Construction
Inspired by the exemplary service of the British liners RMS Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, which transported hundreds of thousands of US troops to Europe during the Second World War, the US Government sponsored construction of a large and fast vessel that would be capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs, the liner's construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. The US government underwrote $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship's operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, the ship was designed to be easily converted in times of war to a troopship with a capacity of 15,000 troops, or to a hospital ship.
The vessel was constructed from 1950–1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid and the hull constructed in a graving dock. United States was built to exacting Navy specifications, which required that the ship be heavily compartmentalized and have separate engine rooms to optimize war-time survival. A large part of the construction of United States was with pre-fabricated sections. The ship's hull comprised 183,000 separately fabricated sections.
To minimize the risk of fire, the designers of United States used no wood in the ship's framing, accessories, decorations or interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fiber to ensure compliance with fireproofing guidelines set by the US Navy. Specially commissioned artwork included pieces by fourteen artists, including Gwen Lux. Though the galley did feature a butcher block, the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were aluminum. The ballroom's grand piano was of a rare, fire-resistant wood species—though originally specified in aluminum—and accepted only after a demonstration in which gasoline was poured upon the wood and ignited, without the wood itself igniting.
The construction of the ship's superstructure involved the largest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time, and posed a Galvanic corrosion challenge to the builders in joining the aluminum structure to the steel decks below. The significant use of aluminum provided extreme weight savings. At 105 ft (32 m) abeam, United States was built to Panamax capacity, ensuring that the ship could clear the Panama Canal locks with 2 ft (0.6 m) clearance on either side.
United States had the most powerful steam turbine in a merchant marine vessel. The ship was capable of steaming astern at over 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), and could carry enough fuel and stores to steam non-stop for over 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi).
Captains of United States included Harry Manning, Roy Edward Fiddler, John Anderson and Leroy J. Alexanderson.
Read more about this topic: SS United States
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—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
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