TIGHAR
Chatterbox => Extraneous exchanges => Topic started by: Diane James on October 07, 2015, 12:37:30 PM
-
I'm putting this information here on the assumption that Amelia search fans will tend to be fans of historic preservation as well. The retired ocean liner SS United States is in desperate need of immediate salvation from the scrappers torch. http://www.ssusc.org/ (http://www.ssusc.org/)
My hope is that someone within TIGHAR has enough political connections to get some sort of government action to preserve our nation's namesake ocean liner, once the fastest and "bestest" of the Atlantic crossers. The US government needs to be enlisted to help. I've called my congressman, but this is so urgent it needs an effort by someone whose political connections go beyond mine. At this time when our national pride is already a bit tattered, America can't afford to lose this icon of America's earlier preeminence.
While preserving ocean going ships is beyond TIGHAR's stated venue, it's my hope that some individuals within TIGHAR will act individually to seek political attention for this one of a kind wholly American iconic vessel. I don't think monetary donation is the ticket at this point. It needs political action. If you know how to stir that up, please do so immediately.
-
While TIGHAR as an organization is sympathetic and supportive of efforts to save SS United States, this posting is off-topic for General Discussion.
Marty, can you please move it to Extraneous Exchanges?
Thanks
-
While TIGHAR as an organization is sympathetic and supportive of efforts to save SS United States, this posting is off-topic for General Discussion.
Marty, can you please move it to Extraneous Exchanges?
Done.
Best of luck with your outreach, Diane. The Forum is a funny place. You never know whom you may meet here. :)
-
Thanks, guys. Sorry if it was an inappropriate post. I just learned today that the ship is going to the torch this month if nothing is done.
-
My parents toured the ship while visiting New York in the early 1950s and i well remember them talking about how impressed they were.
-
I was a teenager when my family returned to the U.S. on SS United States in June 1961. She was a beautiful vessel, and huge. Pictures of her today, with paint peeling off, are saddening and hard to look at.
-
You can see her from I-95 going to and from Philadelphia. Painful.
-
Harry Manning (http://tighar.org/wiki/Captain_Harry_Manning) was Commodore of the United States Line and Captain of the "Big U" in 1952 when it captured the Blue Riband for setting both the Eastbound and Westbound Atlantic speed records.
-
Harry Manning (http://tighar.org/wiki/Captain_Harry_Manning) was Commodore of the United States Line and Captain of the "Big U" in 1952 when it captured the Blue Riband for setting both the Eastbound and Westbound Atlantic speed records.
So there IS an Earhart connection!
-
Wow, I'm glad to see there is at least a chance for the ship, which I had thought completely doomed.
http://mashable.com/2016/02/04/restored-ocean-liner/#o4QuCsBIa5q0 (http://mashable.com/2016/02/04/restored-ocean-liner/#o4QuCsBIa5q0)
This vessel is a just-barely still-living link to America's mid-fifties days of national pride, and for the sake of all Americans I do hope it will survive.
Diane
-
I saw that in today's newspaper (yes, I still read a newspaper). Very exciting. Fingers crossed that they can pull it off.
-
Guardedly optimistic is my take on this latest plan.
There are a number of obstacles to overcome. While I have no doubt that structurally the United States is sound (it was built to military specs, after all), the infrastructure is a big issue and potential deal-killer. The powerplant was state-of-the-art when built, and she was phenomenally fast, but that was decades ago and the engines have many miles on them. Then there is bringing the electrical, mechanical, water, etc., systems up to where they can pass modern inspections. But doing all of that might still be cheaper than building a new ship from the ground up, and there are the nostalgic and cool factors that come into play.
As the saying goes in Monty Python, "I'm not dead yet!"
LTM,
Monty Fowler, TIGHAR No. 2189 EC
-
A nice piece on the Maritime Matters website helps illuminate some of the "how and why?" behind this new development in the story of "Big U."
http://maritimematters.com/2016/02/ss-united-states-to-crystal/