The SS United States reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

SS United States

The SS United States (also known as "The Big U") is an ocean liner built in 1952. She is the largest liner built in the United States of America and is still the fastest ocean liner in the world. Her construction was heavily subsidized by the U.S. government; in exchange, she was designed to be easily converted into a troopship in the case of war.

Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States used not a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only piece of wooden equipment was the grand piano in the ballroom, and the wood was of a rare, fire-resistant species.

After going out of service in 1969, the United States has been passed between several companies. She is currently docked in Philadelphia. The ship's current owner, Norwegian Cruise Line, has announced plans to the refit the United States and add her to their U.S.-flagged cruise ship fleet.

External links

• SS United States site
• New York Skyline, 1949: This Bettmann Archive photograph of a large ocean liner entering New York harbor, surrounded by tugboats and fireships with water cannons on full, is captioned "New York Skyline, 1949," but the ship is the United States and her keel was not laid until 1950.

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