ads an emotional element that wouldn’t have been present otherwise. Excellent work!
It’s such a shame to see the greatest liner ever built in the .U.S., and her namesake, decaying and forgotten except for a few; a few compared to those many in our country who are not even aware she exists. Our culture has a tendency for “out with the old and in with the new”. So it is with our architectural heritage in many instances. I’ve read several great books on the SS United States over the years. If interested, the most recent one was “A Man and His Ship: America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest To Build The SS United States”. It is a biography of William Francis Gibbs, but many ships are covered, as well as The Big U. It is an excellent insightful read and highly compliments other books which mainly cover the SS US. Too bad a Musk, or Walton, or Buffet, or Bezos can’t step forward and help save her. Yes, it’s their money, but what a patriotic grand gesture! Cheers
Same in the UK, just a comparative few of us that care anything for the past and our heritage.
brother of this ship was destroyed by the sea in 15 years or 28 pieces of wreckage are in the sea today in the place where his brother was, only one of the bow remained, the rest was swallowed by the sea...
@@arthurgabriel5709 Correct you are. That ship was the SS America. I have a great vintage postcard of the SS America and the SS United States passing each other in New York harbor. I have dinner menus from the SSUS but none from the America, both great liners. Cheers
@@TheCarnivalguy I never traveled on them but from the pictures it was much better to travel on these 2 I think the american loonacy ship was also very famous than united states but on the contrary luxury went to waste, garbage to luxury
When I first came to the USA it was on this ship.
My four brothers, parents and I sailed this beautiful ship in 1964 from NY to Germany. We lived with my Grandmother for a year in Meersburg on the Bodensee lake. I was 6 years old. My mom would safety pin my cabin number to my shirt, open the door and turn me loose. It was a fabulous experience. I remember the guy would walk the halls making announcements with the "bells"-a xylophone thing.
To those who want to save the ship, the problem is that all the interior has been stripped out and this is where alot of interest and the ability to connect with the history of the ship has been lost forever. I can't see a viable option but to scrap it now. $850k a year is alot of money to throw away for nothing.....
Thanks for your time and hard work in posting your video. Would be nice if it could be berthed by the USS IOWA which is just a few minutes from the Queen Mary. It could be the "triad of great ships" Thanks.....
It has to be obvious to any level headed person that the ship is way beyond rescue, regardless of fund raising and wishful thinking!
Yes I would agree, even the Queen Mary's days are numbered, repainting and rust cleaning alone would be expensive not to mention just getting it wired for electrical, engine work, all before interior design.
@@doct0rnic Yeap. Just like with people, ships owners have to know when to just let go. With so many state of the art modern cruise ships out there (which eventually will also have their days in scrappy yards), it just makes no sense to keep QM afloat, although they have a QM2 which is also getting useless. I guess they'll have to come up with a QM3??!!! It starting to sound like the Star Wars or Rambo sequels! 😅
@@archangelliii2536 Queen Mary's Revenge
She is in much better condition than she looks. She is still rough but surveys done fairly recently showed that her hull was in surprisingly good shape and her internal structure was solid. The asbestos was already removed so most of the work is on the superstructure stripping paint and probably redoing a lot of riveting on the superstructure then all the interiors. Its going to cost a crap ton but she isn't beyond saving yet. Queen Mary is in worse shape but even she has a long time left. People like to make it sound like she is on the verge of sinking but she really isn't she is far from it and now she is under management of the city so repairs are actually being done.
Great walk through. Thank you very much.
I came to the States on this beauty in 1951. I was 2 years old and still have the pictures ...
I used to see it every day when I was in Norfolk, VA when I was in the navy from1974 to 1979. It was maintained and had all of its interior fittings and furniture. it would be moved from time to time from one pier to another. There were occasional articles in the Sunday paper and on television about rumours of the ship being reactivated but nothing ever came of them, obviously. The ship's real home port was Norfolk and its crew and shore staff all lost their jobs when it was deactivated. Over 20,000 people in all. Today, who would even know how to run its steam plant? Those people that ran it are long gone. It would be nice to see something done with it, but I don't think it will happen.
