Mystery No More 1

Thanks for all the guesses, both in comments and on email.  Last week I accompanied a group of journalists invited on board.  The word from the SS United States Conservancy is that the need for action is urgent;  the project is running a critical “race against time.”  Here are a few key facts about the vessel from the conservancy website.  This is the first of several posts I intend to do.  Click here for an Op-Ed piece written by one of the guides on our tour Susan Gibbs, grand daughter of the the vessel’s designer, architect, and creator.

Note the unique “sampan wing” tips on the funnels.

This is midships looking aft in the First Class corridor, as it looks today.   To the left, you can see the deck “footprints” of suites, including where the plumbing rested.

This section of the “First Class stairs,” like the entire interior is stripped to bare metal.

Use your imagination . . . this is the First class ballroom, where Count Basie and other greats played.

This is the port side promenade deck.  (Follow the links there.)  Too enclosed, you think?  You’d want it enclosed for a passage in the North Atlantic in January as she speeds along at nearly 40 mph.

All fotos by Will Van Dorp.  Click here for David Macaulay’s blog about the vessel that brought him to the United States.

For more info on the the SS United States Conservancy and their efforts to save the ship via repurposing, click here.    More soon . . . if not tomorrow.

By the way, in yesterday’s post, the first three fotos were as follows:  1955 Packard Clipper Super, a 1941 Cadillac Series 75 hearse, and a 1955 Buick Road Master . . . all contemporaries of the SS United States.

Many thanks to the Conservancy for the opportunity to tour the vessel.  If you have personal stories related to the vessel, please consider adding them to the comments.