SS United States in 1991: Part 1 of 2
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- Опубліковано 27 січ 2025
- Part 1 of 2:
From a VHS tape given to me by Bill DiBenedetto some years ago, an exhaustive video survey of the ship as she appeared in 1991.
Forgive the poor image quality, I did this a long time ago.
Thanks to Bill DiBenedetto for this amazing footage.
Amazing that this priceless footage survives and can be posted here online. The interior of this vessel was so tastefully done and we'll NEVER see this style again. Superb footage and ironic. So Fascinating and So sad
and to think it looks nothing like how it is shown in this video today because of the asbestos removal in 1996 and I hate that that was done because this video shows just how much was still intact inside the ship.Thank you for preserving the ship when it still had at least a ghost of its former glory, splendor, furnishings, and all interiors within its hull. May it's glory years may never be forgotten
You do understand that asbestos is deadly, right????
@@bradjames6748 that’s when it’s airborne
I began to watch this documentary on part 2 and then came back to part 1. It is the most interesting video of particular vessel that I've ever witnessed.
This is the 10th day of May 2019 , this was almost a 4-Hour video that I've taken time to sit down and watch. Truly history here and hopefully it can be preserved on the UA-cam format for future generations to at least see after you were videotaping that in 1991. It would have been out of service over 20 years and 2019 I don't know what's left of the vessel. I know it's still afloat but that's about all I know about it. It's truly a piece of history that we're looking at here pertaining to the SS United States it was truly a remarkable achievement one that was built in the fifties and not much left of it in today's society thank you for sharing this.
I was 7 or 8 and crossed from Europe to NY on this ship in 1964. The weather was fierce on that passage and the ship rolled from side to side. My brother and I would play a game on the promenade deck. When the ship was at its highest on that side we would jump and fall an extra 2 or 3 feet as the ship dropped. That trip was longer than usual because of the storms. I must have watched the Brass Bottle in the theater 20 times.
Often wondered how the actual physical experience of a North Atlantic crossing would be in the Big U. Thanks!
Looking still great inside! From 1969 to 1991 = 22 years of no use and then this good condition. *WOW*
Amazed at the condition of the ship, even 22 years after it was withdrawn from service. How sad what has happened to it in the intervening 30 years since this video was made. Thanks for posting!
The ship is often portrayed as a dilapidated rust bucket these days, but the fact is that it’s still a very structurally solid vessel, despite her appearance and gutted interiors. It would not be unrealistic to restore her as a museum ship/hotel.
Please save this magnificent ship!!! 🚢 🙏🏼
It’s too far gone now if they would’ve done something worth it back in the early 1990s OK it would’ve been worth it nowadays it’s not
Crazy to see it was still generating power. I know it would never have happened but would have loved to see them try and fire the ship up. I wonder if the generators were just left going till it finally ran out of fuel.
It was docked at the Newport News coal piers when this video was shot. She was plugged into shore power.
The ventilation were still running since 1952. That why the interior didn't mold and rot. It was all up and running. But asbestos. You just don't want to exposed to that. That's why it had to be taken out. ..
I am grateful for these videos that 'fill in the gap' between the SS United States' end of service in 1969 and videos of the ship today. It is invaluable to see the ship in the condition it was in before it was stripped of all it's fittings. (But good riddance to all the asbestos they stripped out in 1994)
The should have left this ship alone like the queen mary.
It's a shame that such a historical monument will be dumped into the ocean. The richest country in the whole world does not have money to restore / maintain this ship.
There is plenty of money in the US. It is the lack of commitment.
Well, it seems that back in 1991 the United States ship was already in grave danger and at the tipping point of the last chance to preserve what remained of her before she declined into her current state of irreparable damage and decay from what can only be described as wanton destruction and scrapping in all but name over the last 30 years. This video shows that there was a chance to save her and stop any further damage and scrapping so she might have been worth preserving like the Iowa battleships who are not only a similar age, but also have similar engines and similar overall size. Amazing to think that there is dusty world war 3 plan somewhere that called for this ship to operate alongside the Iowas as a troop carrier. I think the current owners made a huge mistake of failing to operate her as a museum ship to all ocean liners from that era. I have no doubt, given the successes of the Iowas and other examples like them that this was the most viable financial option other than scrapping her. Now, she is too far gone to be a museum, too far gone to be modernised and nearly too far gone to be worth even the cost of scrapping! We did the same in the UK with our last and only remaining best battleship ever, hms vanguard, she nearly became a museum but not quite. And if a poxy cruiser like hms Belfast can draw crowds of tourists in imagine what the likes of vanguard could have done. But there we are, we create and destroy far more than we should and regret far too much far too late.
Love the video. Was it a standard ship survey back in 1991 to determine her overall seaworthy condition..?
