Anniversary of Normandie Disaster

S.S. United States Purchased by Crystal Cruises

Crystal Cruises has taken a step that may potentially save the iconic ocean liner, S.S. United States. To be sure, there has been much fanfare and excitement around the announcement, and rightly so. But before we get carried away with all of the hype, some issues need to be addressed.

• The deal signed by Crystal is conditional.

The agreement penned  by Crystal Cruises with the ship's current owners has them taking over all preservation costs of the ship while a comprehensive study will be done to determine the feasibility of returning her to a seaworthy status as a cruise ship. This study is to be conducted by the end of 2016. What happens at the end of 2016 should it be revealed that the feasibility was not particularly feasible?

Have they actually seen the ship? I mean, in person? It's a rusting train wreck. It is virtually nothing more than a rusting, empty hulk.

"SS-United States" by Lowlova - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SS-United_States.JPG#/media/File:SS-United_States.JPG

""United States" - Hampton Roads, 1989" by René Beauchamp - http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2027961. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:%22United_States%22_-_Hampton_Roads,_1989.jpg#/media/File:%22United_States%22_-_Hampton_Roads,_1989.jpg

• The United States was an ocean liner, not a cruise ship.

The ship will need a complete rebuild and modernization effort. She has a deep draft which means she can't get in close to some locations. She will need new power plants, azimuth pods, bow thrusters, decks of suites added, a completely new bridge... It's not like they're buying an old car and they're going to run the sander on it, paint it, new tires and away she goes.

• An American ship registered in New York, not anymore.

Cruise ships typically are registered in countries without excessive taxes and other huge expenses. Guaranteed (as far as I am concerned) the United States would not be an American ship.

• Who will be doing the actual work?

The United States was designed by American marine architect William Frances Gibbs and was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company by American workers. Without knowing any details (my opinion?) it would be a good bet that the ship would be towed out of country - perhaps to Hong Kong - where it would undergo conversion. Once again, because of costs and other reasons cruise ship companies do not build ships at American ship building facilities.

Over the years there have been numerous attempts at saving the great ocean liners - Olympic, Mauretania, Aquitania, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Norway... Of these only the latter was returned to service. And what about the reincarnation(s) of Titanic? It sounded good. Not going to happen. It may seem that I am being overly skeptical of the notion that Crystal - or someone else - is going to board the United States, have a look around, decide that it can be done and commit to a long-term project that would involve towing the ship to another country and essentially completely rebuilding her. Of course the amateur (that's me) might want to not jump to unwarranted skepticism. If the big guy on the block with all of the expertise and resources says so, it must be true. And I am not saying for one iota that Crystal is pulling a fast one. Indeed, I am sure they are hoping for the best and that the ship will join their fleet. But the skepticism is nonetheless warranted. More than likely, the United States will be towed to a location overseas because a "more detailed examination of the ship must be conducted at a facility not in America" and upon completion of this "examination" it will be determined that her condition is too poor and off to the breakers she goes. Let's hope for the best despite my skepticism. 

 

And many thanks to those folks that kept her alive all of these years.

In the mean time I'll stick with the ship as she was in her heyday, thanks.

"Colorful SS United States" by Frederic Logghe - http://www.ibiblio.org/maritime/media/displayimage.php?album=8473&pos=8. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Colorful_SS_United_States.jpg#/media/File:Colorful_SS_United_States.jpg

SS United States: Made in America (Chapter 1)

No discussion about the Big U is complete without a good understanding of the Blue Riband.

Cruise Ship Hull Markings - What do They Mean?

We may have seen them before, but chances are they go relatively unnoticed. That is, unnoticed to passengers and casual onlookers. Rest assured, these odd looking marks seen on the side of the ship's hull are not artifacts from the ship's construction, nor are they some joker's attempt at "nautical graffiti." In fact, they have a serious purpose and are required by regulations to be there. These markings - or "hull markings" - assist those people that need to get close to and along side of the ship such as yard workers, dockside workers, tug boat captains and crew members of other vessels  in identifying sensitive areas that require a certain amount of situational awareness so that damage to equipment and injury to personnel can be prevented. They also assist the crew of the ship itself as a way to monitor the ship's trim, among other things. Lastly but certainly not least, they provide a means for inspectors to determine how safe the ship is as it  rides in the water without the need to board her.

