Letter: Preserve ship and maritime history
SS United States is shown docked in Philadelphia. (Jan. 21, 2014) Credit: Chris Ware
Kudos to Newsday for the update on the SS United States ["A ship in peril," News, Jan. 26].
I grew up around ships, as most of my family worked in the maritime industry here and in Norway, going back more than 150 years. As a boy, I had the thrill of seeing the SS United States pass under the Verrazano Bridge. My wife, on a sixth-grade class trip, got to board the ship while it was docked in New York.
The ship's conservancy group should consider a Queen Mary-type attraction, like the one in Long Beach, Calif. The ship's two massive cargo holds could be made into multilevel casinos. The ship should then be moored next to the USS Intrepid.
Together, they could be a source of considerable revenue to the city and state, and preserve a great merchant ship, as well as a piece of maritime history.
Lloyd E. Simonsen, Ronkonkoma
