SS: Red, White, and Blue Riband, Forever

by John Maxtone-Graham

Maxtone-Graham has yet again produced a profusely illustrated tribute, this one to America's most famous and historic liner. Arguably the world’s most articulate and authoritative maritime historian, John Maxtone-Graham documents SS United States , her design, construction, and seventeen years of impeccable service. He introduces us to dozens of U.S. passengers, famous and infamous, as well as captains and crew. The last great American ocean liner, SS United States could be converted to a 14,000-man troop carrier and was capable of attaining a speed of over 40 knots (although in her luxury Atlantic crossings the ship was much slower). Sadly, jet travel put an end to ocean crossings, and the all-aluminum ship rests in Philadelphia while groups of fans continue to try to repurpose it. 200 color illustrations

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 27, 2014

About the author

John Maxtone-Graham has written numerous works, including The Only Way to Cross—“the bible of the ship buffs"—Normandie, and France/Norway. He spends six months lecturing aboard ships. Ashore, he lives in New York City.

Reviews

[JerryDeanHalleck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good solid book on the SS United States, the last of the great American Passenger liners. Plenty of pictures, quite a few details on how/why the ship was built and a lot of information on passenger life in the 1950s. However, if you're interested in the nuts and bolts of how the ship engines worked or how the Ship's Officers powered the ship accross the Atlantic, you're out of luck.