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• - Browse neighboring items by call number.
• Collection: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey

• Title: SS United States, Pier 82, Columbus Avenue, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, PA
• Creator(s): Historic American Engineering Record, creator
• Related Names:
     Gibbs & Cox, Inc.
     Eggers & Higgins
     Smyth, Urquhart & Marckwald
     Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
     United States Lines Company
     SS United States Conservancy
     Gibbs, William Francis
     Urquhart, Anne
     Marckwald, Dorothy
     Meiere, Hildreth
     Purves, Austin, Jr.
     Ostuni, Peter
     Lux, Gwen
     Gilbert, Charles
     Lantz, Michael
     Jedwabnik, Mira
     Ross, Louis
     Maritime Administration
     Hadley, Richard
     United States Cruises
     Marmara Marine
     Mayer, Fred
     Sadikoglu, Kahraman
     Cantor, Edward
     Norwegian Cruise Line
     Gibbs, Susan
     Lenfest, H. F. "Gerry"
     Babcock & Wilcox
     Foster Wheeler Corporation
     Westinghouse Electric Corporation
     Griscom Russell
     General Electric
     Christianson, Justine , transmitter
     Jacobs, James , field team
     Harrison, Michael R. , project manager
     Sabatos, John Patrick , field team
     Croteau, Todd , program coordinator
     Christianson, Justine , transmitter
     Harrison, Michael R. , historian
• Date Created/Published: Documentation compiled after 1968
• Medium: Photo(s): 47
  Color Transparencies: 6
  Data Page(s): 13
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. (http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html)
  
• Call Number: HAER PA-647
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
• Notes:
  • Significance: The steamship United States is one of America's finest engineering achievements. Its design and construction between 1943 and 1952 harnessed the technological skills and industrial capacity of the United States after World War II to create the fastest and safest passenger ship ever built. It was a colorful, comfortable luxury hotel able to carry 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew members across the inhospitable Atlantic Ocean at high speed in any weather at any time of year as well as to double, if necessary, as a naval auxiliary in times of national emergency. Its designers, led by the eminent naval architect William Francis Gibbs, paid unprecedented attention in its design and fit-out to reducing weight and preventing fire, with the result, in part, that more aluminum was used in the ship's construction than had been used in any construction project on land or sea up to that time. The ship's maiden voyage set records that still stand for the fastest east- and westbound crossings of the Atlantic Ocean by a vessel in commercial service. The United States enjoyed a healthy following among the traveling public and was widely acclaimed in professional circles for its performance, superlative engineering, and high quality construction. Unable to compete with commercial airliners without government subsidies, the ship was withdrawn from service in 1969. It has been idle since, and the SS United States Conservancy, the vessel's owner since 2011, is currently working to redevelop it as a shoreside attraction. The SS United States was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
  • Survey number: HAER PA-647
  • Building/structure dates: 1950-1952 Initial Construction
  • Building/structure dates: 1993 Subsequent Work
  • Building/structure dates: 1994 Subsequent Work
  • National Register of Historic Places NRIS Number: 99000609
• Subjects:
  • passenger liner
  • ships
  • maritime
  • travel
  • decks (watercraft components)
  • boilers
  • turbines
  • generators
• Place:
  • Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia County -- Philadelphia
• Latitude/Longitude: 39.918427, -75.136655
• Collections:
  • Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
• Part of: Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
• Bookmark This Record:
     https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/pa4126/

The Library of Congress generally does not own rights to material in its collections and, therefore, cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material. For further rights information, see "Rights Information" below and the Rights and Restrictions Information page ( http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/rights.html ).

• Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
• Reproduction Number: ---
• Call Number: HAER PA-647
• Medium: Photo(s): 47
  Color Transparencies: 6
  Data Page(s): 13
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

• Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
• Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
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• P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
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• Make note of the Call Number listed above.
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• Call Number: HAER PA-647
• Medium: Photo(s): 47
  Color Transparencies: 6
  Data Page(s): 13
  Photo Caption Page(s): 6

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

   • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.

     As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)

   • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.

2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

   • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.

   • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.

3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.