I’m in Delaware right now for work and just flew into Philadelphia. While I was there, I took the opportunity to swing by the port and see the greatest ship the United States ever built, the SS United States. She’s been laid up at Pier 82 since 1996. She hasn’t moved since then. I covered some of the ships interesting history in an analysis of Crystal’s ill-fated attempt to rescue the ship.
If you’re in the Philly area and would like to see her one last time, you can easily park in the IKEA, Chick-fil-A, and Wendy’s parking lots.
Seeing her in person, this up close, it’s sad the state she’s in yet miraculous that she’s even still afloat and not more deteriorated. It just goes to show the quality and integrity she was built with. The mast and bow cranes have a silver color to them. Never knew that. Also if you zoom in you can see the quality of the steel plates around her bow. This would be one of the main reasons why all attempts to return her to service have failed. There’s just too mush rust that’s digging into the plates themselves.
Please enjoy!
