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Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

ENGINEERING COLLOQUIUM

Monday, October 5, 2015 / 3:30 PM, Building 3 Auditorium

Steven Ujifusa

"The SS United States: The Story of the Finest, Fastest Transatlantic Liner Ever Built"

ABSTRACT -- Imagine taking the Chrysler Building, turning it on its side, and pushing it through the North Atlantic at over 40 miles per hour. That's what it would take to design a ship like the SS United States.

At the peak of his power, in the 1940s and 1950s, William Francis Gibbs was considered America’s best naval architect. His quest to build the finest, fastest, most beautiful ocean liner of his time, the S.S. United States, was a topic of national fascination. When completed in 1952, the ship was hailed as a technological masterpiece at a time when "made in America" meant the best. Gibbs was an American original, on par with John Roebling of the Brooklyn Bridge and Frank Lloyd Wright of Fallingwater. Forced to drop out of Harvard following his family’s sudden financial ruin, he overcame debilitating shyness and lack of formal training to become the visionary creator of some of the finest ships in history. He spent forty years dreaming of the transatlantic liner S.S. United States.

The SS United States remains the largest passenger ship every to fly the American flag: 52,000 gross tons, 990 feet long, 101 feet wide. Designed to be quickly converted from a luxury liner carrying 2,000 passengers into a troop transport able to transport an entire Army division (14,000 men) 10,000 miles without refueling, she also set new standards in safety and speed. On her maiden voyage, she crossed the North Atlantic in 3 days 10 hours and 40 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 35.59 knots. Her top speed remained classified for years, as did many of her design features. Unfortunately, the SS United States debuted only a few short years before the passenger jet arrived on the scene. After carrying royalty, movie stars, and thousands of ordinary tourists, she was withdrawn from service in 1969. A rusted ghost of her former self, the ship currently sits in Philadelphia, awaiting the next chapter.

Her designer William Francis Gibbs was driven, relentless, and committed to excellence. He loved his ship, the idea of it, and the realization of it, and he devoted himself to making it the epitome of luxury travel during the triumphant post–World War II era.

SPEAKER -- Steven Ujifusa is a historian and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He has appeared on National Public Radio, CBS Sunday Morning, and numerous other media outlets. In 2012, The Wall Street Journal named his first book A Man and His Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the SS United States (Simon & Schuster) as one of the 10 best nonfiction books of the year.

He is now working on his second book for Simon & Schuster, tentatively titled Full Sail, on the great 19th century American clipper ships and the merchant dynasties they created.

A native of Chappaqua, New York, Steven received his undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and a joint masters in historic preservation and real estate development from the University of Pennsylvania.

He serves on the boards of the Independence Seaport Museum, Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, and the Penn Design Alumni Association. He also serves on the advisory council of the SS United States Conservancy, a national nonprofit dedicated to saving the great ship and preserving her historical legacy.


Engineering Colloquium home page: https://ecolloq.gsfc.nasa.gov