The builder of the SS United States learned from many of the mistakes of his predecessors and contemporaries when he created his"Ideal Ship."

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by noted author and vaccine inventor, Dr. Paul Offit. Offit, probably most well known for his book Autism’s False Prophets was in town to raise money for a group that aims to vaccinate every child in the world and he spoke about his earlier book, Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases, the life story of Dr. Maurice R. Hilleman. He mentioned that many, in fact almost all, of the major vaccines in use to today were developed right here in Philadelphia. Perhaps this is a more widely known fact than I’m giving the general public credit for, but it seems a shame that our city isn’t more firmly linked to its overall impact on public health.

This isn’t surprising given how poor the city has always been at touting the achievements that have been accomplished here. We speak flippantly about being a “city of firsts” but rarely do we get beyond that first ten or twelve years of the nation’s existence when Philadelphia was the center of western civilization.  Instead, our firsts - like having the first public library, the first public grammar school, the first zoo, or the first ice cream producer - are packed away on a shelf to collect dust until someone randomly stumbles upon them.  At a time where the our collective attitude is “what have you done for me lately?” Philadelphia often fails to promote some very real and relevant answers to that question.

And that brings us to the story of the S.S. United States, a ship which lately has not been given the opportunity to do much for us from its resting place at Pier 82 in South Philadelphia.  But right in our own backyard is the vessel which revolutionized ocean travel and still holds the record as the fastest transatlantic passenger ship in history.

Chalk it up to another random opportunity brought on by a connection that I made several months ago but on Friday I once again found myself sitting in a lavish room where people were sipping wine and enjoying a Power Point enhanced lecture by another author who dabbles in history.  This time the author was Steven Ujifusa, whose tentatively titled book The Ideal Ship:William Francis Gibbs and the S.S. United States will be released in 2010 and will chronicle the story of what most people only know as that rusting carcass that one can see while enjoying some $4.99 Gravad Lax Salad in the upstairs cafe at the Columbus Boulevard IKEA.  Over the course of almost two hours, Ujifusa captivated the audience with a tale of a man who defied the wishes of his once wealthy but eventually bankrupt father that he become a lawyer, pursuing instead his dream to design some of the largest, fastest and most well constructed ships in history.

Steven Ujifusa, author of tentatively titled "The Ideal Ship," speaking last Friday night

Ujifusa also happens to be a board member of the S.S. United States Conservancy and spoke about recent news about Williams Gibbs’ magnum opus.  Currently, the ship’s parent company, Star Cruises (parent company of Norwegian Cruise Lines) is seeking to sell the ship but under terms that it will only be sold to a a U.S. buyer and will not be sold for scrap.  WHYY’s Elizabeth Fiedler spoke to Ujifusa about these developments and describes him as “cautiously optimistic.”  While the ship is not in imminent danger of meeting the fate of some of its contemporaries - sold for scrap to Indian or Chinese interests who prize the ships for their high quality steel - the continued expense of keeping and docking the ship could eventually lead to such a fate if a buyer can’t be found.  Oddly enough, it seems like a number of the great ocean liners of the early to mid 20th century caught fire some way or another and burned.  Only a few still exist in a way that is accessible to tourists.

So I have to admit, I’m hooked.  I have joined the ranks of the people who think that losing this vessel would be a tragedy.  The ship’s history, its grandeur, the role it played in both the history of transportation and the history of this nation make it one of those once in a century items that rise above their initial value and usefulness to become much more.  Ujifusa often uses the quote that he used in Liz Fiedler’s piece:

It would be the equivalent of destroying the Brooklyn Bridge and tearing it up for scrap value.  It is a true national icon and completely irreplaceable.

Being a native New Yorker probably explains the ease with which Ujifusa access an NYC-based metaphor. He also suggested as a reclamation plan for the ship that it be towed to New York and set up alongside the Intrepid, an example of a successful preservation of an historic vessel.  And I agree that the first priority should be preserving the ship, whether it ends up in New York, Los Angeles, or even Omaha (which might be difficult).  But to Philadelphians, the second priority should be to make every attempt to keep the United States in this city.  The ship’s builder, William Francis Gibbs, was born and raised in Philadelphia and though he experienced his own glory days in New York, he always considered Philadelphia to be his home.  If done right, the ship could be an attraction that brings people in from all over the world. In fact, at its current location it has the potential to anchor the southern end of the Central Delaware redevelopment and provide a family-friendly attraction around which the rest of the pedestrian scale development and transit improvements called for by the Central Delaware plan can take place.  If you refit, they will come.

Unfortunately, the ship suffers from (a) a lack of awareness of its importance by the city’s elite and (b) a severe lack of eccentric Philadelphia billionaires willing to pony up the cash for the fun of it.

