The largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the United States which also was the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, “sails into view” as today’s #stampoftheday. In fact, it might even sail into your living room tonight via a gala online special.
Actually there’s not really a stamp. Rather, it’s an envelope commemorating the maiden voyage of the S.S. United States, which left New York City for its maiden trans-Atlantic voyage (to Southampton and then Le Havre) on July 3, 1952. The envelope, which I found in the detritus of my father’s stamp collection, is addressed to Mrs. Evelyn Mednick who lived on Rosedale Avenue in the Bronx. (I have no idea if Mrs. Mednick was a friend of my mother, who grew up in the Bronx on Montgomery Avenue, about 4 miles from Rosedale Avenue.)
In its time, the ship was a marvel. But its time turned out to be quite short. Although it was built as a luxury ocean liner it was funded in large measure by the U.S. Navy, which had (but never used) the option of using it as a troop ship. The Navy’s interest was spurred by the fact that during World War II, two British cruise ships, the RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, transported hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to (and from) Europe during (and after) World War II. My father, for example, was on the RMS Queen Mary in fall 1945 when it brought the first soldiers back from Europe after the end of World War II.
The Navy, which wanted its own large, fast, and safe ship, paid $50 million of the ship’s $78 million cost, with the rest paid by the United States Lines, which owned the ship. (The Navy also agreed to underwrite some of its operating costs.) The ship itself was designed by William Francis Gibbs, a self-taught naval architect who was a pioneer in a variety of areas. (Between 1940 and 1946, the firm he founded with his brother built or provided the plans for 74 per cent of all American naval vessels (destroyers, landing craft, escort carriers, etc.).
Many aspects of the ship were especially noteworthy. To ensure its viability in wartime, it had extensive compartmentalization to combat flooding, and dual engine rooms to provide power in case one was immobilized. And to minimize the risk of fire, no wood was used anywhere in the ship except for a fire-resistant mahogany grand piano and a butcher block counter in the gallery. If used as a troopship, it could have carried about 15,000 soldiers.
The ship was also designed to be fast. Its superstructure was built entirely in aluminum, which is much lighter than steel (but harder to work with) and it had the most powerful steam turbines of any merchant marine vessel at the time. On its maiden voyage, it crossed the Atlantic in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots (40.96 mph), which broke the eastbound transatlantic speed record (held by the RMS Queen Mary for the previous 14 years) by more than 10 hours. Travelling at this speed, by the way, wasn’t pleasant for passengers, according to one account, which noted: “the adventurous few who did venture out onto the open decks likened facing forward to being punched in the face.”
For a time, the ship was the height of luxury. Those who took it included Bob Hope, Princess Grace of Monaco, Salvador Dali, Rita Hayworth, Harry Truman, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Duke Ellington. The ship also appeared in such notable movies as Walt Disney’s Bon Voyage!, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, and Munster, Go Home! But the rise of jet planes doomed the trans-Atlantic cruise industry. In 1969, a year after both the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth were pulled from service, the S.S. United States with withdrawn from service, so, quickly, that some of its officers and crew reportedly left their equipment and personal items on-board in anticipation of returning to work the next day, only to find the gangway doors sealed shut.
The ship has been sold several times since the 1970s, with each new owner trying unsuccessfully to make the liner profitable. Eventually, the ship’s fittings were sold at auction, leaving her almost completely stripped by 1994. Two years later, she was towed to Pier 82 on the Delaware River, in Philadelphia, where she remains today. Since 2009, a preservation group called the SS United States Conservancy has been raising funds to save the ship. The group purchased her in 2011 and has drawn up several unrealized plans to restore the ship, one of which included turning the ship into a multi-purpose waterfront complex. In December 2018, it signed an agreement to explore this idea with RXR Realty LLC, a New York based firm whose holdings include Pier 57 in New York City. And in March 2020, just before the first major wave of coronavirus-related shutdowns, the firm announced that it was going ahead with those plans, estimated to cost about $500 million, and was exploring several possible sites for it, including ones in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Miami, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
And, those of you who won’t be watching Hamilton tonight, might be interested to know that tonight—on the anniversary of her record-breaking maiden voyage—the SS United States Conservancy’s West Coast Chapter will host its first “virtual gala” in the style of the 1950s classic “Colgate Comedy Hour” variety show, which once filmed aboard SS United States. The event will include appearances Dolly Parton, actress Kate Burton (daughter of Richard Burton who once sailed on the SS United States), Mercedes Ellington (daughter of Duke Ellington who once performed aboard the ship), and a performance of the ship’s rarely performed theme song “First Lady of the Sea.” “This” said Mark Perry, an award-winning writer-producer, who also is Conservancy Board Member, “is what happens when a ship geek with Hollywood connections gets an idea.”
And with that, I bid you bon voyage for the day.
Be well, stay safe, fight for justice and work for peace.