The SS United States berthed in Philadelphia has been ordered by a federal judge to find a new home. PHOTO BY MEG MCGUIRE
The SS United States berthed in Philadelphia has been ordered by a federal judge to find a new home. PHOTO BY MEG MCGUIRE

SS United States faces being scrapped after losing berth battle in Philadelphia

| June 19, 2024

The former luxury cruise liner the SS United States is renowned for smashing a transatlantic speed record during its maiden voyage in 1952.

But more than 70 years later, the question is how fast it can be moved from a Philadelphia berth on the Delaware River after a federal judge ruled in a dispute over its berthing agreement that the ship must be relocated by Sept. 12.

The question poses a significant challenge for preservationists who for years have sought to keep the storied ship afloat and find a second life for the 990-foot-long vessel.

What will become of the SS United States?

The future of the ship is unclear. What is clear, though, is that the SS United States Conservancy, which has owned the ship since 2011, is left scrambling to find it a new home.

Warren Jones, a member of the conservancy’s board and a former SS United States passenger, said, “Our search for a new temporary or permanent location has been ongoing and began well before the litigation, but if a dock cannot be found in the coming weeks, we’ll be forced to commit to reefing or scrapping the vessel.” 

The conservancy’s president, Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship’s designer, William Francis Gibbs, said in a statement: “The judge’s decision gives us a very limited window to find a new home for the SS United States and raise the resources necessary to move the ship and keep her safe. We must do both to avoid the tragic fate that countless supporters from around the world have worked for over a decade to prevent.”

The logistics of relocation are daunting.

Court records noted that at least a few months of planning would be required to secure insurance, a towing partner and Coast Guard approval for travel according to the tide schedule. And all of that is based on the premise that the SS United States would already have a new home to go to.

The conservancy said it would begin “an urgent campaign to help save America’s Flagship and celebrate her historic legacy.” The conservancy reported net assets of $1.1 million at the end of the 2022 fiscal year, according to its nonprofit tax returns, which are public record.

The operator of the berth, Penn Warehousing and Distribution, did not respond to a request for comment. The likelihood of some last-minute reprieve by the company seems remote.

The federal judge, Anita B. Brody, noted in her June 14 ruling that, despite past efforts to reach a resolution, “it has become clear that the relationship between the parties is broken.”

The history of the SS United States

In its heyday in the 1950s and 60s, the ship was as celebrated as much as other noteworthy cruise ships, like the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth, and had the glitz and glamor to attract among its passengers celebrities like Bob Hope, Rita Hayworth and Duke Ellington.

It was even used as a movie set for feature films, such as the 1955 musical-comedy “Gentlemen Marry Brunettes,” starring Jane Russell, according to the conservancy.

The ship enjoyed a reputation for top-line amenities, including a theater, a first-class lounge with a stage and dance floor and an indoor pool.

Beyond its luxurious accommodations, the ship was remarkable for several design features, including propellers with a proprietary design by the U.S. Defense Department that allowed it to reach impressive speeds, and a reliance on more aluminum in its construction than any prior project in history to help reduce its weight, according to the conservancy.

All of that contributed to the SS United States making the transatlantic crossing in three days and 12 hours, cutting the travel time by nine hours and shattering the previous record held by the Queen Mary.

The achievement was heralded in black-and-white newsreels, complete with brass band music in the background as a narrator declared that a “a new queen has been crowned.”

“Sleek, streamlined and trimmed, she completes the 2,900-mile run with an average of almost 40 land miles an hour,” the narrator says, later adding: “Anyone who’s ever been aboard realizes that it’s impossible to describe the experience. The only way to know what it’s like is to travel on the American champion of the ocean.”

The excitement of that bygone era stands though in stark contrast today to the remnants of the hulking, rusting ship, which since the 1990s has been berthed in Pier 82 in Philadelphia, an older cargo pier that has been inactive for decades, according to court records.

The SS United States berthed in Philadelphia’s Pier 82. PHOTO BY MEG MCGUIRE

 

Former cruise ship faces choppy waters

A video tour by Bright Sun Films in 2021 reveals the ship’s cavernous halls are pockmarked with decay.

The footprints of what had been first-class rooms remain, though the fixtures and walls are long gone. The original doors, their paint chipped and peeling, barely hang on their hinges.

The SS United States was pulled from service in 1969 amid higher operating costs and as jets took over the transportation roles that ships once played.

And in a final indignity, an enormous auction in 1984 stripped the ship of its fixtures and furnishings, including forks, doorknobs and towels, Gibbs said in an interview in the video.

That the Queen Mary’s fixtures were retained and that it remains intact and operational as a hotel and open for tours in Long Beach, Calif., clearly bothers fans of the SS United States.

“By the way, the Queen Mary, I have to say, is the ship that the SS United States trounced in the transatlantic speed race and the fact that she has been gussied up and is sitting over there in California and this ship is languishing is a little irritating,” Gibbs said in the video.

Over the decades, a number of redevelopment plans for the SS United States have been proposed but fell apart.

For example, Norwegian Cruise Lines owned the ship from 2003-11 with plans to redevelop it as a cruise ship or floating condominiums. The conservancy said in report last year that it entered into an exclusive option agreement with New York-based real estate firm, RXR, which has a track record of repurposing historic properties.

“The ship’s redevelopment would create thousands of jobs and generate millions of dollars in annual tax revenue,” the conservancy said. “The redevelopment plan can be adapted to any suitable home port city, but it cannot advance until a permanent home for the ship is secured.” 

Berthing dispute erupts

Things started to unravel in August 2020 when the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, known as PhilaPort, raised concerns that the ship was causing unspecified damage to the pier and asked that the ship be moved by the end of October that year.

Penn Warehousing and Distribution provides warehousing and trans-shipping services for maritime cargoes at several piers it leases from the authority, which was not a party to the suit.

The judge’s order, which was leavened with nautical-themed subheads like “Smooth sailing: The parties’ conduct under the Berthing Agreement (2011-2020)” and “PhilaPort and PWD rock the boat (2020-2022),” came after a bench trial in January.

A berthing agreement from 2011 made no provisions for how the agreement could be terminated, aside from the removal of the ship.

The conservancy was able to cover the monthly $50,000 to $60,000 in costs through donations and income from exclusive option agreements with potential developers, according to the ruling.

Penn Warehousing and Distribution tried to force the ship’s relocation by doubling the daily $850 berthing fee and later sought the ship’s removal by March 26, 2022.

While the judge ruled that the conservancy did not owe the back payments of the higher berthing fees, she did find that the agreement could be terminated at will by Penn Warehousing and Distribution and ordered the ship removed by Sept. 12.

Chris Mele

Chris Mele

Chris Mele is a reporter and editor with more than 30 years of experience in news, specializing in investigative and enterprise reporting.

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