Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 2003)

S.S. United States America's Super Liner to Set Sail Once Again? "To him (William Francis Gibbs) it was the greatest ship ever built ... the greatest achievement of our greatest naval architect"

Robert Hudson Westover. chairman of the S.S. United States Foundation

As a child, I often noticed a framed postcard that hung in the living room of my par- ents' home in Long Island. It was a simple silver rimmed frame with blue matting that showed back and front of the postcard — the front depicting a large ship with red, white and blue smokestacks — the back holding an autograph of former

President Dwight Eisenhower (see photo below). For years, I passed this by as if it were of no significance. However. I would have never thought that one day I'd be writing about this framed postcard. The "large ship " to which I am referring is the

United States Lines flagship, the S.S. United States, which my mother, Evelyn (Sullivan) Ciardiello, traveled on from New York to Europe in 1963 — 11 years after the vessel held its maiden voyage on July 3, 1952. On the trip she met — and received the autograph of—former President Eisenhower. With the growing popu- larity and economy of transAtlantic air travel, though, S.S. United States was decommissioned in 1969, after a relative short 17-year run. After several failed attempts to buy and sell the ship, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) announced that it had purchased the vessel on April 14, 2003, from Cantor Companies at an undis- closed price. NCL, which in a separate announcement has commenced its new

Homeland Cruising brand, will undoubtedly add the United States to its new group of "America's ships," which will also include the two former Project America ships and American Hawaii's S.S. Independence that the line purchased earlier this year. — By Regina P. Ciardiello, Managing Editor

Constructed at Newport News

Shipbuilding, (NNS), (now Northrop

Grumman Newport News

Shipbuilding), the "Big U," as it has come to be known, was literally a 'secret' for many years, because of its status as a prototype vessel for the navy. In fact, the vessel's tensile-steel hull design, and

The postcard, which the author's mother,

Evelyn (Sullivan) Ciardiello, had auto- graphed by former President Dwight

Eisenhower while she was onboard the S.S.

United States in 1963. actual speed were considered classified information until the early 1980's. As the flagship vessel of the now-defunct

United States Lines, this super liner sur- passed speed records, and could be con- verted easily froma luxury liner to a troop ship. The 1,972-passenger vessel could then transport 14.000 troops any- where in the world in 48 hours — an idea that was presented by the Pentagon and reflected the political environment after WWII. Definitely not a small undertaking. Therefore, it was decided that William Francis Gibbs. of New

York-based Gibbs & Cox would be tapped to conceptualize this super ship.

Gibbs immediately chose to build the vessel at NNS. According to Robert

Hudson Westover, chairman of the S.S.

United States Foundation, a not-for- profit organization whose mission was to preserve and save the vessel, the

United States was a culmination of the many years of Gibbs' experience as a naval architect. "He (Gibbs) built our modern Navy, and this ship was a cul- mination of all his work," said Westover, who established the Foundation in 1997. "To him it was the greatest ship ever

William Francis Gibbs, (left) and his brother

Frederic H. Gibbs, sit by the S.S. United

States on May 14, 1952 (From the collection of the American Merchant

Marine Museum, Kings Point, N.Y.) built...the greatest achievement of our greatest naval architect."

Maritime historian Frank O.

Braynard concurs. He was a great admirer of Gibbs — enough so to write a book about his life. Entitled "By their

Works, Ye shall Know Them," the book

S.S. United States - Main Particulars

Owner United States Lines

Shipyard Northrop Grumman Newport News

Shipbuilding

Cost of ship $70 million

Naval architects Gibbs & Cox. New York N.Y.

Interior architects Eggers & Higgins, NY, N.Y.

Interior decorators Smyth, Urquhart &

Marckwald, New York, N.Y.

Length, (o.a.) 990 ft.

Beam, (molded) 101 ft.

Depth (keel to top of superstructure) 122 ft.

Keel to top of forward funnel 175 ft.

GT 51,500

Net tonnage 26,00

Number of decks 12

Total cargo capacity 148,000 cu. ft.

Refrigerated cargo capacity 48,000 cu. ft.

Propulsion ... .Geared stem turbine, quadruple screw

Steam conditions 950 PSIG/1.000 degrees F (later reduced to 965 degrees F)

Propeller diameter 18 ft.

Electric plant 6 1,500 kW steam, 2 250 kW emergency

Speed, cruising 30.5 knots

Speed, record crossing 35.5 knots

Speed, max 38.3 knots

Passenger accommodations 1,972

Crew 1,044

Source: Gibbs & Cox Naval Architects chronicles Gibbs' career.

Braynard, who traveled on the vessel often with his wife, Doris, and their two children, often compares Gibbs to that

THAT WAS THEN: On one of its trans-AM^ journeys. The S.S. United States broke the reco'rd for speed (formerly held by CunarcLs

Queen Mary) crossing the Atlantic on its maiden voyage in just three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.5 knots. (Photo Courtesy of Frank 0. Braynard). 34 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News