SS United States – Ghost Ship Docked On The Delaware [ 2018 Still There! ]

2018 Update: The ship is still in limbo, with funds being raised by the SS United States Conservancy. In the meantime, here's an interesting video showing some historic footage and what it looked like in 2015:

UPDATE

3/2017: Nothing has happened with the ship, but in this thoughtful article from Billy Penn, it is opined that Philly will probably be stuck with the SS United States forever.

3/2017: Google Images show a few places where interior and onboard photos can be seen - have a lookee here!

Original 2010 Post:

While exiting Ikea in South Philly yesterday I could not believe my eyes as I looked across the parking lot and saw an ancient cruise ship docked just across the street. A spectre of vintage travel looming quietly, just waiting for passengers to disembark from the past. I snapped a quick photo with my phone and saw the words United States barely visible on her hull.

Visions of the Titanic, and the golden age of cruise ships sprang to mind. I immediately thought of the photos I had seen of the SS Normandie cruise ship, tipped over on her side in the water off of New York City. I just had to find out what this mystery ship was.

(thanks to @nyycarl07 on Twitter for the image!)

According to Wikipedia the SS United States is a passenger liner built in 1952, and remains the largest ocean liner built entirely in the United States. It is also the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction, and remains current holder of the Blue Riband, given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The United States operated in transatlantic passenger service until 1969, and since 1996 has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia.

It was interesting to learn that I was not the only one to think of the SS Normandie - which capsized in the New York Passenger Ship Terminal after catching fire just 10 years before the SS US was built -in association with the SS United States. To minimize the risk of fire occurring in the SS United States,  the ships designers used no wood in the ship's framing, accessories, decorations or interior surfaces. The clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were aluminum, the ballroom's grand piano was of a rare, fire-resistant wood species, and the construction of the ship's superstructure involved the largest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time.

If you want to learn more about the efforts to save the ship, check this website. This vintage vessel is for sale - if only we could sail back in time in it! I can hear the strains of the live music playing in the ballroom now, just thinking about it.

UPDATES!

Thanks to @guerilladrivein on Twitter for the link to the below video:

Also here's a link to Shipgeek's collection of wonderful memorabilia from the SS United States- some really neat stuff there!

And finally, here's a link  to the SS United States Conservancy - the premiere nonprofit working diligently toward the preservation of the ship and her legacy.

The SS United States
Pier 84
Philadelphia PA