SS United States

[Ron Clark]

With Olympic Games security measures being so tight today, I doubt that is feasible. The only way it could be, is if all the atheletes and staff could be accommodiated upon her. That, I'm afraid, isn't possible.
Dallas and Houston lost the bidding wars for a future Olympics because the facilities were scattered out amongst the metropolitian areas.
New York won, without any mentioned of using the SSUS, mainly because most of the facilities were in one locale.

[tncruiseman]

Just thought it was time to give the ole SSUS topic a bump! Just think, she is still dockside in Philly and someone is still paying a lot of money each day for her to sit there. There's just got to be a plan in the making somewhere. Gotta keep hoping anyway!

[SSUS_NJ]

Greetings everyone:

I'm sure this was just a "fluke":

Every night, on my way home from work in Philly back to home in south NJ, I drive across the Walt Whitman bridge. As is my tradition, I glance to the left on my approach to see the faint silhouette of the SSUS funnels - gently lit by the glow of the IKEA superstore across the street from the dock.

Tonight, at 8:30 PM, I was surprised... thrilled... curious... to see the two funnels brightly flood-lit!! I suspect it must have been from the lights of a freighter docked nearby, but WOW.... I got goose-bumps. Thank goodness there was light traffic, because my eyes were certainly spending more time ogling the splendid sight than concentrating on the road in front of me.

Unfortunately, it will probably be the only time I see such a sight for quite a long time... but it will stay in my memory forever.

Marty

[ShipRick]

Must have been beautiful Marty. Too bad you had no camera. I have visited Philly 4 times and the sight of those stacks never fails to excite me.

[tncruiseman]

Just curious.....is the ship's engines/boilers still able to function and if so, how much trouble would it be to fire them up?

[Ron Clark]

Originally posted by tncruiseman:
Just curious.....is the ship's engines/boilers still able to function and if so, how much trouble would it be to fire them up?

The main steam engines and boliers were mothballed years ago properly. I would think it would take a month to two months to place them back into service.
The boilers, turbines and reduction gears will have to be torn down and inspected, then put back together again. Decisions will have to be made about upgrading the electrical and electronic controls, vacuum tube technology is slightly obsolete today.
Installing new digital controls shouldn't take more than a couple of months.

[OB1]

Two months to strip down and rebuild steam engines? I'd be very shocked if it was that quick! Rebuilding the many obsolete components that will need replacement, struggling with the lack of appropriate skills......

I know it generally takes ages to rebuild a steam locomotive and surely the powerplant on the SSUS is way more complicated?

Can't imagine those engines will ever fire again myself, unless they can figure a way of making them a tourist attraction when she's rebuilt, like the steam engines on the Waverley paddle steamer. Which would no doubt be a H&S nightmare!

[Ron Clark]

Originally posted by OB1:
Two months to strip down and rebuild steam engines? I'd be very shocked if it was that quick! Rebuilding the many obsolete components that will need replacement, struggling with the lack of appropriate skills......

I know it generally takes ages to rebuild a steam locomotive and surely the powerplant on the SSUS is way more complicated?

Can't imagine those engines will ever fire again myself, unless they can figure a way of making them a tourist attraction when she's rebuilt, like the steam engines on the Waverley paddle steamer. Which would no doubt be a H&S nightmare!

Steam engines train locomotives use are triple expansion pistons, the SS US uses steam turbines. The US Navy uses steam turbines on every aircraft carrier and submarine, the electric utility industry uses steam turbines at every nuclear, coal, and almost every natural gas plant. The SS Norway was still using steam turbines for propulsion. Steam turbine technology isn't obsolete. There's plenty of workers in America shipyards with the skills to refurbish the engines and boilers.
The SS US engines and turbines were mothballed just like the Navy's battleships engines were mothballed. The battleships were able to return to service with their original engines in place.

The tear down I discussed before was to inspect the turbines, and bearings. Verify the piping valves and safeties work properly. Verify the motors and pumps are in good working order. Two months is sufficent time to perform all these inspections at power plants and US Navy ships, I don't see why it couldn't be long enough for the SS US. Even if it took twice as long as I can imagine, we're only talking about four months.

[tncruiseman]

Thats good news, especially that the technology is not obsolete. Even though the ship is old, those powerplants have far less operating hours on them than many of the cruise ships in service today. And NCL, or someone, is still paying dockage, etc while she sits idle. Again, something has got to be in the works other than a torch!

[MV Augustus]

If NCL/Star couldn't replace the boilers onboard the SS Norway, it is very unlikely that NCL will ever revive the SSUS. With all of the money that they are losing, the Big U will on the backburner indefinately.

I am amazed that the ship is around for this long. I can't see NCL/Star spending a dime on this ship, other than the dockage fees. Just look at NCL America. They need a better management team to make that division profitable.