2025 Highlights
“Food At Sea” Webinar
In January, we hosted an exclusive webinar for Conservancy members in collaboration with the Historic Foodways Society of the Delaware Valley. "The Allowance List: Lecture and Discussion with Simon Spalding" highlighted objects from our curatorial connections and Spalding's research on how developments in ocean liner cuisine reflected changing immigration patterns and shipboard class systems.
Ship’s Departure
In February, the SS United States departed from Philadelphia to travel to Mobile, Alabama to begin remediation as part of her transformation to become the "World's Largest Artificial Reef." This departure garnered the attention of national media outlets as well as the ship's many supporters who followed her journey and shared photographs of the ship at sea.
Great videos of the departure were captured by a number of online content creators, including Wildwood Video Archive, the Battleship New Jersey, and of course, the Conservancy's own documentary film crew.
Here are links to just a few of the articles about the Big Ship’s big move.
Museum Plans Unveiled
Once known and celebrated by millions, the SS United States is being transformed into the world’s largest underwater reef. The optimistic ideals and generosity of spirit she embodied — and her design and technological excellence — are as vital today as they were in 1952, the year of her record-breaking transatlantic crossing.
The Conservancy has initiated the design and development process guided by Thinc Design, one of the country’s premier museum and exhibit design firms. The future museum will celebrate more than the world’s fastest and most powerful ocean liner. It will explore a broad sweep of American history, style, technical prowess, culture, and vision. It will reveal what was extraordinary about the SS United States and her namesake nation.
To become a founding museum supporter and help us make this inspiring museum a reality, click HERE.
New Digital Exhibition
In March, our third digital exhibition, "Food Tastes Better at Sea: Dining Aboard the SS United States" launched with great success.
If you have not already, click HERE to visit the exhibition.
The Conservancy also developed new items for our online shop: mugs, t-shirts, magnets and more featuring gala dinner menu designs and new artwork commissioned by a Philadelphia artist (Skullduggery Studio). Shop HERE!
CUratorial Collaboration
This summer, the Conservancy collaborated with Ship Explorer, a new video game, on their virtual walkthrough of the SS United States. We are thrilled to have treasured items from our collection available virtually to a large audience of ship enthusiasts online.
This game allows you to explore the deck and interior spaces of the Big U on your Windows computer. To purchase this game, click HERE.
Funnels’ Preservation
In August, the SS United States' iconic funnels were removed from the ship as part of her continuing remediation. The Conservancy’s preservation of these irreplaceable ship elements for use in our future museum was covered by WKRG and CNN Travel.
Sharing The Ship’s History
In September, we hosted author Doug Most to share about his new book Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War and the role that William Francis Gibbs, the designer of the Big U, played in the success of the fleet of Liberty ships.
Throughout the year, Conservancy Board members shared the story of the SS United States and plans for our future SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience with other maritime history enthusiasts in collaboration with National Maritime Historic Society, the 12th Annual Maritime Heritage Conference, and the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf.
In November, we were thrilled to announce the development of our new feature-length documentary film, “Superliner: The Enduring Legacy of the SS United States,” which will share an unprecedented look at the ship’s riveting history and final journey. For more information, click HERE.
