Ship lovers fear fabled liner lost

Bill Wood has marveled at the Confederate submarine H. L. Hunley. But the fate that likely awaits the cruise ship S.S. United States has left him and other ship enthusiasts from the Carolinas teetering on depression.

The 53,000-ton passenger liner, which on its maiden voyage set the all-time speed record for crossing the Atlantic — roughly three days, 10 hours — is dangerously close to ending up in the scrap heap. The "Big U" has been left to rust at a Philadelphia pier for a decade. It is viewed as too expensive to restore.

Wood sees a tragedy. "It's sad to see something like that, as cutting edge as was ever built commercially, just wasting away," said Wood, a mechancial engineer now living in Charlotte.

Wood is a member of the Washington, D.C.-based S.S. United States Conservancy, which so far has waged an unsuccessful fight to save the ship. The group's mission has been more aimed at raising awareness that the vessel is in danger of being lost forever if its most recent owner, Hong Kong-based Star Cruises, lets it die. Many assume it's a foregone conclusion, with either Chinese or Indian ship breakers likely in charge of the ship's fate.

"She's a symbol of the nation," lamented Robert Hudson Westover, of Washington, D.C., the chairman of the S.S. United States Foundation. "This was America's flagship for 17 years."

Built in Newport News, Va., and sent to sea in 1952, the ship was billed as the fastest of its day and became America's entry into the post-World War II civilian pleasure cruise business. At about 1,000 feet long, the ship still could make it through the Panama Canal.

Wood's interest in the ship is more youthful than most. He was just 2 years old when his adoptive parents brought him home from France on board the United States. His name is in the ship's manifest, right along with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. As an adult, Wood collected all sorts of S.S. United States items, including some of its rare deck chairs. When his work and travel schedule allowed it, he visited the ship in Philadelphia.

Part of his appreciation is for the craftsmanship that went into building the ship before more modern fleets became floating shopping malls. "It had a lot of art deco and commissioned art in it," he said. "It's almost like the '55 or '56 Chevy. It's the pinnacle of American design, and by American design I mean 'style.' "

But as ships got bigger and the vessel's day passed, it bounced around, eventually getting stripped of its fixtures and everythng else of value. Much of the ship's style has been gutted or sold off, leaving only bulkheads.

Not much has happened with the ship in recent times. Westover has tried to get members of Congress interested, but nothing has materialized. The group, which totalled some 1,200 members at its peak, is not raising money on the ship's behalf because the members are not sure it would do much good.

Westover hopes the importance of the ship isn't forgotten, even as its allies fear they are fighting a losing battle and that the ship will be towed to Asia and carved up.

"I hope this doesn't turn out to be a tragedy," he said.

Reach Schuyler Kropf at 937-5551, or skropf@postandcourier.com.