There are always engineers who know how to do this stuff. That's how they managed in the first place. 😘
It was stored at marine terminal in Newport news for a very long time before it got to towed to Philadelphia yard
I have experience running super-heated steam turbines and boilers. We have new cruise ships who has these types of plants onboard to recover waste heat from various main movers. The Radiance class for instance have two boilers delivering super-heated steam to a 10 MW steam turbine. We engineers have not forgotten to run these types of plants. 😉 But before you switch on this system you would have to do a full surrey of the entire steam system. It must be recertified before you can start to use it. It would probably be easier to remove the entire system and install a new set of boilers. All steam pipes have to be replaced as well. I expect it would be around 50 million just to re-engine the vessel. I would have installed GE LM2500+ gas turbines with a HRSG heat recovery system. But the environmentalists would probably set a stop for all that.
@@norseman5041 Well, it's only one ship and boilers with the right nozzles, fuel pressure, combustion air, secondary air, and the correct fuel temperature can run on pretty much any flammable liquid, so this ship could be set up to run on soybean oil, it has a good shelf life, high smoke point, just needs a little processing to remove the gums in it, and probably pre-heated since it has a lower flash point than #2 fuel oil. There is way more than enough soybeans grown here in the US to supply just oil for just one ship, and then it would be 'net-zero' emissions, and not dependent on foreign crude oil. Of course it could also be set up to run on bio-diesel as well, plenty of options, one ship taken for a cruise once in awhile isn't going to use very much. But 50 million to repower this ship is only a down payment... that's off by at least one zero :) Inflation and parts shortages are a killer nowadays.
@@brnmcc01 I am probably one of the engineers who has burned more biofuel than any other. We had supply issue, and we purchased all the available biofuel oil on the marked for some time. Biofuel gave us many issues, one of them was the high content of sodium. And we ''ate'' hot sections on our LM25's. Yes 50 mill is probably a ''bit'' low. We are currently building cruise ships for around 1.5 billion. But these are the largest cruise ships the world have ever seen.
What a sad situation I hope someone can restore her
Excellent commentary and a trip back in history. Regards from the Emerald Isle 🇮🇪
I thought sure this was scrapped already. Crying shame that it looks this way Rusty but still a magnificent ship. The best ocean liner I've seen. Clean lines and all in proportion too. Would be nice to have seaworthy for passengers again.
Love the history! Great production
Thanks so much!
Awesome tour, cinematography even... Sad to say but time was up 30 years ago. SS US .. scrap it. Steel prices at 10 year high and climbing.
Great video footage. I toured the ship several years ago
I was going thru Philly a few years back. Saw it as I was driving, detoured so I could check it out. It is worth saving, still very solid despite appearance
I don't it could be made seaworthy, but a stationary floating hotel and convention center would be a great a great second life.
yeah; ask the various QUEEN MARY owners how that's working out....
Una pena total abandonarlo así un lujo total 😶🌟👍
Thank you for this womderful tour. 👍🏻🚢
00:52, this shots give me chills, so epic and nostalgic. There's something grand about this black and white paint job, so....
Small discrepancy with the story. The USS United States has TWO separate engine rooms due to the fact that it was designed as a possible troop transport and a single torpedo or shell hitting an engine room wouldn’t completely disable it.
She still has the lines of a thoroughbred and a record-breaker. Imagine, standing on that raked prow powering through Atlantic swells at almost 40mph with the wind at your heels and all that horsepower behind you. Just thinking about it gives me chills. She's every bit as important a testament to hunan ingenuity and craftsmanship as the Pyramids or the Parthenon and must be saved, regardless of expense. Cut her up to make Kias or send her to the bottom and our grandchildren would never forgive us.
She had a top speed of 38knots which exceeds 40mph.She must never be allowed to rust away or be cut up for scrap,she must be preserved for all generations.
@@rusty7720 his brother the american had no luck like this the american was abandoned in fuertaventura after the rebound cable gets loose
@@arthurgabriel5709 Actually they didnt have the same bond as to Say the Titanic, Olympic, and Britannic. The SS United States was meant to be a running mate to the SS América. Not american but the SS América in her time with different owners she was called the American Star
@@altagarcha the company's ships do not have the same part of the name white star line on the ships he always named it with the same word ic ja united states lines they had the name of some part EUA
@@arthurgabriel5709 *Her, *sister, *S.S. America *towing *got.
