I’m a huge steam-ship fanatic, and I have been for as long as I can remember. It all started on one faithful day when I was 10-11 years old, and I watched Titanic for the first time. I remember really enjoying the movie, but not for the reasons you’d think. The movie was great, but there was too much romance and plot points for my liking. There wasn’t enough focus on the ship itself, and I was really disappointed by that. From there, I found documentaries riddled with facts about the ship and I was hooked ever since.
From there, my love for 1800’s-1900’s steamliners began. The RMS Titanic was just the start, I started watching many documentaries about different steamships within that period. I learned about WW1-WW2 battleships, aircraft carriers, and submarines, which deeply fascinated me as a kid. I learned about the sister ships to the Titanic, the R.M.S Olympic, and the R.M.S Britannic. Both had their own lives as steamliners, and both had interesting stories to tell.
If you’re unfamiliar with the sister ships of the RMS Titanic, she had two other sisters who were in service around the time of the infamous sinking of the RMS Titanic. They started construction on the RMS Olympic three months prior to the construction of the RMS Titanic, but the ships were essentially built side-by-side. Only starting the RMS Olypmic’s construction three months earlier to ease the workload on construction workers.
Most ships are constructed on what’s called a “Slip Way”, a boat ramp that helps transition boats from land into the water, but they’re also used to hold the boat in place during repairs. The White Star Line, the company that created the RMS Titanic, decided to upgrade their shipyard during construction to merge three slipways into two big ones, allowing for more focus to be put on the new RMS Titanic and Olympic. This is something that has never been done before, but at the time, the RMS Titanic was going to be bigger and faster than any other vessel, so The White Starline wanted to make sure the focus was going to be on their two newest and shiniest ships.
Even though I’ve been into ships since I was a kid, my options of seeing nearby ships are pretty limited as an inner-city Philly kid. I had the luxury of having my mom drive me to Baltimore to tour the ships and submarines they have in their harbor. I was able to tour a Lightship, which is a lighthouse placed on top of a moving vessel, it was very cool to see. Lightships were mostly used during WW1 & WW2 for directory and navigation purposes when on-land lighthouses were unavailable or unmanned. I also had the privilege of touring a WW2 submarine, which was a tight squeeze, and that’s coming from someone who is 4’11 and 135 pounds. Fascinating nonetheless.
Alongside the ships I’ve been lucky enough to take tours of, there’s one ship that is dear to my heart, and It’s no longer where it once was. The S.S. United States.
This ship was built in 1950, and she is the largest ocean liner created entirely within the United States. She’s also the fastest ship to cross the Atlantic in any direction, and she gained an award for the highest speed average during her maiden voyage. The ship itself was never used in a war, but it was fitted with Naval equipment in case it needed to be converted.
Following WW2, the ship was bought and sold several times, alongside several attempts to make the ship profitable. None of these prevailed, and eventually 1994, an auction was held to sell the ship’s fittings, amenities, and artifacts. Two years later, she was towed to Philadelphia, where she sat every since, until 2024.
I grew up around this ship, and it has always been a cool thing to drive past. The ship itself was never really open to the public, with seldom periodic events being held by the SS United States Conservatory. So, it was more of a statue or a monument to me. A really cool one at that. As a steamliner nerd, this was the closest ship for miles. I felt honored that she was in Philly, of all places. I felt honored to grow up alongside her. But as of October 25, 2024, she has different plans for her future.
Due to a rent dispute, the pier that houses the S.S. United States has evicted her, and she was sold to Okaloosa County, Florida. The plan is to transition her to Virginia to prepare her for sinking, as Okaloosa plans to turn her into an artificial reef and diving attraction in Destin, Florida by 2026.
This was the better outcome because, at the beginning of this whole rent ordeal, there was talk of scrapping the ship, which hurt my heart immensely. Her becoming a reef gives her purpose in a new way, and a home she never has to pay rent for, I think I prefer that for her.
In the end, things change and that can be hard, especially for a boat fanatic like me. Though, old things can become new things, and new things don’t always have to be bad. I’ll miss you S.S. United States, it was an honor growing up alongside you. Hopefully, I can visit you later on, when we’re both a little older and hopefully, a little happier too.