Sad seeing those beautiful funnels all faded and chipped.....those funnels in its heyday the bright red white and blue was American pride.
I had my fifth birthday on board her in 1964. My dad had the option of flying the family of 6 back to the US from West Germany or two staterooms. Fantastic.
I was 10 when the family sailed on her in 1964, we sailed from Germany to New York in 3 days 12 hours. She was a very fast ship. Sad to see her in the current condition she is in now, what a damn shame.
I hear the same ridiculous excuse for that ship being decommissioned in 1969. It was not because of the advent of jet air travel. Actually there was something going on in 1969 called the Vietnam war and frankly the United States government no longer wanted to subsidize that ship. They wanted to build helicopters, tanks, bombs and ammunition instead of fund that ship so in '69 they shut it down.
Engine telegraphs had already been removed. :(
All of that stuff was sold off in 1984. I have a set of salt and pepper shakers from one of the dining saloons and a shot glass from the bar on this ship that I found at a thrift store in Newport News.
wow still had power , what was the power source just auxiliary generator's incredible
Shore power.
@@jimmiles33that makes sense thanks there was a lot of original lights functioning and circuits buzzing
Man just put this ship out of it missery already!
Why did they have to gut the entire interior that the ship is just an empty hull now?!? It appeard to be in decent shape
I believe that all of the wall/ceiling panels were made of asbestos cement.
what happens if someone bought SS United States and refurbished it and gave it gas turbine engines and gas turbine generators
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It's a time capsule.
wow I never knew the ship was mothballed that long ago.
Very sad..All those electronics and controls have been stripped from the vessel..VERY SAD
Wonder how long since she was in a drydock if this was 91 id hate to see below the waterline now, such a shame for the fastest liner ever built and she still holds the Blue Riband 70 years after she took it, she was built to be able to convert into a fast troop ship if needed in war, even a fast destroyer would play hell catching her, If I was ever lucky enough to win a huge lottery id buy her and make the fastest casino afloat
I think her last dry docking was in Ukraine in 94.
I just don’t understand how a super power can allow this to happen ?
Just make it happen
We’re to busy giving away money to BLM and for everybody to lazy to work
Do you mean wall street???
@@Repinnc giving money to the wall street beggers more like.
Better shape than
What was the point of spending all that money to remove all the asbestos, if they were just gonna let the ship rust for all these years ? It would have made more sense just to break the ship, and be done with it. This slow death just proves how ruinous the choice to park her in salt water berth turned out to be. They should have created a berth up the Hudson River where the fresh water flowing down to the sea would have saved her and encouraged a new owner to turn the ship into something useful.
+NaYawkr The asbestos would have had to be removed regardless of renovation or scrapping. Either process would have released the asbestos into the air unless it was removed. This is also required of buildings prior to either tearing down or renovating.
The way I heard it, at the time Cunard was interested, and the gutting was a hopeful step toward them buying it, but they eventually built three newer, uglier tubs instead.
Uhh, the Philly berth is freshwater
Good morning and Happy New Year.
I HAVE SOME VERY VERY BAD NEWS. PLEASE READ!! Court date set for Tuesday January 16th at 8 am Philadelphia courthouse. Please go there and help😢😢..
The SS United States is facing serious and immediate threats. The vessel’s landlord, Penn Warehousing, doubled the ship’s rent during the coronavirus pandemic and has sued the Conservancy, demanding back rent and the removal of the ship from the pier. The Conservancy has been unable to secure an alternative berth, and a trial is scheduled in mid-January. An unfavorable judgment would devastate the Conservancy and likely compel us to relinquish control of the vessel. The Conservancy’s board is now evaluating various contingencies on a very tight and demanding schedule. If Penn Warehousing wins a judgment against the Conservancy, the SS United States may have to be scrapped.
Sadly now all gone .
yeah, when they stripped asbestos, they just gutted the entire interior and left her a hollow shell. I don't think with all the will and funding in the world she can be restored from that. it was not well handled, and not needed as the ship wasn't in use and nobody was going inside other than pigeons. 🤔
congratulaxion
what is all the humming noises? was the dehumidification system still in use?
I think in part 2 we see that one of the emergency generators inside the base of the forward funnel is running; makes sense since the lights are still on in places.
she never had dehumidification. That luxury is reserved for Mothballed Navy ships.
*****
it had some kind of ventilation, hence all the ducting everywhere. It got disconnected from the fan unit in like 1978.
Actually she did, the navy installed dehumidification in the 1970's I believe.
To bad it was all striped out
Sadly all of her fittings, electric network and plumbing systems were destroyed during asbestos removal in Ukraine
Well we sure have gone a long ways since Noah's Ark.
:(
Project Brittanica ahh (in all seriousness tho I really hope that she can find a new home and is preserved)