Oh aren’t you sweet. Mom? Is that you mom?
Thats called fundraising. As in, the donator agrees with a mission and voluntarily provides funding. Same with the grants they have recieved, all were vetted and approved before being released.
Truth is, its not easy to deal with a nearly thousand foot long ocean liner. Dockage, watertight integrity, lines, power, insurance etc the list goes on and on before dollar 1 is put towards restoration or cosmetic improvements. SSUS Conservancy has done a hell of a job thus far keeping the ship in a state where several big names have kicked the tires and gone the extra step after that. None have worked out, and thats really unfortunate, but to tar the group as bilking people out of money is totally unfair and ignorant of how hard they have worked.
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New3M is only about 15. Too young to appreciate history.
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Yeah, in 40 years I’m gonna be begging to keep the Icon of the Seas at a pier in Philly to rot away! The history!
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You don’t understand! It was so big!
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Just asking but what technological marvels were you looking to show case?
One of the things that makes the ship an ideal candidate to be reefed is that it is already been gutted. If anyone doubts this just watch any of the recent tours of the ship on YouTube.
I’m just waiting to see the comments from Putin, Kim Jong Un, the Iranians. As that lettering on the bow slips under (assuming that happens) what a field day they will have and rightly so. As an Irishman I am incredulous that a great nation like the US can let this happen. How on earth can for example, only the 10th richest person in the US - with an estimated net worth of $106,000,000,000 and his patriotic peers actually stand and allow this to happen. The ship is asbestos free. I have not seen detailed reasons why it cannot find a berth in a place where accomodation costs are high and it would pay for itself. Surely with vision this could be done. Surely one of the patriotic billionaires would step forward, drydock it, paint it properly, build a berth, and install hotel accomodation?
On another point, the conservancy says the reefing is a contingency, but the media are calling it a decision.
Buddy, it’s a fuckin cruise ship that hasn’t run in ages.
Because no one gives a shit beyond the conservancy and a few wackos on this forum that think it’s the maritime version of the Sistine Chapel
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The last time I was at the movie theater I overheard a conversation from a couple of thirtysomethings in front of me & 1 was telling the other who Mark Twain was. When my daughter was in middle school a few years ago she had classmates who couldn’t tell time unless it was a digital clock. IMO, the truth is, most people are dumb & have no clue nor interest in history, modern engineering marvels or anything else that isn’t 2D on the internet. Only the people on this forum knows or cares about the SS United States.
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Is there such an animal as a “patriotic billionaire”? It appears that perhaps except for Bill and Melinda Gates, the only “donations” they make are bribes to the politicians who make sure they remain billionaires.
As far as technology goes, the “Big U” is just a corroded collection of late WW2 machinery that was used until the end of American steamship operations. There is nothing that broke any barriers or demonstrated any great leap in propulsion or hull design.
As an engineer and techno geek I support those who rebuild, restore, and maintain old machines of all sorts but also understand that there is a point at which the lines of passion and economics separate and that not all old stuff can be supported by a shrinking fan base.
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The SS United States no doubt was a great ship. Unfortunately, she was built at a time when the era of ocean liners was coming to an end. She was in her glory the first 5 years of service after which ridership began to decline as air travel gained in popularity. Within 10 years she began operating at a loss.
The United States was built heavily subsidized by the government to be militarily useful, i.e., troop transport. Something that when she was made available the government was not interested in pursuing.
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She holds the Blue Ribband, had an aluminum upper structure mated to a steel hull, and is widely considered to be Gibbs’ greatest design. Those may not have broken many barriers, but they are certainly impressive. To me anyway.
I look forward to checking her out as a dive attraction.
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Aluminum has been used for shipbuilding since 1891. I wonder how long the superstructure will last as a giant anode.
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That made my day 
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According to their website, Gibbs & Cox designed the Liberty Ships of WWII. I would venture to say that design and the move towards modular construction were the most impactful. Yet the 2 remaining Liberty Ships barely survive on a shoestring budget. Those ships deserve our support.
Henry Ford on history:
“History is more or less bunk. It’s tradition. We don’t want tradition. We want to live in the present and the only history that is worth a tinker’s dam is the history we make today.”
Henry Ford would be happy to know that most young people don’t know who he was. Except that he was Han Solo.
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But, please, not for warships (hope you’re listening Austal), as the Royal Navy discovered to their chagrin during the Falklands campaign.
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The British designed the Liberty, the US Maritime Commission had the design modified to use American components and shipbuilding techniques including using welding instead of riveting and modular assemblies. There is no doubt Gibbs & Cox were involved in the Americanization of the design but they did not start with a blank page.
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It even made the news over here:
A record-breaking passenger ship is set to become the world’s largest artificial reef (msn.com)
a sad story for the ship as well as the usa for even were the ship overhauled with all the latest money/energy saving tech. it’d want to be flagged us and I don’t see anyway a US flagged passenger cruise ship could attract enough customers to pay its way. It just costs so darn much money to run the us flag with the associated costs, supplies victuals, labor, inport costs, insurance, kricky, the costs are astronomical and sailing on something as novel as the "ss usa’’ isn’t going to attract the volume of customers.