The SS United States and her final destination

She was the fastest ocean liner in history. But the jet age took the SS United States out of service, and she wound up docked in Philadelphia for nearly 30 years. Now, she Even with her paint peeling and rivers of rust, the queen of the North Atlantic – five city blocks long, 12 stories high – still strikes quite a pose in the setting sun. The SS United States quickly became the fastest ocean liner in history. On her maiden voyage back in 1952, she reached speeds topping more than 40 miles an hour – a record for a transatlantic crossing that's never been broken. But she was elegant, too – stately and refined.

During her nearly two decades in service, she carried four U.S. presidents, countless celebrities, and tens of thousands of happy voyagers. But what was once glamorous and spacious, the jet age did away with. Speed won out over starry nights at sea. By 1969, the SS United States was withdrawn from service, and that's what gets us back to her currently forlorn state. She wound up in Philadelphia, where for almost 30 years she sat with only spiders and sunbeams booking passage. "She still casts a spell; there's something about her," said Susan Gibbs, president of a non-profit called the