Support America's Flagship in Style

The story of the SS United States is our story.

It is a story of our nation’s triumphant emergence after the trauma of World War II. A story of people, from small towns to big cities, setting out on life-changing journeys to distant shores; Of immigrants crossing the Atlantic in order to build a new life. A living icon of the American dream, the SS United States, continues to represent the power of freedom, hard work, common purpose, and innovation.

Debuted in 1952, the SS United States quickly became the most powerful and fastest ocean liner in the world, smashing the transatlantic speed record on her maiden voyage. Entirely Made in America by over 3,000 pairs of tireless hands, and with products and components from every state in the nation, the SS United States was a global ambassador and the pinnacle of mid-century maritime design. Behind her graceful lines and patriotic flair, she was a national security asset, capable of being transformed into a state-of-the-art, top-secret military vessel.

Help us continue to tell the story of the SS United States by ordering a limited-edition T-shirt or tank top, featuring the sleek mid-century modern-inspired design by Greg Shutters. The 100% Cotton, Hanes Tagless T-shirts provide you with the utmost comfort while remaining durable through each wear and wash. The Hanes X-Temp Tank Top, with a tearaway label, offers special moisture-wicking fabric, perfect for enjoying the summer heat. Each and every sale of these limited-edition shirts helps to keep the SS United States afloat, supporting the ship’s basic expenses as our redevelopment plans advance into their next phase. Each and every sale helps to keep the SS United States afloat, supporting the ship’s basic expenses as our redevelopment plans advance into their next phase.

ORDER YOUR SHIRT OR TANK TOP TODAY

The SS United States Conservancy, a national non-profit organization, is committed to saving America’s Flagship, the SS United States. The Conservancy raises public awareness and financial resources for the maintenance, restoration, and ultimate reuse of this iconic vessel and works to ensure that the fastest ocean liner ever to cross the Atlantic will remain an inspiration for generations to come.

With over 500,000 square feet of unique space, the SS is ready for conversion into a spectacular historic, waterfront destination. The Conservancy is also hard at work building an extraordinary collection of art, artifacts, and historical documents from America’s Flagship to be displayed in our future ship-board museum. Your support will enable us to continue building and curating our collections, while also developing exciting new digital exhibitions.

For more information about the extraordinary SS United States, visit www.ssusc.org or www.wearetheunitedstates.org. You can also find the Conservancy on Facebook and Twitter.

Innovative Design: The Famous Funnels of the SS United States

The SS United States' magnificent red, white and blue "sampan" funnels remain the tallest ever to be installed on a ship — at 65 feet they are themselves as tall as a 6-story building. Today, learn more about their innovative design.

Can you spot the differences between the iconic red, white and blue funnels of the SS United States (top) and SS America? Photograph courtesy of Jane Schuling.

Preventing fumes on deck from ships' funnels has always been a headache for the designers of ocean liners. Although it was proven that William Francis Gibbs' streamlined funnel design — used previously on the SS Santa Rosa, her three sister ships and the SS America — was also suitable for the great SS United States, some minor changes were made in order to improve the final result. This new design involved modifying the angle of the funnels' fins, making them parallel to the ship’s keel and not raked aft, as in all of Gibbs’ previous designs.

Wind tunnel tests prior to the vessel's construction further proved that the fins' rotation would direct the smoke fumes upward and aft, thanks to the strong wind currents created by at the trailing edge of the now horizontal fin design. The result was that decks remained virtually smoke-free, as never before achieved on a liner. The man responsible for this successful idea was not Mr. Gibbs himself, but a Newport News Shipyard apprentice named Howard E. Lee Jr., who, as a result of his experience with building and flying model airplanes, decided to apply the concept of ‘lift’ associated with airfoils to shipbuilding.

Top: images from the construction of the Big U's impressive funnels. Bottom: Howard E. Lee Jr. (on left) observes the smoke trail of the SS United States' funnels during a wind tunnel test.

Not only did the design of the SS United States' funnels serve to deflect engine exhaust away from passengers on deck, their angle lends the impression of motion and suggests a determination to race. The funnels are also asymmetrical, with the aft-most funnel marginally smaller than the fore-most. The proportions of the iconic painted stripes similarly differ: forward, the funnel is 75% red, 10% white and 15% blue; the aft-most funnel is 70.8% red, 11.7% white, and 17.5% blue. 

Can't get enough of the SS United States? CLICK HERE to learn more about the vessel's innovative design. 

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While they remain in fantastic structural condition, the funnels of the SS United States have a weather-worn appearance at the vessel's current Philadelphia berth. Why doesn't the Conservancy repaint the funnels? CLICK HERE to find out. 

Flagship FAQs: Why doesn't the Conservancy repaint the SS United States?

Today, we're back to answer another important question posed by our generous supporters: Why doesn't the Conservancy repaint the SS United States?

America's Flagship has a weather-worn appearance at her current pier in Philadelphia. While the vessel remains structurally sound, the ship was withdrawn from service in 1969 and has not been re-coated in almost 50 years.

Some of our supporters have urged us to paint the ship's exterior, starting with the ship's two iconic red, white and blue funnels — the Conservancy has explored this prospect in depth. We have examined repainting the funnels, as well as "wrapping" them in a Tyvek-style product. Unfortunately, neither of these options are feasible at the vessel's current location. Exterior and interior restoration work must be completed in tandem with the ship’s full redevelopment at a shipyard facility because of the high cost, the complexity of the project, and restrictions on performing large-scale work on the vessel in her current location. To repaint the ship’s iconic funnels alone would total almost $500,000.