SS United States

After the encouraging words of Sir Winston Churchill about the Cunard Line Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth liners, the United States decided to build its own high-speed liner.

Two large airliners ( Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth ) contributed to the outcome of World War II by transporting troops around the globe. Such transportation was undoubtedly valuable in the event of war, so the US government, in cooperation with the United States Line, decided to order the ship, which will become one of the most luxurious and fastest ships in the world. The new exclusively American liner, which was to join the race for the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic .

The US Government put forward three conditions, and the ship had to meet all three without fail. The ship was supposed to be fast, safe and could easily be converted into military transport. The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in Virginia, led by William Francis Gibbs, was commissioned to build the new ship. For thirty years he dreamed of a three-hundred-meter liner, capable of developing high speed. He was responsible for the conversion of the German Vaterland liner to the Leviathan after the First World War . But this time he was given complete freedom of action during the construction of a completely new American airliner. The keel of his future masterpiece was laid on February 8, 1950 .

The new ship was baptized on June 23, 1951 , and was called United States ( eng. - “United States”). To ensure high speed, Gibbs put on the ship engines that were originally intended for installation on an aircraft carrier . In order for the ship to meet two other requirements, safety and quick conversion, Gibbs wanted to make a simpler, new interior design. Fascinated by the creation of a fully fireproof vessel, Gibbs did everything possible not to use any flammable materials. The interiors of United States were made of glass, steel, synthetics and aluminum. Furniture, railings and deck chairs were made of aluminum. Gibbs even asked the Steinway Company to make an aluminum grand piano for United States, but they refused. In the end, the only wood on board was the piano. But not a single passenger complained about the level of comfort on the ship.

Simple interiors that could be converted to transport ship standards were also part of the requirements. Compared to older vessels, which could take up to three months to re-equip, United States could be refitted in a few days. For these requirements, the government paid 70% of the cost of building the vessel, which amounted to (at the end of construction) $ 78,000,000. But in fact, United States never served as a military transport.

With a length of 302 meters, United States was the longest American ship. He was already a little “Queens” Kunard Line and therefore could pass the Panama Canal, unlike “ Queen Mary ” and “ Queen Elizabeth ”.

To the whole world, United States is remembered for its speed. During sea trials, which lasted six weeks, he developed a fantastic speed of 38.25 knots. All thanks to Westinghouse turbines, which allowed to develop a capacity of 240,000 horsepower. But due to the possible military role of the ship, these characteristics were kept secret until 1978 . Nevertheless, the fact that the first voyage will be record-breaking, and even crushingly record-breaking, was undeniable.

The United States really lived up to expectations, and on July 3, 1952, he first left the pier in New York , heading to Le Havre and Southampton . Reaching Bishop Rock, he walked at a speed of 35.59 knots, and thus broke the Queen Mary 14-year-old record by ten hours and two minutes. When the captain of the new record holder, Harry Manning, was interviewed after a victorious voyage, he said that he simply traveled on his ship.

During the first voyage, United States used only two-thirds of the total engine power. If he walked at full speed, then the gap between his record and Queen Mary's performance would have been much greater.

United States has become very popular: they even gave it the gentle nickname of Big Yu. In the 1950s, most transatlantic travelers were Americans, and the fact that United States was the only American super liner meant that they wanted to travel on it. And, despite its somewhat cold and simple interiors, it introduced a new kind of ocean liner, and for many people it soon became a favorite ship.

United States worked along the North Atlantic path with its partner, America . For the first time two “queens” Kunard Line faced worthy competitors. This competition continued in the 1950s, but with the beginning of the new decade a new competitor appeared - a jet airliner . With the introduction of a jet aircraft, passengers could cross the Atlantic at a speed of 500 knots in just 6-8 hours. Despite all its advantages, United States, of course, could not resist such an opponent. Like all other transatlantic shipping companies, United States Line began to lose money. The situation worsened when unions began to demand higher wages for crew members. Ultimately, United States Line began using the ship as a cruise ship, which, of course, was not originally planned. In 1961, the U.S. Congress allowed United States to take off-season cruises, and he launched the first of these on January 20, 1962 . It was a 14-day cruise from New York to the ports of Nassau , Trinidad , Curacao and San Cristobal with a minimum price of $ 520.

In 1964, United States was sold to Chandris Line for $ 4,250,000. The United States were left on the line, but it caused multimillion-dollar losses every season.

On October 25, 1969, with approximately 400 transatlantic voyages, United States captain John S. Tucker received a message announcing the cancellation of an earlier planned autumn cruise, and the ship should have been taken to the shipyard for reconstruction.

At the end of 1969, the liner was put on a joke. "Big Yu" was under the authority of the American Federal Maritime Administration. Since most of its construction was a state secret, they stated that the ship would never be sold. Therefore, the liner remained in Virginia .

Towards the end of the 1970s, Norwegian shipping tycoon Noot Kloster, chairman of the Norwegian Caribbean Cruise Lines, made an offer to buy the ship. He was looking for a large ship to convert it into a cruise ship, but in the end he abandoned this idea and bought the French Line France campaign liner, which he later successfully converted to the Norway cruise ship.

In 1978, an American company conceived of this. The Seattle-based company The United States Cruises Inc bought the ship for $ 5 million. Company manager Richard H. Hadley had big plans for United States. He intended to completely repair the ship for $ 150,000,000 and give him a completely new life for the cruise ship. Although he has come a long way, and even signed contracts with shipyards to carry out repairs, his dream did not come true, since in 1992 The United States Cruises Inc went bankrupt. Bailiffs seized the forty-year-old United States, and the ship was put up for sale.

The highest price of $ 2,600,000 was offered by Fred Meyer, president of Commodore Cruise Line. In collaboration with Turkish shipyards in Istanbul , Meyer had an interesting idea that included the legendary Kunard Line . It was decided that after the repair of United States, Kunard Line will be managed as a partner of Queen Elizabeth 2. Like the Queen, Big U would serve on the North Atlantic route in the summer, and spend the winter months as a cruise ship. In June 1992, United States was towed to Istanbul . From Istanbul, the liner went to Sevastopol , where in November 1993, its asbestos removal began at the Sevmorzavod dock. Within six months, one and a half thousand workers completely cleaned it of asbestos structures and everything of value. In some homes of Sevastopol and now stored items from United States. ^[1]

But the financial situation was again overestimated. The expected government assistance was never provided, and work on United States was discontinued. They later explained to Kunard Line that they were no longer interested in the ship and believed that “Queen Elizabeth 2” would be enough. In 1996, the ship was towed in the United States to shipyards in Philadelphia .

In 2016, the liner continued to stand in Philadelphia. In 2003, the Norway Cruise Line (NCL) bought the ship with the official intention of fully restoring it for the role of a cruise ship. In May 2006, the chairman of Star Cruises, which includes NCL, announced that the company's next project was the restoration of United States. By May 2007, the company had about 100 ship projects. In February 2009 , it was reported that Star Cruises were looking for United States buyers.

In July 2010, the vessel was bought back for $ 5.8 million ^[2] by the SS United States Conservancy ^[3] organization, created, according to the organizers, in order to “save the once forgotten national flagship from death and bring it into a brighter future” , in the possession of descendants. " On July 1, 2010, a solemn ceremony of raising the US state flag on the mast of the ship was held and night illumination of the hull of the liner was put into operation ^[4] . There were plans to restore the liner to its original state. On February 7, 2012, the first restoration work began.

On August 5, 2016, it was announced that the restoration of the liner was impossible "due to insurmountable difficulties" ^[5] .

• United States 1952 - Present Day
• UNITED STATES CONSERVANCY