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} |} SS ''United States'' is a luxury passenger liner built in 1952 for United States Lines designed to capture the trans-Atlantic speed record. Built at a cost of $79.4 million ($ in today's dollars)〔 the ship is the largest ocean liner constructed entirely in the U.S. and the fastest ocean liner to cross the Atlantic in either direction. Even in her retirement, she retains the Blue Riband, the accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the highest speed. Her construction was subsidized by the U.S. government, since she was designed to allow conversion to a troopship should the need arise. ''United States'' operated uninterrupted in transatlantic passenger service until 1969. Since 1996 she has been docked at Pier 82 on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. ==Design and construction== Inspired by the exemplary service of the British liners and , which transported hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops to Europe during World War II, the U.S. government sponsored the construction of a large and fast merchant vessel that would be capable of transporting large numbers of soldiers. Designed by renowned American naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs (1886–1967), the liner's construction was a joint effort between the United States Navy and United States Lines. The U.S. government underwrote $50 million of the $78 million construction cost, with the ship's operators, United States Lines, contributing the remaining $28 million. In exchange, the ship was designed to be easily converted in times of war to a troopship with a capacity of 15,000 troops, or to a hospital ship.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=The Great Oceanliners (Flip through website for reference) )〕 The vessel was constructed from 1950–1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid and the hull constructed in a graving dock. ''United States'' was built to exacting Navy specifications, which required that the ship be heavily compartmentalized and have separate engine rooms to optimize war-time survival.〔 〕 A large part of the construction of ''United States'' was with pre-fabricated sections. The ship's hull comprised 183,000 separately fabricated sections.〔 〕 To minimize the risk of fire, the designers of ''United States'' used no wood in the ship's framing, accessories, decorations, or interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal, and spun glass fiber to ensure compliance with fireproofing guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Specially commissioned artwork included pieces by fourteen artists, including Nathaniel Choate and Gwen Lux. Although the galley did feature a butcher block, the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were aluminum. The ballroom's grand piano was of a rare, fire-resistant wood species—although originally specified in aluminum—and accepted only after a demonstration in which gasoline was poured upon the wood and ignited, without the wood itself igniting.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Early Years )〕 The construction of the ship's superstructure involved the greatest use of aluminum in any construction project to that time, and posed a Galvanic corrosion challenge to the builders in joining the aluminum structure to the steel decks below. The extensive use of aluminum provided significant weight savings.〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=SS United States )〕 ''United States'' had the most powerful steam turbines of any merchant marine vessel, with a total power of 240,000 SHP (shaft horsepower) delivered to four diameter manganese-bronze propellers. This gave her the greatest power-to-weight ratio ever achieved in a commercial passenger liner, before or since. The ship was capable of steaming astern at over , and could carry enough fuel and stores to steam non-stop for over at a cruising speed of .〔 (【引用サイトリンク】title=Designing and Constructing Superliner SS United States )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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