The "SS United States" will maybe sail again?

[tonyb]

^^^^^
I went through a vintage British sports car phase, and I’m too often tempted to fall back into it.

A conversation with an old friend (a “car guy,” a one-time body-and-fender man, a stock-car racer, etc.) a couple weeks ago touched on the cool cars we used to own. I told him what a decent enough early MGB (a lower-end car, as vintage sports cars go) sells for these days — seven grand or more — and added that the reason I might actually afford a toy car is because it’s been decades since I bought a toy car. And then he told me how much his race car driving cost him: a grand or more per weekend. And then he mentioned the brand-spankin’-new Triumph motorcycle he recently crashed when a deer crossed his path. He walked away from it. The bike was totaled, as was the deer.

 

[Old Mariner]

I remember following this when I came across the information back then. But what really caught my eye was when the Peking (4 masted bark) was returned to Germany to be restored. It had been at the South St. Seaport Museum in NYC. The Peking is one of the old "Flying P" ships from the House of Laeisz in Hamburg. I was really happy to see that happen. The Passat is there in Germany, and the Pommern is in Mariehamn in Aland. One thing that has been on my bucket list (pandemic aside) is to visit these ships on a trip. It's a big dream, granted, but why not?

 

[Trenchfriend]

But there's still one question to me.

Yes, she got effective 240.000 HP aircraft-carrier propulsion. Yes, she's lightweight. Yes, the draft is flatter than a battleship's. Yes, the lower hull is special.

But how is it possible, that she could reach over 38 knots?? An Iowa class could reach 33 knots, beeing only 2 meters wider.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Is she saved??

 

[Trenchfriend]

So, the death sentence is spoken...

But I didn't have any hope.

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
So I’ve read.

As was noted years earlier in this thread, relatively few people have an emotional investment in this now 75-year-old ocean liner. (Even fewer now than a few years ago, I’d wager.)

Maybe there will come a day when we’ll regret not saving the old gal, but I have my doubts as to that. A one-time ocean-going liner presents challenges for adaptive reuse far greater than a landmark piece of architecture on dry land. People who know these things far better than we ever will determined that it just doesn’t pencil out.