Supposedly, the ship will be gleaned of at least one remaining bar/lounge setting, both stacks, her bridge and foremast. These will be integrated into an on-shore museum, while the ship will be scuttled off-shore several miles away.

This is confirmed.

https://www.ssusc.org/

~Wesley

With the Billionaires that exist - none would act to make the ship a viable national symbol.

PATHETIC

Since about 1979, six owners have spent millions to evaluate to ship for re-use, including two cruise lines.

The first owner sold all of the ship’s contents to pay his bills. In the 1990s an owner towed the ship to Turkey and Ukraine to have all of the asbestos wall board removed, leaving an empty shell.

For comparison, restoration of the USS Texas was $75 million. The external repainting of USS New Jersey cost $10 million. Both ships are complete vessels unlike the empty SSUS.

Then you need a place to berth the ship and the revenue to pay for rent and regular maintenance.

~Wesley

Someone contributed $4.4 million to stabilize the ship. The entire amount was frittered away with nothing to show for it. I would have thought that for that amount you could buy a proper pier and conduct any care to stabilize the submerged portion of the hull 'in perpetuity'. Then figure out how to fund the tourist attractions, onboard hotels, etc. etc. etc. (see perhaps what was done at Sears Crosstown in Memphis as an illustration...)

I confess I'd thought by now at least one 'millionaire' would have jumped on subsidizing the completion of T1 5150. That hasn't happened either.

Does anyone believe that billionaires became billionaires by being generous?

They're certainly not an ATM that people should be entitled to.
I have a friend who is well into being a Millionaire and he often talks about how generous random strangers often are with his money and how they expect him to pay for stuff he has no connection to.

The mission of any charitable endeavor, be it a church soup kitchen to a zoo to a Third World healthcare project to preservation of a historic object or building, is to make the rich WANT to donate to them without staging a press conference with one of those giant oversized checks for a photo op.

To do that, you have to not only appeal to the sensibilities of those with money to donate, but also show that you are a responsible steward of the money you seek, and maybe the cause or object in question. In addition, it certainly helps your case to have realistic and achievable goals, popular appeal in the form of volunteers, non-rich co-sympathizers, a wretchedly emotional appeal (cute critters, big sad eyes, etc.), and more.

This is marketing, plain and simple.

The annals of business and technical history are replete with "better ideas" that lost out to the guy with better marketing and promotion. Edison. Ford. Betamax. Bill Gates. Even, arguably, EMD. And right now, Elon Musk, like him or hate him.

Our jobs have long involved making the layman public CARE about railroads and railroad history, or even just scenic train rides. And the evidence would show we've done a middling job of that at best.

But acting "entitled" to the monies of the wealthy and their corporations, no matter how sleazy their acquisition of those monies may seem, is a sure-fire way to turn off those potential donors to working with you.

As of Tuesday evening this ship is off the coast of Florida at Port St Lucie, making between 7-8 knots under tow. They halted the tow for a time when the ship went perpendicular to the tow line in 15 foot seas.

If you want some popcorn reading, checkout the posts, comments, and wishful thinking on this Facebook page. SOS United States

The very first one I laid eyes upon:



I now have to wipe up soup I spit-taked all over my desk.......

She's making excellent time behind, essentially, two SD40's. Must be that efficient hull design. Sure beats a USN ATF lugging a battle-damaged cruiser across the Pacific in WWII.

Phil Mulligan

The ship passed within a few miles of the Florida coast today (Feb. 26). Here are some photos from Facebook.

A TV news story features an interview Mike Vidnik, captain of the ocean-going tug Vidnik 6.

Enjoy!

~Wesley

She STILL looks fast!

Phil Mulligan

A news story about the project to sink the ship as a reef.

The road ahead: Inside the year-long transformation of SS United States into world’s largest artificial reef
~Wesley

Off Key West.