William Francis Gibbs

A private group of old salts, dockside dreamers, preservationists, and history buffs took formal possession Tuesday of acres of rust, peeling paint, and possibilities - the historic SS United States. Once the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic - and still holder of the westbound speed record - the 1,000-foot-long ship has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River, just north of Oregon Avenue, since the late 1990s. It was teetering on the brink of the scrapyard when philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest stepped up last summer with $5.8 million to begin a serious effort to save the ship and give it a new, rust-free life.

Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest has tossed the financial equivalent of a life preserver to the storied SS United States ocean liner. But Lenfest's generosity, coming as scrap bids were being sought for the ship moored in South Philadelphia, represents only a temporary reprieve. The up to $5.8 million pledge will cover an estimated $3 million purchase of the liner from Norwegian Cruise Line and the cost of maintaining the vessel for about 20 months. Remaining, though, is the enormous challenge of planning and financing its makeover.

IN A NEW public-service announcement , former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil has a dark prediction: The United States is "only months away from possibly disappearing forever. "   It's the kind of talk you expect in political ads during an election year, but Vermeil isn't speaking out for politicians or espousing doomsday theories. He's rallying support for a $1 million campaign to keep the SS United States from becoming scrap metal. The ship's now known more for being the hulking behemoth rusting across Columbus Boulevard from Ikea in South Philly, but for decades it held the speed record for crossing the North Atlantic.

SOME NIGHTS, the SS United States wakes Susan Gibbs from her sleep. She's shaken by the idea of the once-magnificent ship - whose hulking, rusted profile has loomed over Columbus Boulevard in South Philly since 1996 - meeting its end in some grim scrap yard. That nightmare scenario is set to play out, unless the SS United States Conservancy - the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that formed two years ago to revive the ship - can raise $500,000 in the next two months. "If we can hit that goal, it can buy the time we need to put the pieces in place to make something happen," said Gibbs, the executive director of the conservancy.

Local philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest has pledged a $300,000 matching grant to help a nonprofit purchase the SS United States, the iconic Cold War-era ocean liner docked in South Philadelphia. The record-setting 990-foot vessel, which has languished at Pier 82 for more than a decade, was offered for sale in January by Norwegian Cruise Lines for an estimated $20 million. A spokesman for the SS United States Conservancy was not immediately available yesterday to elaborate on the nonprofit's matching-grant announcement or say how much has been raised.

You know that huge historic ship that is docked across from Ikea on Columbus Boulevard in South Philly? That's right, the SS United States. Well, the SS United States Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit group that formed to preserve and save the ship, announced yesterday that it now has title to the historic ship - with the help of philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest. The conservancy is searching for private and government partners to help it develop the ship into a multipurpose waterfront destination with a hotel, retail shops and a world-class museum, Dan McSweeney, executive director of the conservancy, said at a news conference yesterday.

Reading her grandmother's diary descriptions on the way to Philadelphia, Susan Gibbs imagined the great ship in its heyday: ladies in their mink stoles, ballroom dancing, indoor pool, champagne, luxurious spa, and pleasant sea breezes. Her grandfather, William Francis Gibbs of Rittenhouse Square, had designed the world's fastest, safest, and most technologically advanced ocean liner - the SS United States - and saw its launch in 1951. His "queen of the seas" represented, for many, America's optimism and can-do spirit after World War II. The 2,000-passenger ship still holds the transatlantic speed record.

Seven years ago, a city official dubbed the 17-story, five-block-long SS United States Philadelphia's largest abandoned vehicle. Unfortunately, the joke turned prophecy. Jet travel had forced the retirement in 1969 of the fastest luxury liner in history. Fate towed it around the world until it landed in Philadelphia in 1996. Year after year, new schemes arose to return the ship to its glory days, when the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and a college student named Bill Clinton graced its decks to cross the Atlantic.

As a child, Susan Gibbs heard stories of the obsession of her grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, with the SS United States, a luxury ocean liner he began building in 1950. "He called the ship every day she was at sea to check on her," said Gibbs, the president of the SS United States Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit whose mission is to save the ship from destruction. Gibbs announced yesterday that Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest has pledged $5.8 million to save the historic ship, whose owner had opened the door to its being sold for scrap.

We share the gratitude of maritime enthusiasts, preservationists, and design buffs for philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest's gift enabling the SS United States Conservancy to purchase and rescue the fastest ocean liner ever built. Now it's up to Philadelphians to figure out how to keep this extraordinary combination of beauty and technological prowess on the Delaware, where it has berthed since 1996. The conservancy is looking for a public-private partnership to develop the ship as a museum with other functions; hotel, restaurant, and conference center come to mind.

