Saving the SS United States
ListenGuests: Susan Gibbs, Steven Ujifusa
The SS United States has sat decaying on Philadelphia’s Delaware River Waterfront for nearly 20 years. A staggering engineering achievement, on her 1952 maiden voyage, she broke the record for the fastest transatlantic crossing. Her decks were graced by a glitzy roster of passengers, including Marilyn Monroe, Walt Disney and the Kennedy family. William Francis Gibbs took 40 years to fulfill his dream of designing the world’s fastest, finest ocean liner. But his visionary work could soon be lost. We talk to Gibbs’ granddaughter, SUSAN GIBBS, Executive Director of the SS United States Conservancy and STEVEN UJIFUSA, historian and author of A Man and His Ship: America’s Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the SS United States.
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