#ssus

[rayenigma]

We were watching the SSUS being towed from her pier in Philadelphia on stream earlier, and my friend pointed out something that i absolutely CANNOT stop thinking about.

The parrarel here... it's insane. The sad and solemn scene of a once beautiful ship, built during an era which has now long passed, being towed to her final final destination... Welcome back The Fighting Temeraire by J.M.W. Turner

[sugar-splenda]

It's me, I'm modders. @pekasairroc

[esqapevelocity]

[northadawn]

SS United States' Final Sunset (Reprise)

This journal is a revisit of my initial write-up of the SS United States back in 5 September 2024.

If you're reading this, most likely you have already watched the footage of the SS United States being escorted out of her pier by tugboats while passing the Walt Whitman Bridge on her way to her final home. The scenes are marvellous in all its solemn mood surrounding her and the circumstances of the final years of her life, with all of the failed plans to preserve her and a legal battle with Penn Warehousing.

How did we get here?

Let's look back for a while. The SS United States was withdrawn from service back in 11 November 1969, with the clear sunset of the ocean liner era in part due to the dawn of the jetliner age. She was stripped of her interiors and were auctioned off in 1984 under the ownership of Richard H. Hadley to raise money to pay creditors. While he envisioned the ship to be a floating condominium, the ship has been heavily neglected under his care. A Turkish businessman by the name of Kahraman Sadıkoğlu, a partner Marmara Marine Inc., got his hands on the ship after three bids in an attempt to get the ship sailing again. When she arrived in Istanbul, Turkey for refurbishment, concerns were raised over her asbestos-lined interior, and she was sent to Sevastopol, Ukraine, to strip her from the asbestos. By the time the work was complete, the partnering business of Sadıkoğlu's was out of money, and returned to the United States, where she was bought up by what we know now as the SS United States Conservancy.

Since then, the Conservancy has made their best efforts to find a buyer to help save the ship, and several plans to save her came and went from Norwegian Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, RXR Realty, with all plans failing to take off, while the ship has continued to deteriorate.

Fast forward to 2025, and it has been made clear that her time has long gone, and the most graceful exit possible for the SS United States now is by turning her into an artificial reef (I've covered more information about this on my previous write-up). As of writing, she has finally started her journey after several delays to her departure, on her way to Mobile, Alabama.

Her Legacy

Her legacy in ocean liner history has and will be debated given the limbo she's been put under for decades, and her glory days coinciding with the rise of airliners, so it's really hard to come into a consensus over how she will be remembered by. Many ocean liner fans would love to remember her for being the final winner of the traditional Blue Riband, for sailing 400 voyages, for being the last great American-built ship, but her detractors would argue that the timing of her rise lessens her significance, and she'll mostly be remembered as a rusting shell who has done nothing of significance outside of the Blue Riband. Both sides have continued to be up in arms about it, and it does get to ridiculous extremes, with one extreme bringing political names as a proposal to save her last-minute, while the other extreme arguing that nobody cares about her and the time to save her was decades ago.

I think as much as people would argue about her, she does deserve to be remembered fondly. Although she might not have had the glorious career that ships like the Mauretania had, she has been a well-designed evolution of the ocean liners that came before her, one of, if not the greatest ocean liner that her nation has proudly designed and built, and I think we can all agree that she has left her mark in history, given how we're all talking about her, fans and detractors alike. She will always be one of the last great ocean liners, the proud last owner of the Blue Riband, and most importantly, a proud ship that has given every soul that sailed aboard her fond memories. To say that she's not significant in any way is a bit of an insult to not just her fans, but to the many who have spent their time sailing on her, and to the men who have put effort to bring her to life in the way they envisioned her to be. I look forward to her serving a new life as an artificial reef and I hope that the museum that will be built in her honour does well.

You are free to stop reading from here, but if you want to hear my own opinion of her and other remarks about her voyage to her destiny, continue reading.

My personal feelings towards the SS United States

Unfortunately, I don't think I've been given a proper chance to like her. As a 14 year old starting out on the Titanic gijinka circle, I've voiced out my opinion on how I thought that the SS United States was "good, but nothing great in comparison to the Aquitania and Queen Mary", and I never understood the hype around her. What did I get in response? A bunch of messages from people giving me death threats and racist messages over my "treasonous" opinion of the SS United States. I think it goes to show the ridiculousness of it all, there are some fans of her who go to the extremes in their love of the ship, and from the discussions that came in the ship communities, also from the people who couldn't care less of her. Personally though, from the trauma that came from being a young teenager who was told to die for thinking that the SS United States wasn't a great ship, I can't help but feel vindicated a little from this scene. At the same time, I can still understand just how important she is in the grand scheme of things, and I can appreciate how she's given people something to hope for, apart from the fond memories and love that she brings to many. You're free to love the SS United States, we're all free to like what we want to like. I respect the fact that she's the last great American piece of ocean liner history and the last winner of the traditional Blue Riband. We're all human, we have our own opinions of something, just as long as we can understand where each other is coming from and not resort to hostility.

All that aside, it's great to see you move again, SS United States. May you new life free you from the limbo of sitting around and waiting for all of the sand in the hourglass to run out.

-Northa

THERE IS STILL A VOYAGE TO EMBARK ON

[poaterre1]

Lotus Wimbo

[twyllodrus]

[comicweek]

Spider-Women from Madame Web

[m00nb04rd5]

May I have Kirby Super Star Ultra Please?

Poyo!!

[dddesc]

you lose...

[rayenigma]

Bon Voyage!

At last, the inevitable happened and SS United States is on her final journey. While many of us are gathering for the funeral, I wanted to draw a piece with a bit more whimsy - so here she is!

Even though I live on the other side of the world, she's still a somewhat sentimental ship to me - I think she was one of the first liners I heard about! I don't know if I'll ever get to see her in person (I do have a diving certificate though), but a man can dream, eh?

Farewell, Big U!

[rmsfranconia]

Welp, there goes my will to live.

Guys... this can't be happening

[veveisveryuncool]

"you turned me into this. this is all your fault, pink demon!"

kirbytober day 15: favorite remake/arts and crafts

i think ssu was a pretty solid remake!! im in love with the pixel style they used in this era :]

[sugar-splenda]

I adore our little parasites.

[castielsprostate]

genuinely though if they continue venom without tom hardy, or without eddie brock, i will blow myself up and not in a good way

[frickyesforumweapons]

[thingsasbarcodes]

Venom: The Last Dance (2024)