SOME NIGHTS, the SS United States wakes Susan Gibbs from her sleep. She's shaken by the idea of the once-magnificent ship - whose hulking, rusted profile has loomed over Columbus Boulevard in South Philly since 1996 - meeting its end in some grim scrap yard. That nightmare scenario is set to play out, unless the SS United States Conservancy - the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that formed two years ago to revive the ship - can raise $500,000 in the next two months. "If we can hit that goal, it can buy the time we need to put the pieces in place to make something happen," said Gibbs, the executive director of the conservancy.

Reading her grandmother's diary descriptions on the way to Philadelphia, Susan Gibbs imagined the great ship in its heyday: ladies in their mink stoles, ballroom dancing, indoor pool, champagne, luxurious spa, and pleasant sea breezes. Her grandfather, William Francis Gibbs of Rittenhouse Square, had designed the world's fastest, safest, and most technologically advanced ocean liner - the SS United States - and saw its launch in 1951. His "queen of the seas" represented, for many, America's optimism and can-do spirit after World War II. The 2,000-passenger ship still holds the transatlantic speed record.

Few symbols of power and national confidence are as concrete as the skyscraper — or the ocean liner. Now all but forgotten, grand ships such as the SS United States epitomized the spirit of the American Century. "It was a time," says Philadelphia author Steven Ujifusa, "when Americans thought big ... and ‘made in the USA' really meant something. " Ujifusa, 33, is the author of A Man and His Ship: America's Greatest Naval Architect and His Quest to Build the S.S. United States (Simon & Schuster, $29.99)

The fund-raisers have a direct and dramatic pitch: "Save the United States. " They don't mean the country. They mean the ship, now rusting on Philadelphia's waterfront across from an IKEA parking lot, that has held the record for the fastest Atlantic crossing since its maiden voyage in 1952. Today the SS United States will mark the 60th anniversary of that crossing with a ceremony including illumination of its distinctive stacks, the premiere of the second documentary film about the ship, and a special appearance by former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil.

IN A NEW public-service announcement , former Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil has a dark prediction: The United States is "only months away from possibly disappearing forever. "   It's the kind of talk you expect in political ads during an election year, but Vermeil isn't speaking out for politicians or espousing doomsday theories. He's rallying support for a $1 million campaign to keep the SS United States from becoming scrap metal. The ship's now known more for being the hulking behemoth rusting across Columbus Boulevard from Ikea in South Philly, but for decades it held the speed record for crossing the North Atlantic.

One hundred years ago this weekend, the world was stunned by the loss of more than 1,500 passengers and crew who went down with the RMS Titanic. Among the victims from the Philadelphia area were businessman George Widener, owner of the Ritz Carlton, and his son Harry. The Wideners had close personal and business connections with the family of William Francis Gibbs. Such a tragic loss hitting so close to home may have inspired Gibbs, then a 25-year-old naval architect, to begin designing his ultimate super-ship, which would launch 40 years later.

You know that huge historic ship that is docked across from Ikea on Columbus Boulevard in South Philly? That's right, the SS United States. Well, the SS United States Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit group that formed to preserve and save the ship, announced yesterday that it now has title to the historic ship - with the help of philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest. The conservancy is searching for private and government partners to help it develop the ship into a multipurpose waterfront destination with a hotel, retail shops and a world-class museum, Dan McSweeney, executive director of the conservancy, said at a news conference yesterday.

A private group of old salts, dockside dreamers, preservationists, and history buffs took formal possession Tuesday of acres of rust, peeling paint, and possibilities - the historic SS United States. Once the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic - and still holder of the westbound speed record - the 1,000-foot-long ship has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River, just north of Oregon Avenue, since the late 1990s. It was teetering on the brink of the scrapyard when philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest stepped up last summer with $5.8 million to begin a serious effort to save the ship and give it a new, rust-free life.

Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest has tossed the financial equivalent of a life preserver to the storied SS United States ocean liner. But Lenfest's generosity, coming as scrap bids were being sought for the ship moored in South Philadelphia, represents only a temporary reprieve. The up to $5.8 million pledge will cover an estimated $3 million purchase of the liner from Norwegian Cruise Line and the cost of maintaining the vessel for about 20 months. Remaining, though, is the enormous challenge of planning and financing its makeover.

We share the gratitude of maritime enthusiasts, preservationists, and design buffs for philanthropist H.F. "Gerry" Lenfest's gift enabling the SS United States Conservancy to purchase and rescue the fastest ocean liner ever built. Now it's up to Philadelphians to figure out how to keep this extraordinary combination of beauty and technological prowess on the Delaware, where it has berthed since 1996. The conservancy is looking for a public-private partnership to develop the ship as a museum with other functions; hotel, restaurant, and conference center come to mind.