Exploring The Decaying "SS United States"

Scuttlebutt
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AbondonedSteve has made some more videos about the SS United States

Exploring SS United States Series - Part One

Exploring SS United States Series - Part Two

Exploring SS United States Series - Part Three

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Exploring SS United States Series - Part Four

Exploring SS United States Series - Part Five

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Enjoyed the vid of the engine room. So…Crystal has realized that they’d need at least a billion dollars to sail her again, or a substantial percentage of that to turn her into a dockside attraction- and (wisely, in my opinion) backed out. How much longer will the conservation group try to keep this hulk around? Nobody is going to shell out that kind of dough. Maybe for a casino…but you have Atlantic City not that far away. There are casinos in Delaware as well. For a hotel? There are world class hotels and restaurants in Phila.

I think it’s past time to send the old girl to the great beyond.

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The Jeremiah O’Brien is still alive as a museum and occasionally cruising from pier 45 in San Francisco. The John W. Brown has also been given a second life, spent some time in Norfolk last year and is open for business in Baltimore. They are the only 2 Liberty ships still in operational condition left in the country. Links to the volunteer organization keeping them alive:
https://www.ssjeremiahobrien.org/
http://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/

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If they were wise they wouldnt have thrown away a million bucks to learn the bleedin’ obvious.

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The costs for maintaining a Liberty Ship as a museum compared to a vessel like the UNITED STATES are minimal. Not to make light of the costs. If I am not mistaken, the JOHN W BROWN isn’t Classed, but the JEREMIAH O’BRIEN is. . . I guess one could make a museum out of the UNITED STATES in the same fashion as the Battleships ALABAMA and TEXAS. I am not sure of the condition of the ALABAMA, but I do know that the TEXAS has some major issues with hull integrity. I walked the drydock the last time the TEXAS was hauled out of the water (back in the 90s) and it was a sight to see. . . . I am with Catherder on this one. It might be time to make the old girl a reef or maybe an underwater diving park of some sort.

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As great as she was in her heyday the fact remains we are not a maritime minded nation and the bulk of our populace simply do not care. While I have a love of ships in general I am not a passenger ship aficionado. I used to see the SS United States in Norfolk in the early 80’s and she looked tired then. She was built as an ocean liner which is vastly different than cruise ships that operate today. The point being even if she was resurrected the chances are she would not be commercially viable. Any talk of turning her into a hotel type venue similar to the Queen Mary had better understand that operation struggled financially and still has problems to this day.

Her value is pretty much the value of scrap steel in a lot of peoples minds.

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On a related note: the NS Savannah in Norfolk 50 years ago when motorcycles were dangerous, sex was safe and ships had pleasing lines.