#1Oct 6th, 2012
3,000 local ship workers labored two years building the biggest, fastest, and most luxurious ocean liner to sail from North America.
She was longer than the Titanic and much quicker. Few knew her secret. Her engines and propellers were developed as Cold-War weapons. She was a luxury liner, but in one sense, that was a disguise. She was built for speed. If the Soviets grew restless, she could race troops across the ocean at more than 44 miles an hour.
And on her record-breaking maiden voyage in 1952, no one knew she`d be the last of her kind.
She carried presidents and Hollywood celebrities and immigrants to this country. After serving just 17 years, she was abandoned.
She rusted in Norfolk for decades and now she bobs idle in Philadelphia. The nation`s flagship is junked. She`s a ghostly relic, barely a step ahead of the scrappers.
“This is living history. Once this ship is gone, it will never be replaced. It is the last of the American ocean liners. It was built in Newport News. We cannot lose this ship,” says Dan McSweeney.
more
Group tries to save the rusting SS United States | WTKR.com
She was longer than the Titanic and much quicker. Few knew her secret. Her engines and propellers were developed as Cold-War weapons. She was a luxury liner, but in one sense, that was a disguise. She was built for speed. If the Soviets grew restless, she could race troops across the ocean at more than 44 miles an hour.
And on her record-breaking maiden voyage in 1952, no one knew she`d be the last of her kind.
She carried presidents and Hollywood celebrities and immigrants to this country. After serving just 17 years, she was abandoned.
She rusted in Norfolk for decades and now she bobs idle in Philadelphia. The nation`s flagship is junked. She`s a ghostly relic, barely a step ahead of the scrappers.
“This is living history. Once this ship is gone, it will never be replaced. It is the last of the American ocean liners. It was built in Newport News. We cannot lose this ship,” says Dan McSweeney.
more
Group tries to save the rusting SS United States | WTKR.com