Post-service
By the late 1960s, the market for Transatlantic travel by ship had dwindled. Queen Mary had been retired in 1967 and Queen Elizabeth in 1968. United States was no longer profitable. While United States was at Newport News for annual overhaul in 1969, the shipping line decided to withdraw her from service, docking the ship there. After a few years, the ship was relocated to Norfolk, Virginia. Subsequently, ownership passed between several companies. In 1978, the vessel was sold to private interests who hoped to revitalize the liner in a time share cruise ship format. Financing failed and the ship was put up for auction by MARAD. In 1979, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) was reportedly interested in purchasing the ship and converting her into a cruise ship for the Caribbean, but decided on purchasing the former SS France instead. During the 1980s, United States was considered by the US Navy as a troop ship or a hospital ship, to be called the USS United States, but this plan never materialized.
In 1984, the ship's remaining fittings and furniture were sold at auction in Norfolk. Some of the furniture was installed in Windmill Point, a restaurant in Nags Head, North Carolina. Following the closure of the restaurant in 2007, the items were donated to the Mariners' Museum and to Christopher Newport University, both in Newport News, Virginia. One of the ship's propellers is mounted at the entrance to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. Another propeller is mounted on a platform near the waterfront at SUNY Maritime College at Fort Schuyler, New York. Across the Long Island Sound from SUNY Maritime College, a third propeller is mounted at the United States Merchant Marine Academy and is used as a teaching aid for merchant mariners. The fourth propeller is mounted at the entrance of the Newport News Mariner's Museum. In 1992, a new consortium of owners purchased the vessel and had her towed to Turkey and then Ukraine, where she underwent asbestos removal in 1994. The interior of the ship was almost completely stripped during this time. No viable agreements were reached in the US for a reworking of the vessel, and in 1996 United States was towed to her current location at Pier 84 in South Philadelphia. The ship is easily visible from shore and Interstate 95.
In 1999, the SS United States Foundation and the SS United States Conservancy (then known as the SS United States Preservation Society, Inc.) succeeded in having the ship placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Models of United States have made appearances in two major films, 2012 and The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep. United States herself appears in the 1962 Disney film Bon Voyage! and in Munster, Go Home! (1966), Baby Mama (2008), and in the 1955 film Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. A bird's eye view of United States is shown during the opening scene of the movie, West Side Story. In April 2012 it was announced that the upcoming Niels Arden Oplev film Dead Man Down starring Colin Farrell will feature scenes shot on board United States.
In 2003, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) purchased the ship from the estate of Edward Cantor when the ship was put up for auction after his death, with the stated intent of fully restoring her to a service role in their newly-announced American-flagged Hawaiian passenger service called NCL America. United States is one of only a handful of ships eligible to enter such service because of the Passenger Service Act, which requires that any vessel engaged in domestic commerce be built and flagged in the US and operated by a predominantly American crew. In August 2004, NCL commenced feasibility studies regarding a new build-out of the vessel, and in May, 2006 Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, chairman of Malaysia-based Star Cruises (which owns NCL), stated that the company's next project is "the restoration of the ... United States." By May 2007, an extensive technical review had been completed, with NCL stating that the ship was in sound condition. The cruise line has over 100 boxes of the ship's blueprints cataloged. While this documentation is not complete, NCL believes it will provide useful information for the planned refit. However, when NCL America began operation, it used Pride of America, Pride of Aloha, and Pride of Hawaii, rather than United States, and later withdrew Pride of Aloha and Pride of Hawaii from Hawaiian service.
In February 2009, it was reported that Star Cruises, to whom United States's ownership was transferred, and NCL were looking for buyers for the liner.
A group of the ship's fans keeps in touch via the Internet and meets annually in Philadelphia. The ship receives occasional press coverage, such as a 2007 feature article in USA Today and there have been various projects through the years to celebrate the ship, such as lighting it on special occasions. A television documentary about the ship, titled SS United States: Lady in Waiting, was completed in early February, 2008 and was distributed through Chicago's WTTW TV and American Public Television with the first airings in May 2008 on PBS stations throughout the US. The Big U: The Story of the SS United States, another documentary about the ship, is currently in development by Rock Creek Productions.
In March 2010 it was reported that scrapping bids for the ship were being collected. Norwegian Cruise Lines, in a press release, noted that there are large costs associated with keeping United States afloat in her current state—around $800,000 a year—and that, as the SS United States Conservancy has not been able to tender an offer for the ship, the company was actively seeking a "suitable buyer."
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