Both were partially financed by the US government on the provision that with a next big war they could use them as troopships. But the technological development in airplanes meant that they never had to be recalled for duty as troopships. They were the US copies of the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth. QE has been lost in 70's to a fire, QM is rotting away behind a breakwater in the US someplace. They served the military during WWII and they weren't even deemed worth saving by the UK government. Makes sense that S.S. United States is rotting away in private ownership, her state of service is far less important to the US government as she didn't even got to serve in the military.
When my family returned from Germany in 1959 we were on the USS General Patch in the port of Bremerhaven. Next to us was the USS United States that left four days after us and was already getting ready to leave New York when we arrived. So sad it is in this state
Fantastic video. Really hope she is saved.
Not abandoned, still owned, simply in a retched state of disrepair.
Very 😭 sad,she should be running the ocean 🌊. RON.
As long as I can remember she's been sitting in that dock and everytime I see it I think how cool it would be to go inside. Very cool
Crows nest shot, sweet. You could almost get a feel and envision her smashing through the waves.
Imagine its 1975 to 1980 and there's the unsunk, untorpedoed, unscrapped RMS Titanic rusting away for 50+ years.
It is prohibitively expensive to preserve these old Passenger ships and although it would be nice to see such an important piece of U.S. and maritime history preserved, a ship that broke records and carried 4 presidents and countless American celebrities, it unfortunately doesn’t make much economic sense and because tourism revenue for restored ships is rarely if ever sufficient to preserve and maintain such vessels, the financial burden often times falls on the local taxpayers. Requisitioning funds that could likely, better be used elsewhere. Even the Queen Marry in California, which is largely in tact, still requires millions in restorations and maintenance, that will only continue to increase in cost over time. It’s a sad and harsh reality of trying to preserve these aging vessels.
LOVE THE COMPARISON VIDEOS TO GO WITH IT
My grandparents had a huge painting of this ship in the living room. I never knew why until recently but I'm told that my family came here from Italy on this ship in the early 1950's.
It's the USA reserve of scrap steel.I know
I don't understand why they didn't keep operating the ship till the "creditors" we're paid off. I think it's sad they stripped the ship just for money and leaving it to rot. I also think it's just plain Idiocracy of how people are so focused on money rather than morals or ethics.
because it operated at a loss due to the jet age happening
Mmmmhow old are you....
@@johnfranklin5277 45, y?
Because maintenance / operating costs were outstripping income. Ships need maintenance and overhauling, her interior was so wasted after 20 years that no one wanted to book on her because everything was mouldy and scuffed and in tatters. Refurbishing her was too expensive so the owners had no option but to sell her interior for scraps, at the same time making it less of a fire hazard and easier to do hull / superstructure maintenance with what little money they had left.
If this goes anything like her sister, she's deteriorating underneath the waterline, with hull plates getting thinner and thinner by the day.
Philadelphia Native........Truck Driver........Would sit in My Truck.. at the Dock in front of the Ship an eat my Lunch. Never knew her story...........Thanks.
8:49 that is by far my favorite part of this video. Such a beautiful, beautiful, ship. Surely it would be cheaper to rebuild this than to build a new ship.
It is interesting to compare the condition and fate of the SS United States with that of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California. Unlike the SS United States, the Queen Mary is largely complete and thankfully managed to avoid the vandalization that stripped the SS United States of most of here historic value. Dispite the well preserved condition of the Queen Mary, her fate is still uncertain and ultimately is in the hands of Californian taxpayers. Although some $5 million has been approved by the City of Long Beach for urgently needed repairs, current estimates put her longer term preservation and upkeep at near to $300 million. Estimated to be over $700 million, the cost of converting the SS United States in to an historic exhibit much like the Queen Mary seems unlikely.
The SS United States was not vandalized. It was full of asbestos like most things of that era and the entire insides areas were disassembled as part of this removal. This is also a detriment to restoration as the original cabins, fixtures and furniture are long since lost. Any 'restoration' will in truth only be 100 percent new materials.