Let's take a look at some of these markings as they appear on various ships:

Here is a close up of Norwegian Breakaway's bow. Notice first off, the ship's bulbous bow with the large protrusion forward and partially submerged. The first marking forward is the depth line. This is a vertical column in numbers that shows the distance from the ship's keel to the waterline. Normally these numbers represent feet. Another depth line is located at the stern. By comparing the lines at both bow and stern relative to the waterline the trim of the ship can be determined. Obviously it would be a good idea to keep the ship level!

Aft of the depth line is the bulbous bow indicator. In the picture the bulbous bow is plainly visible. Should the ship be riding low in the water, however, the "bulb" may be difficult to identify. A small vessel such as a tug would certainly damage it (and itself) if it had come too close.

Following the bulbous bow indicator are three fan-like symbols. These are bow thruster indicators. The thrusters themselves are out of view, under water.

"Norwegian Breakaway 13" by Dickelbers - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Norwegian_Breakaway_13.JPG#/media/File:Norwegian_Breakaway_13.JPG

In the following picture, the Holland America cruise ship Zaandam sits in drydock with her bulbous bow, bow thrusters - in this case, two - and bow markings visible.

"Zadm drydock" by S*anner 06n2ey at en.wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by User:Sfan00_IMG using CommonsHelper.. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zadm_drydock.jpg#/media/File:Zadm_drydock.jpg 

Below is a variation of a depth line, with Roman Numerals instead of numbers. Before the 1970s depth lines were in Roman Numerals exclusively.

 "Berlin A 1411 - Bug (8729330354)" by flightlog - Berlin A 1411 - BugUploaded by High Contrast. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berlin_A_1411_-_Bug_(8729330354).jpg#/media/File:Berlin_A_1411_-_Bug_(8729330354).jpg

 Along the middle portion of the hull other markings are visible and are no less important as those found at the bow and stern. Shell doors - service access doors and hatches that provide access to service ways for loading and unloading food, cargo, machinery - are protected with markings such as "No Tug" as seen below on a Celebrity ship.

 Joe Mabel [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Stabilizers, wing-like structures that extend below the waterline perpendicular to the hull that can be extended and retracted - aid the ship in stabilizing roll, the side to side movement as the ship moves through the water. The location of the stabilizers are marked by an ore-like symbol, as seen on the Cunarder Queen Victoria, just forward of the funnel.

By Andrew (Queen Victoria From Snowdrop) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons 

The most complex of the hull markings - and arguably the most important - are the load lines, also known as Plimsoll Marks. Located near the middle of the hull, load lines show how far down a ship's draft (the distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull) can be legally assuming variations such as water density and temperature. Let us imagine for a moment a large container ship sitting in port, being loaded. As containers pile up and weight increases the ship settles further into the water. Should the distance between the waterline and the top of the hull - known as the freeboard - become too small the ship would be in great danger of sinking. Classification societies survey the ships and determine their load lines. The standard reference load line is known as the Summer Load Line. This is depicted as a horizontal line through a circle. Additional lines indicate the limit after water density and temperature are considered. In each instance of the load line, letters associated with them refer to the classification society (on the Summer Load Line) and various load limits in different waters such as for tropical or North Atlantic operation. Below is an example of a load line:

"Plimsoll-mark hg" by Hannes Grobe (talk) - Own work. Licensed under CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plimsoll-mark_hg.jpg#/media/File:Plimsoll-mark_hg.jpg

 The Summer Load Line is marked by the classification letters G and L, indicating Germanischer Lloyd. The letters for the associated lines are: TF - Tropical Fresh water; F - Fresh water; T - Tropical seawater; S - Summer temperate seawater; W - Winter temperate seawater; WNA - Winter North Atlantic.

Markings found at the stern of the hull are similar to those found at the bow. However, many modern cruise ships utilize azimuth pods for propulsion instead of the traditional propellers on shafts and a rudder and therefore have no aft thrusters. A ship displaying a fan-like symbol with thruster symbols would indicate traditional propeller with thrusters.

 

QM2 pic

A great image of QM2. She's apparently in Hamburg, circa 2006.

"Queen Mary II Einlaufen Hamburg Hafengeburtstag 2006 -1" by Christian Bischof - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_Mary_II_Einlaufen_Hamburg_Hafengeburtstag_2006_-1.jpg#/media/File:Queen_Mary_II_Einlaufen_Hamburg_Hafengeburtstag_2006_-1.jpg

RMS Queen Mary pic

RMS Queen Mary arriving at New York with US troops returning from Europe in June, 1945. Moran tugs are on the scene to guide the big ship in. She'll soon undergo a ten-month refit and be returned to her commercial status, loosing the grey war paint for the familiar Cunard livery. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.