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With SS United States set to be sunk, passengers remember the iconic ocean liner

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With SS United States set to be sunk, passengers remember the iconic ocean liner

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The SS United States may be sunk in the near future, but its memories live on through those who experienced it.

Despite great efforts to revamp the iconic ocean liner, following a lawsuit, the SS United States Conservancy entered into an agreement with Okaloosa County, Florida, to sink the mammoth ship and turn it into the world’s largest artificial reef.

It was set to travel to Alabama for sinking preparations in November, but the trip was delayed due to logistics and weather. Okaloosa County canceled the original plan to move the ship starting Nov. 15. A new date has not yet been set, but Coast Guard documents say the ship might not be fit to make the trip from Philadelphia.

Rumors of last-minute efforts to bring the SS United States to New York City are false, Okaloosa County spokesman Nick Tomacek told the Delaware News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Why is the SS United States important?

The SS United States hit the water in 1952 as “an ambassador of America’s post-war industrial power and a technological marvel,” the SS United States Conservancy website says.

Developed by United States Lines and the U.S. government, the ship was part luxurious passenger liner, hosting a slew of celebrities, and part secret weapon, the website says. It still holds the transatlantic speed record and, at the time, was able to transport more troops further, without refueling, than ever before.

Background: Massive, historic ‘America’s flagship’ must leave Philadelphia port. But where can it go?

The ship was retired in 1969 as transatlantic flights became more common. It changed hands numerous times after that, landing with the conservancy in 2011. Now, the SS United States is America’s only remaining “great ocean liner,” the website says.

The historic vessel’s final journey has brought to top of mind, for many, fond memories of their time on the celebrated ship. Here are some of their stories.

Sailing with Ava Gardner

Rose Thacker was 10 years old when she made a round trip between New York City to Le Havre, France, in the summer of 1966.

Thacker was too young to understand her celebrity, but actress Ava Gardner shared the ship with her both times. Gardner was one of many celebrities to grace the ship’s decks.

“It was a huge boat, let me tell you,” Thacker said.

Thacker recalled the ship’s movie theater, where she could “pop in” anytime, she said. She had just learned to swim so she loved the large swimming pool, she said. At dinnertime in the banquet hall, “everybody dressed up,” she said, and the captain sat with different tables every night. Thacker still has some of ship’s printed menus.

“It was quite an experience. It was like a floating city,” she said.

She was pregnant on board

“I was in a little tin horn driving to the big city and then I saw this immense ship and I was just like, ‘Oh my God,’ ” 89-year-old Doris Pethel, of Newark, recalled.

She was 22 and six months pregnant when she boarded the SS United States in New York City to visit her husband, an airman stationed in Wethersfield, England, in September 1957.

“I got a little seasick, but I heard that if you kept your eyes on the horizon you’d feel better, and so it was,” she said.

Pethel shared a cabin with three other women, visited the library, sat with other “singles” at mealtimes and frequently checked in with the purser’s office to get updates on the ship’s progress, she said.

While in England, Pethel gave birth. When she returned to the U.S. aboard another historic ship, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, she had a six-week-old infant with her.

“I am so sorry that the (SS) United States is no more, but I have a great memory of my trip on it,” she said. She hopes to get to see the ship as it travels down the Delaware River and Bay.

She couldn’t wait to get off the ship

Renate Koerner also was pregnant when she voyaged from Bremerhaven, Germany, to America on the SS United States in March of 1961. Her seasickness was much worse than Pethel’s.

“I was sick for all five days on the way over,” the now 88-year-old Koerner said. “I didn’t come out of my cabin until we got to New York. I think about it every March.”

Koerner now lives in Brick Township, New Jersey, but she grew up on the Baltic Sea, she said. She had never been seasick before and was very excited to be on the SS United States, she said, but there was a “big, big storm” on the Atlantic during her passage, causing her extreme nausea.

Women in nearby cabins brought her and another pregnant woman food and water, Koerner said, but eventually a stewardess came and forced them to come out and get some fresh air.

“That made us even more sick,” Koerner said. “I was so mad I couldn’t enjoy anything. I couldn’t wait to get off that boat.”

Christmas on the SS United States

Steven Perlin was born in Switzerland while his father was attending school there, he said. In December 1959, a 2-year-old Perlin, his brother and his mother took the SS United States from Le Havre, France, back to America.

The crossing was rough, Perlin recalled.

“I remember a crew member warning my brother and I off from the elevators as they were closed due to the weather,” he said.

Perlin has a photo of Santa Claus giving him a present aboard the ship, the only known photo of Santa on the ship, he said. The gift “was some sort of mechanical race car contraption which I remember being quite fond of,” he said.

Perlin was able to tour the ship earlier this year, which he said was a “great privilege.”

Dr. United States

Thomas Coleman of Carbondale, Pennsylvania, died in 2000, but in the 1950s and 1960s, he was an SS United States physician, according to his daughter, Ellen Hamilton.

Coleman’s family often went with him to the harbor in New York City to see him off, Hamilton said, and they were allowed to board the ship to see his cabin and office.

“It was a wonderful experience for my dad. He enjoyed the mix of work, fine dining and seeing the world,” Hamilton said. “My mother was the true hero in this story as she was home with seven children. My only wish was that my mom could accompany him on these great adventures.”

She saw toured ship as it was being built

Dororthy Colburn was about 10 years old when her father, who worked in administration for the U.S. Navy, was invited to visit the ship as it was being built.

“It was really big, walking beside it to get to the little bridge that went in, but inside it was enormous, bigger than my whole world,” the 86-year-old New Castle resident said.

No photographs were allowed, but Colburn has vivid memories of the galley.

“Nothing resembled the kitchen in our house. I had never walked into a refrigerator!” she said. “Everything was shinymetal. We were told that the only wood on the entire ship was the chef’s cutting block.”

The ship’s architect, William Francis Gibbs, wanted a fireproof ship and insisted no wood be used in construction, according to the SS United States Conservancy website. The exception was the ship’s pianos, made from fire-resistant mahogany.

Do you have memories of the SS United States? Shannon Marvel McNaught would love to hear them. Contact her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.

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