{"id":318172,"date":"2025-08-04T21:42:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T21:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318172\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T21:42:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T21:42:16","slug":"ss-united-states-funnel-removed-for-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/318172\/","title":{"rendered":"SS United States funnel removed for museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

August 4, 2025<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/a> \"\" The forward funnel of the SS United States was removed from the ship at Mobile, Ala., Aug. 4, for future use at the planned SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience museum in Okaloosa County, Fla. WALA Fox10 video image. <\/p>\n

The forward funnel of the ocean liner SS United States was hoisted off Aug. 4 in Mobile, Ala., one more step in plans for an onshore museum memorializing the historic ship to be deployed as an artificial reef coast of Florida\u2019s Destin-Fort Walton Beach.<\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 twin funnels, six stories high and sloping backward to convey the record-breaking 50 mph-plus speeds achieved by the vessel in the 1950s, will be centerpieces of the future \u201cSS United States Museum and Visitor Experience\u201d in Okaloosa County, Fla.<\/p>\n

The non-profit SS United States Conservancy engaged Thinc Design,<\/strong> New York, \u201cone of the world\u2019s premier museum and exhibit design firms, to initiate the museum planning and development process,\u201d according to a statement by the conservancy. <\/p>\n

The forward funnel of the ocean liner SS United States was hoisted off Aug. 4 in Mobile, Ala.<\/a>, one more step in plans for an onshore museum memorializing the historic ship to be deployed as an artificial reef coast of Florida\u2019s Destin-Fort Walton Beach.<\/p>\n

The United States\u2019 twin funnels, six stories high and sloping backward to convey the record-breaking speeds achieved by the vessel in the 1950s, will be centerpieces of the future \u201cSS United States Museum and Visitor Experience\u201d in Okaloosa County, Fla.<\/p>\n

The non-profit SS United States Conservancy engaged Thinc Design,<\/strong> New York, \u201cone of the world\u2019s premier museum and exhibit design firms, to initiate the museum planning and development process,\u201d according to a statement by the conservancy.<\/a> <\/p>\n

\u201cThinc is internationally recognized for creating powerful, story-driven environments that merge physical artifacts with immersive media and theatrical effects,\u201d the groupo says. \u201cTheir acclaimed projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum; the Empire State Building Observatory; Robert Ballard\u2019s Challenge of the Deep, focusing on RMS Titanic exploration; and aquariums in Seattle, Miami, and San Francisco, including the new Ocean Pavilion on Seattle\u2019s waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thinc is partnering with LMN Architects <\/strong>and engineering firm Buro Happold<\/strong> to guide initial planning of the museum. Gibbs & Cox, the firm that designed the SS United States, and now a subsidiary of Leidos<\/strong>, is \u201clending technical input as well to bring the ship to life for new generations of visitors,\u201d according to the conservancy.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/The SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience is planned to be built in Okaloosa County, Fla., featuring the ship’s iconic funnels as a key design element. Rendering courtesy of Thinc | LMN Architects | Buro Happold.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are deeply committed to celebrating the enduring legacy of America\u2019s Flagship, and we have assembled an extraordinary team to help us realize our vision,\u201d said Susan Gibbs, the conservancy\u2019s president and granddaughter of \u00a0SS United States\u2019 designer William Francis Gibbs. \u201cBy incorporating iconic components from the historic ocean liner into an architecturally stunning land-based museum, the SS United States will continue to excite and inspire future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 992\u2019x101\u2019 SS\u00a0United States\u00a0shattered speed records for trans-Atlantic passenger vessels during its 1952 maiden voyage, averaging 36 knots.<\/p>\n

The SS United States languished at a Philadelphia pier for years, while the SS United States Conservancy pursued possibilities for restoring and re-using the ship as a museum and mixed-use waterfront attraction.<\/p>\n

Those efforts ended with the conservancy and pier owners in court over back rent. Late last winter, after an epic <\/a>12-day, 1,800-mile tow by the tug\u00a0Vinik No. 6\u00a0along <\/a>the East Coast,<\/a> the SS\u00a0United States\u00a0arrived March 3 in Mobile, Ala., for a year\u2019s work of preparation before being sunk as an artificial reef.<\/p>\n

Preparations have been underway get the ship ready for emplacing about 20 miles offshore of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, for what Okaloosa County tourism officials are already billing as the world\u2019s largest recreational diving and fishing reef.<\/p>\n

Once the pride of the U.S. maritime fleet, the 992\u2019x101\u2019 SS\u00a0United States shattered speed records for trans-Atlantic passenger vessels during its 1952 maiden voyage, averaging 36 knots. On shore, the museum will tell the ship’s stories from then until its decommissioning in the late 1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tom Hennes, founder of Thinc Design, said, \u201cFrom the moment we first set foot aboard the SS United States, we felt a passion for helping tell her remarkable story. In close collaboration with the Conservancy, we look forward to designing dynamic, interactive exhibits that create an unforgettable experience for all visitors.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The museum will hold thousands of curated artifacts and ship components. The biggest include \u00a0will include one of the ship\u2019s massive, five-bladed propellers, and its then-revolutionary radar mast, which combined ground-breaking radar technology with a traditional crow\u2019s nest, and original cocktail bars that will be retrieved and restored.<\/p>\n

\"\"\/The SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience is planned to be built in Okaloosa County, Fla., featuring the ship’s iconic funnels as a key design element. Rendering courtesy of Thinc | LMN Architects | Buro Happold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"August 4, 2025 The forward funnel of the SS United States was removed from the ship at Mobile,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-318172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114972678765192389","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318172\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}