Ujifusa estimated that the scrap value of the ship is $5 million which means that it would take at least that much just to purchase the vessel from Star Cruises.  He very rougly estimated a $50-$100 million price tag for renovating it into a land-based attraction and $500 million or more to return it to a passenger vessel.  Even in its heyday, the ship was never profitable in the sense that it couldn’t operate without continued government subsidies.  Today, with the government in the business of “owning” things like banks and auto companies, it’s unlikely that there would be much public support for owning a ship, even if it could do the New York to San Francisco run through the Panama Canal in about a week.  The ship is at least as important to naval and U.S. history as the, say, The Gross Clinic is to the art world but it doubtful that enough of this city’s well-connected moneyed class will come together to pony up the same $68 million that went toward keeping that painting from moving to Arkansas.  And with the city’s budget in such turmoil, we just don’t have the luxury of investing in what could be a unique attraction.

It’s a shame really.  I often apply a healthy dose of skepticism when preservationists make claims on buildings or objects.  But in the case of the S.S. United States, we are truly dealing with a one-of-a-kind piece of American history on par with Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Wright Brothers’ plane and Wrigley Field.  The fact that getting rid of it advances no particular cause of progress, that it would just happen because no one wants to take up the effort and expense to save it, is simply unconscionable.

So what will happen?  It’s unclear at this point, hence the “cautious optimism” being expressed by the ship’s biggest backers at the S.S. United States Conservancy.  Star Cruises seems to have given up all intentions of taking advantage the ship’s American flag to put in service for U.S. port to U.S. port travel.  (According to the wikipedia entry: “The SS United States is one of only a handful of ships eligible to enter such service because of the Jones Act, which requires that any vessel engaged in domestic commerce be built and flagged in the USA and operated by a predominantly American crew.”)  While they currently have a stipulation that the ship will not be sold for scrap, as the docking fees continue to accumulate and the rest of the cruise business suffers in the economic downturn, there’s no telling when economic reality might overwhelm good intentions.

So, Philadelphia, take advantage of the opportunity to get as close to the ship as possible and gaze on the “largest and fastest” passenger liner to be built in the United States (the last to capture the prestigious Blue Riband for fastest transatlantic trip) before it moves on.

What makes the S.S. United States so special?

The design for the ship that eventually set sea in 1952 dates back to between 1916 and 1919 when its builder, William Francis Gibb, first dedicated himself to building a ship that would improve upon anything being done by the British or Germans.  Gibb consumed news about the Titanic in 1912 and concluded that the fate of that ship demonstrated the arrogance and incompetence of its British designers.  (So in a way, the ship was built out of spite and what Philadelphian can’t get behind that?)

Many ocean liners built by other countries were converted into troop transports during World War II.  The United States was designed with potential use as a military vehicle in mind and as such many of its components and design aspects were kept top secret for decades.  In fact, the top speed (38.32 knots) that it reached during time trials wasn’t revealed until after this information was declassified until after the ship was removed from service.  If necessary, the ship could be converted into a troop transport holding up to 14,000 soldiers in just two days and transport them in another three days.

As mentioned before, many of the ships predecessors and contemporaries were susceptible to fire so Gibbs insisted that no wood be used in the ship.  In fact, Gibbs tried to convince Mr. Steinway to make the grand piano out of aluminum.  He eventually agreed to let the piano on board when Steinway demonstrated by pouring gasoline on it and lighting it on fire that it would not burn.  The piano and butcher blocks were the only wooden items on the ship.

The ship involved the largest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time to lighten its overall weight, which contributed to its great speed.  So if the ship is scrapped for its steel, you can guarantee that those guys who collect soda cans in their shopping carts will be lining up for their share of the aluminum.

First class accommodations were available for about 900 passengers and went for $1200 which purchased a 2-3 room suite with access to an upper deck with movie theater and other activities.

For more information, here are some great resources and news about the S.S. United States:

S.S. United States Conservancy
Includes information on how you can get involved and what’s being done to preserve.

S.S. United States Conservancy blog
For all of the latest news about the ship.

S.S. United States.com
An older site with some interesting firsthand experience of being a passenger on the ship.

The S.S. United States Foundation website
Another blog that includes news about the ship.

Popular Mechanics: World’s Fastest Superliner Awaits Rebirth-or the Scrap Yard
The writer recalls his voyage on the ship when he was four years old and gives a good look at what happened to the ship since.

LA Times Daily Travel and Deal Blog: Today’s ship riddle: Is the SS United States history or hunk of scrap?
Comments to this blog post are insightful and helpful for thinking about the possibilities for the S.S.U.S.’s next life.

SOS for a national treasure
Op-ed in the March 5, 2009 Philadelphia Inquirer by Dan McSweeney, vice president of the SS United States Conservancy.  McSweeney provides another metaphor to go along with Ujifusa’s Brooklyn Bridge scenario: “Can you imagine selling the Spirit of St. Louis or the USS Constitution for scrap?”

SOS: Save the S.S. United States Facebook page

Twitter Feed for the topic “SS United States”
Find out what folks in the Twitter-verse are saying about this icon of South Columbus Boulevard.

Watch the 3-minute trailer for S.S. United States: Lady in Waiting
…and see if you don’t come away thinking about how much of a tragedy it would be for this ship to end up as scrap metal on a beach in Asia.