SS United States Conservancy
SOS Red Alert Logo
SS United States Conservancy

Scrapping Companies on board
SS United States

March 2, 2010
Frankie Campione, Principal - CREATE Architecture Planning & Design
Architectural Rendering of a restored SS United States as a stationary attraction
courtesy of Frankie Campione of CREATE Architecture Planning & Design

Dear SS United States Conservancy Members and Supporters:
 
The SS United States Conservancy has learned that America's national flagship, the SS United States, may soon be destroyed.  The ship's current owners, Genting Hong Kong (formerly Star Cruises Limited), through its subsidiary, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), are currently collecting bids from scrappers.
 
The SS United States was a powerful Cold War weapon disguised as a luxury liner.  This great passenger ship transported many Americans to and from Europe and other destinations between 1952 and 1969.  She carried four U.S. presidents and countless military, diplomatic, and business leaders, celebrities and artists, and foreign heads of state, not to mention thousands of ordinary citizens and immigrants.  She still holds the world's speed record, set on her maiden voyage in 1952.

The ship's current owners listed the vessel for sale in February, 2009. While NCL graciously offered the Conservancy first right of refusal on the vessel's sale, the Conservancy has not been in a financial position to purchase the ship outright.  However, the Conservancy has been working diligently to lay the groundwork for a public-private partnership to save and sustain the ship for generations to come.  
 
The Conservancy understands that Genting and NCL are reluctant to continue covering the significant costs associated with maintaining the vessel in its current berth in Philadelphia and appreciates the good care the vessel has received since its purchase in 2003 with the stated intention of returning the ship to seagoing service.  The Conservancy has maintained a positive working relationship with NCL over the past seven years and looks forward to ongoing collaboration during this critical period.
 
The Conservancy has begun discussions with NCL with the intent of covering some of the fees associated with maintaining the ship in Philadelphia so it can finalize plans for repurposing the ship as a stationary attraction at a large metropolitan waterfront.  The Conservancy's new national campaign is titled "Save Our Ship" (SOS) and offers a "Plank Owner" certificate for tax-deductible donations of at least $25 via its new donor website: www.ssusplankowner.org. (For more information, see below.)
 
"This is both a patriotic and a practical effort," said Conservancy Executive Director Dan McSweeney, whose father emigrated from Scotland to America to serve as a crewmember aboard the vessel.  "We're absolutely committed to saving one of the most important symbols of America in the 20th century, but we're also talking about creating hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs when this ship is refurbished and becomes a stationary attraction in a large U.S. city.  We must save this irreplaceable American icon and continue the process of establishing a public-private partnership to re-purpose her."
 
Please help us save our national flagship!  We are truly down to the wire!
 
With our best wishes,

The SS United States Conservancy's Board of Directors
  National Plank Owner Campaign Launched
SSUS Plank Owner Logo
Save our Ship: Building a National Groundswell of Support


The Conservancy has launched a new national campaign titled "Save Our Ship" (SOS) and offers a "Plank Owner" certificate for tax-deductible donations of at least $25 via its new donor website: www.ssusplankowner.org.

"The Save Our Ship campaign shows the groundswell of public support for the SS United States we've seen throughout the nation," said Conservancy Board President Susan Gibbs, whose grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, designed the vessel.  "We're modeling this campaign on the public subscription which saved the USS Constitution back in the 1920s through contributions of Americans from all walks of life.  There's a reason why this ship is still with us.  She absolutely must be saved for future generations."

  New York City Campaign Kick-off and Film Screening
Please Join Us on Thursday March 11, 2010

A special screening of the award-winning American Public Television documentary,  SS United States: Lady in Waiting, will be held at the National Academy Museum (1083 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street in Manhattan) on Thursday, March 11th, 7 p.m., followed by a reception and call to action.

"This will be an great affair," said the Conservancy's New York Working Group Chair Susan Caccavale.  "The space is lovely and we're linking with Kings Point, Fort Schuyler, the Webb Institute, and other maritime alumni associations to really get a great crowd in attendance.  We need to raise awareness on the dangers facing our great national flagship and this will be a very effective way to do so."

A brief presentation and reception will follow the film screening, including important updates and announcements by several members of the Conservancy's Board of Directors and Advisory Council, including Walter Cronkite IV.

Elaine Kaplan, a New York-born nautical engineer with Gibbs & Cox, the firm that designed the SS United States, will also be honored in remarks by her daughter, Susan Caccavale.  Ms. Kaplan was a pioneer in her field in the 1940s and '50s, designing the top secret propellers which pushed the vessel to break the transatlantic speed record, maintained to this day.

Registration is via the Conservancy website.  

Walter Cronkite IV Joins Conservancy's Advisory Council
Will attend New York City Film Screening on March 11
Carries on his Grandfather's Legacy
The SS United States Conservancy is delighted to announce that Walter Cronkite IV will attend the screening of SS United States: Lady in Waiting in New York City on Thursday, March 11.  Walter Cronkite IV will join the Conservancy's Advisory Council, on which his grandfather served as Honorary Chairman.  Mr. Cronkite's participation and support is emblematic of the Conservancy's commitment to engaging a new generation of Americans about the importance of our national flagship.

The former CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite served as Honorary Chairman of the Conservancy's Advisory Council until his death last year.  Having sailed aboard the ship in 1953, Mr. Cronkite followed the ship's fate closely  and is featured in the Conservancy's documentary film SS United States: Lady in Waiting.  In the film, he expresses his admiration for the ship and his outrage at her current condition.  He stated that just looking at the SS United States in her heyday "could thrill you with pride and wonder" and that she had the "perfect design."  He lamented that watching the ship each year get "rustier, dirtier, windows broken..." was a "crime against history."  According to Mr. Cronkite, saving the SS United States would be a "restoration of American pride in something it should be very proud of." 

The SS United States Conservancy presented the National Flagship Champion Award to Walter Cronkite at a special tribute on August 12 held at the Old Whaling Church in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard.  Cronkite's Daughter, Kate Cronkite, accepted the award on her father's behalf.

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SS United States Conservancy
P.O. Box 32115
Washington, DC 20007
(888)-488-7787
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