Can Our National Flagship Be Saved?

[MachineGhost]

Cool pictures!  Sure beats those fat bloated overcommercialized amusement parks on the sea aka cruise ships.

Today, in this age of bloated, outrageously overendowed cruise ships, our elegant national treasure, the SS United States, languishes at a pier in Philadelphia. There, within sight of the diners downing Swedish meatballs at Ikea, she awaits either a successful preservation bid, or the scrapyard. With luck--and a committed backer--it will be the former, says Susan Gibbs, executive director of the SS United States Conservancy and granddaughter of the ship's designer, renowned naval architect William Francis Gibbs. "The SS United States is an American original, an iconic symbol of the nation's post-war pride, national purpose, and industrial might," Gibbs notes. "Not only is she still afloat, but even in her dotage, she symbolizes something important about ambition, innovation, and this nation's can-do spirit. She tells us that anything is possible."

http://www.popsci.com/can-our-national- ... -be-saved/

[WildAboutHarry]

Or how about this one:  The Kalakala.

I suspect transformation into razor blades is the highest, best use for these hulks, though. 

[Ad Orientem]

The Big U
http://youtu.be/qW-lV-SkzQU

Sixty years later she STILL holds the transatlantic speed record. American engineering at its best. When she steamed into Southampton at the end of her maiden voyage, having just shattered the Queen Mary's old record, all the passengers crowded onto the promenade deck and formed a massive conga line dancing circles around the ship. During the 1950's and early 60's everybody who was anybody wanted to cross the pond on the Big U.

[MachineGhost]

The Big U
http://youtu.be/qW-lV-SkzQU

144p?!!  That is literally the worst video I've evern seen on YouTube.  What the hell device only shows 144p?

It's a shame she's never going to sail again.  I think she looks very much like what a sleek, post-modern spaceship should look like.

[Ad Orientem]

The Big U
http://youtu.be/qW-lV-SkzQU

144p?!!  That is literally the worst video I've evern seen on YouTube.  What the hell device only shows 144p?

It's a shame she's never going to sail again.  I think she looks very much like what a sleek, post-modern spaceship should look like.

I agree, the video quality was poor. But a quick search turned up a ton of vids on the Big U. Here is another one of somewhat better quality...
http://youtu.be/YTbvh-vCIb4

And I agree that the way she has been abandoned to rust away is gut wrenching.

[MachineGhost]

And I agree that the way she has been abandoned to rust away is gut wrenching.

I can't help but wonder at the correlation between her wasting away and the decline of civics and civility in America.

[Ad Orientem]

And I agree that the way she has been abandoned to rust away is gut wrenching.

I can't help but wonder at the correlation between her wasting away and the decline of civics and civility in America.

One could argue that she is a metaphor for another, more civil and elegant era.

[WildAboutHarry]

[quote='Ad Orientem']One could argue that she is a metaphor for another, more civil and elegant era.[/quote]

Well, I don't know about that.  One could more accurately argue that she is a metaphor for American hegemony.