The SS United States sitting at a pier in Philadelphia, waiting to be turned into a reef. Brian E Kushner/Shutterstock
It might not look like much today, but the SS United States was once a luxurious ocean liner that turned heads. Its maiden voyage took place on July 3, 1952 with the promise to be the fastest, most powerful passenger liner. The 3,000 workers who built it surely delivered, especially with its speed. Then United States was built with engines that could push out 240,000 horsepower. Its two four-bladed and two five-bladed propellers it cut through the ocean waves at 38.32 knots (or 44 miles per hour) during its sea trials. Elaine Kaplan, an engineer with the naval architecture firm Gibbs & Cox, can be credited with helping the ship achieve its record-breaking title since she designed the propellers.
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The highest speed the United States ever reached while in service was 36 knots. It managed to cross the Atlantic Ocean in three days, 12 hours, and 12 minutes with an average speed of 34.51 knots, breaking the trans-Atlantic speed record. The RMS Queen Mary, the luxury ocean liner that became a war hero, had held the old record with a similar trip made in three days, 21 hours, and 48 minutes. No other ship has broken United States' record in the ensuing 70 years.
Its reverse speed was equally impressive at 20 knots , thanks to its powerful engines. This month the vessel began its final journey down the Atlantic coast toward its resting place off of Florida's Gulf Coast, where it will become an artificial reef.
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Few ships come close to the SS United States' speed
The Queen Mary 2 docked with the Sydney, Australia opera house in the background. Majonit/Shutterstock
The Queen Mary was the trans-Atlantic record holder before the United States came along. It's a simple tourist attraction in Long Beach, California, these days, but in its heyday it was the fastest vessel used in World War II, traveling as fast as 32.5 knots. The fastest passenger liner on the ocean today is the Queen Mary 2, a cruise ship launched in 2004. It's not breaking the United States' record any day soon despite undergoing a $117 million refit. It only gets up to between 28 and 30 knots, though that's still impressive for such a large cruise liner. It's not common for cruise ships to travel so fast.
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One of the biggest ships the world has seen, Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, can only get up to 24 knots, but it typically travels between 18 and 20 knots. Faster vessels are commonly seen in the military, as they have more of a need for speed. Many of the fastest navy ships can exceed 40 knots.
Part of the reason the United States was able to go so fast was because it was subsidized by the United States government so it would be able to transform from luxury ocean liner to troop transport quickly in the event of a war. It was constructed on the heels of World War II with the Cold War just around the corner, so war wasn't out of the realm of possibility.