Derelict ocean liners, that is.

A day or so ago, I drove a friend to an impound lot to retrieve his car. The car was seized by our fair city’s vehicle seizing apparatchiks because he owed quite a bit of money in the form of unpaid parking tickets. The lot, which is surrounded by a fence and guarded as if top secret work was being conducted, is very close to the Delaware River. There are many things to look at while you wait for bureaucratic wheels to turn: an IKEA (not pictured), a Home Depot (also not pictured) and a rusting ocean liner, the S.S. United States (yes, pictured above).

at the impound lot, security is tight

Wikipedia describes the S.S. United States this way:

The United States government was interested in constructing a large, fast merchant vessel capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers in time of war, similar to the exemplary war service provided by the British liners Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth during World War II. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs, the liner’s construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. Her construction was heavily subsidized by the U.S. government, underwriting $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship’s operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, she was designed to be easily converted into a troopship in the case of war.

Built from 1950-1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia, the United States was built to exacting Navy specifications. Similar to other Navy ships, major requirements included a vessel that was inherently fireproof and also heavily compartmentalized should the vessel sustain damage while under attack in time of war.

Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States didn’t use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fiber to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood.

[...]

full at Wikipedia

It’s interesting enough, I think, that there’s a Wikipedia article devoted to a rusting ship I randomly took a digital image of while waiting for a friend.

But the interest level is increased by this Google Map image:

And a FLICKR photo set…

And a fan website…

All inspired by a ship I thought was merely the oxidizing and forgotten shell of one of Earth’s sea leisure era queens.

Of course, this doesn’t make the ship a spime (follow the link for knowledge) but it does show how the distributed enthusiasm network that is the Internet – or at least, a good portion of it – gives non-spime objects a certain, well, spime-osity. The S.S. United States doesn’t only exist as an actual thing, but as an electronically available information point.