@@greentriumph1643 Vandalized is defined as "deliberately destroying". Asbestos removal from the SS United States was done most cheaply and expeditiously as possible at the then bargain price of $10 million. After being withdrawn from service in 1969, in 1993, after tortuous negotiations and the job being refused by other (then) Ukrainian ports,, the work was finally done by unskilled workers with minimal training in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea. At the same time, (possibly to offset the low bid), much of the internal aluminum structure was "removed" (not disassembled) along with any fittings and furniture that could be sold off. The whole project was a disaster and probably sealed the inevitable fate of the liner.
@@christophercrawford3636 Yes, that is what happened.
The dock fees alone must be ruinous. I fear it may be too late for this vessel, but hope it's not. Having been cleared of asbestos is an advantage for the conservation trust, but just look at the state of her.
From other stuff I've seen the dock fees are something near $60,000 a month for it to sit where it does.
Well done. Kudos!
I remember seeing this ship docked back in the mid-90s when my family would head to Atlantic City. Crossing the Walt Whitman bridge, this ship sticks out like a sore thumb in the docks. Can't believe it's still there.
Looks like its falling apart just like the real United states
You can leave anytime.
☹️ We must stay in the Fight to take Her Back🇺🇸👍
You're correct uncle Chris. Like a ship in the water our country needs regular maintenance to make sure that the boilers are clean and all the door hinges are properly oiled. But when most just think about themselves and don't pitch in we end up like The U. S. S The Sullivans . You can't fix it wasting your life sending replies on You Tub.,...... Shit ! I gotta go. And so the rest of us should go as well because it won't fix itself. 🇺🇸😍
Honestly it would be awesome to see a untouched ( I don't want any of that mordern sleek shape of Cruise ships) New coated paint ship on the sea kinda like the Queen Mary outside it remains they can add safety features but the outside would just ruin the history the ship has if it has the shape of a cruise ship. Unlike the Queen Mary it would be cool to see it on the waves.
Lol
JUST AS GREAT AS THE QUEEN MARY!!! THIS IS A SHAME THE LAST OF THERE TIME !! SOME PEOPLE WOULD ROLL IN THERE GRAVES IF THEY KNEW WHAT THIS SHIP LOOKED LIKE NOW!!! SHAME !!!
Once they are gone, they will never be back.
Can tell you've newer been on the Queen Mary....
@@johnfranklin5277 I've been on the Queen Mary several years ago and I live about 10 minutes away. The ship is pretty cool but its in very poor shape and days are surely numbered. On the weekends they used to have a big brunch on the ship which would have been neat.
Great exploration
Thanks for sharing
are engines not removed from it?
Engines are fully intact, they were preserved by MARAD when she was taken out of service in Nov 1969.
@@captnemo8069 then is good ide do cold start for it :)
There is no wiring left in the ship. It would be cheaper to build a new ship, before you get enough done to make this so sail again. Plus the pipes would need replaced or repaired. Most things of value were removed while the ship was overseas, getting the asbestos removed. I hope it can be saved. It's just been so long and nothing ever blossoms from their efforts to save it.
Amazing it still exists, but they're a bit of a money pit if you want to save them and don't really make sense as static objects. 😕
What a beautiful video! You deserve millions of subscribers
I sailed back to the States in what must have been circa 1962 with my family. I don't remember a lot of detail but I do remember, vividly, everybody going topside to watch the Queen Mary sail by. It was a GRAND ship to be sure.
This video would have been much easier to view if the narration wouldn't have been buried by the music. It needs a re-mix, badly!
Appreciate the feedback Mark! We’re an extremely amateur group that’s still figuring things out as we go along. I’ll work on the narration mix more next time!
Not a thing of beauty, inside or out. It needs to be sent to the ship breakers for scrapping. It is just a rusting hulk of an empty shell.
You are wrong. She is actually structurally sound. She’s been checked out. She could be restored and sail again, but at great cost. She was a triumph of American technology and engineering and needs to be preserved.
In fact its a strategic reserve of scrap steel for the military.
It was built with the idea if using her as a troopship.
@@Toast0808 How much cash will you donate to help this become a reality??? 1 million?? No?? 100.000?? No?? 500 dollars? NO? 10 BUCKS? oh well, TALK IS CHEAP.......
Awesome montage! :D
Heart breaking to see this once proud ship in such a state.