VIDEO: SS United States propeller lowered into new home

Posted to: Newport News News
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By Jim Washington
The Virginian-Pilot
© September 5, 2008

NEWPORT NEWS

How do you move a valuable, historic propeller that weighs 63,000 pounds?

Very carefully. And slowly.

A crew of crane operators and shipyard workers mounted just such a propeller onto its shaft on a wall outside The Mariners' Museum in Newport News on Thursday morning. The process unfolded over several hours.

The prop once powered the SS United States, an ocean liner built in Newport News in 1952 that broke the speed record for crossing the Atlantic.

It now looms over the intersection of Warwick Boulevard and Avenue of the Arts.

"We hope it will be a welcoming sight to museum visitors," said Marcie Renner, the museum's chief conservator.

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She was a beauty

Submitted by lp85833 on Fri, 09/05/2008 at 11:11 am.

I traveled to England with her in 1966 and back home in 1968. I remember as a child how elegant everything about this ship was and how smoothly she sailed.

Bring her back

Submitted by doc_report on Fri, 09/05/2008 at 11:09 am.

And turn her into a floating hotel like the Queen Mary.

The rest of the ship?

Submitted by mm12175 on Fri, 09/05/2008 at 8:08 am.

Whenever I visit Philadelphia, it breaks my heart to see this once proud lady with her red, white and blue stacks, rusting away on the waterfront. One of the most beautiful ships ever built by Newport News Shipbuilding, I would like to see a "public/private partnership" to rescue the SS United States and bring her home to the James River as a floating museum and venue for the citizens and tourists to enjoy. This icon of American industry and craftsmanship must not be lost to the scrap yard.