It was supposed to be the last chance for members of the public to get a look at the SS United States as it moved between two Delaware River piers before setting off on its journey to become the world’s largest artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.
Instead, the tug boat-aided move was scrubbed, and Thursday’s lunch-time cruise ended up delivering a remarkably up-close tour of the huge ship that, in its heyday, broke the transatlantic speed record in both directions.
The voyage on board the Spirit of Philadelphia was organized by the SS United States Conservancy, the group of former crew and passengers, maritime enthusiasts, engineers and historians that has been taking care of the ghost ship.
The plans to tow the boat from Pier 82 to Pier 80 did not happen as expected, a day after the two-week voyage to Mobile. Ala., and eventually the Gulf, was postponed because of poor conditions. The ship’s new owner, Florida’s Okaloosa County, has not set new dates.
While the passengers didn’t get to see the vessel in motion, the lack of tug boat activity around “the Big U” meant that the much smaller Spirit could get closer to it, and those on board got to see the starboard side from about 50 feet away.
“I’ve given tours, I’ve lost count of how many weekends I’ve been on the ship, but never seen it from this view and it really is spectacular,” said Warren Jones, a conservancy board member and CEO of Keppler Speakers. “You get a feel for the true length of this ship — 990 feet, it’s a big ship.”
It drew a crowd. By the scheduled 10:30 a.m. boarding time, over 100 people had lined up to get aboard.
The Spirit reached the stern of the SS U.S. at around 11:30 a.m. All the passengers’ gazes shifted to the starboard side of the Spirit, and those willing to step out onto the chilly decks moved outside. The ship circled back for a portside view, and repeated the process.
A unique viewpoint
For Jesse Arbor, Louis Lafferty, and Kelly Micca, three artists who were invited by the conservancy to paint and sketch the ship, the excursion was a chance to view and depict the SS U.S. from angles they couldn’t ever view before.
“I’ve been trying to paint the ship from every angle that I can see from,” Lafferty said. “So I was happy to go on the boat today because you can’t see it from straight in the back. I’ve tried from Camden and it’s a secure area in the angle directly behind it.”
After completing passes on both sides of the ship, the Spirit’s main cabin hosted speakers who described their connection to the historic vessel. Whether it was a passenger on one of its transatlantic journeys, members or relatives of the crew and medical team, those who have maintained at the pier for more than two decades, or part of the conservancy’s efforts to preserve its legacy, each speaker spoke of the boat as they would a departing loved one.
Some even held some fleeting hope that the ship’s future remained above water.
“We still hope that there’s some way we might be able to save her,” said Antonio Ellis, a New Jersey police officer who visited the SS U.S. after battling COVID for 45 days, in his speech. “I’m sure everybody’s feeling the same way.”
The conservancy received $1 million from Okaloosa for the vessel. That money, plus funds raised in the long battle to find a new home for the ship after it was ordered to move in 2022, will be put towards a land-based museum in Florida. The artifacts the conservancy has kept in storage will be put on show there, along with the ship’s funnels, radar mast, and other parts that will be removed before it is sunk.
“There’s more than a little bit [of sorrow],” said conservancy president Susan Gibbs, who is also the granddaughter of the ship’s lead designer, William Francis Gibbs. “It’s a big move, but I do get the sense that she’s ready to make a move. I mean she’s been here in Philadelphia since 1996 and that’s a long time for a fast-moving ship just to stay put. So I think she’s ready and I think we’re getting ready to let her go.”
