Posts fromAdam Frost

Library & Archives

Saving the S.S. United States

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Recently we have been blogging about the effort to conserve and reconstruct the historic steamshipUnited States. The ship, which was built right here in Newport News, has a special connection to this community. One Christopher Newport University student is taking this connection to heart. Sophomore Andrew Jelonek, a history major and avid fan of ocean liners, has taken it upon himself to spearhead a fundraising campaign for the SSUnited Statesright here on CNU’s campus.

In an article in CNU’s ownCaptain’s Lognewspaper last week, Andrew described his interest in the steamshipUnited States. “In middle school I first got into ocean liners from theTitanic, and I just expanded and started learning about the other cruise ships,” said Andrew.Read more

Library & Archives

S.S. United States: Looking to the Future

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William Francis Gibbs
William Francis Gibbs, designer of the steamship United States, stands in front of the ship at a Hudson River Pier in New York. Mr. Gibbs wears his trademark fedora hat.From the Library collections.

I left you in my last post with the purchase of the S.S.United Statesby theSS United States Conservancyin the summer of 2010. The Conservancy had saved the historic vessel from the scrapyard, but what do they plan to do with the ship?

The donations from the “Save Our Ship” campaign allowed the Conservancy to purchase the ship and to pay the costs of keeping the vessel as it is today. However, like so many of theUnited States‘ previous owners, the Conservancy has big plans for the record-setting ocean liner.Read more

Library & Archives

S.S. United States: Where it Stands

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SS United States
From the Library's collections, the SS United States in 1992, docked at the coal piers at Newport News Point

As Jay discussed in a previous post, The Port of Call blog would like to begin a conversation about the famous S.S.United States, a ship with a fabled history that was built right here in Newport News. As a current history major and future Museum Studies student, I am very passionate about the conservation of any piece of American history. But as a resident of Newport News for the last four years and a student at Christopher Newport University, I am especially devoted to preserving a historic ship as closely tied to this community as the S.S.美国。

So what is the current state of theUnited States?After being removed from service in 1969, theUnited Statespassed through a number of hands, each with their own plans for resurrection or reconstruction that were all quickly shelved. In 1996,United Stateswas towed to its current location on the Delaware River, just outside of downtown Philadelphia.Read more

Library & Archives

Exploring the Deepest Depths

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A model of the Trieste, here presented to The Mariners' Museum Assistant Director Harold S. Sniffen in 1961, is currently on display in The Mariners' Museum Defending the Seas exhibit

On Monday James Cameron, famed Canadian director of the two highest grossing films in history (AvatarandTitanic), made thefirst privately-funded and second-ever manned dive到最深的马里亚纳海沟的一部分Pacific Ocean. The dive was the result of a years-long project privately funded by Cameron himself to construct a vessel capable not only of withstanding the tremendous pressure at such depths, but of filming the entire voyage in 3D.

The first manned voyage to the bottom of the Marianas Trench, which measures nearly seven miles deep, was part of a long history of scientific projects during the Cold War. Project Nekton was the name given to the series of test dives and deep sea dives by the bathyscapheTrieste, owned by the United States Navy. On January 23, 1960,Trieste, crewed by Lt. Don Walsh and Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard, reached the bottom of the Marianas Trench and spent about 20 minutes exploring its unknown depths.Read more

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