My name is Niecy Moss. In 1962 my family and I were aboard the SS United
States . Even though I was a very young child, age 5 years old, I remember
things like they were yesterday. We had to wear identification tags on our
wrists at all time. I loved to go to the pool. I enjoyed going to the movies
too. When we had dinner, I always had the vanilla ice cream for dessert. I
had a terrible tooth ache. (Years later in 1966 when my mother, went back to
England on the SS United States the steward remembered my awful tooth ache
and asked my mom if I finally had it fixed.)
My family was all together. Dad Lorus, Mom Irene, older brother Larry, older
sister Sharon, younger brother Ray and my German grandmother Bronia Bauer.
Our family got a cabin with 4 pull down beds and one bed in the middle.
Our cabin stewart had to bring in a crib for my baby brother Ray. The crib
was red plaid and zipped all the way up and closed. Mom used to zip the crib
up so my baby brother would not craw out. I would wake up in the middle of
the night and unzip the crib thinking my baby brother could not breath. Mom
would always ask 'Who keeps unzipping this crib?' I did not confess to it.
Years later in 2001 I finally confessed to my mom that it was me.

My grandmother was put into another cabin with 2 other women she did not
know. This bothered me terribly.
I wanted her in our cabin. Grandmother's cabin had a port window. We would
look outside a lot of the time.
When we were disembarking the ship, they had escalators that we took down.
My grandmother was nervous going down the long escalators and grabbed my
hand tight.

In 1966 my mother went back to England on the SS United States from New York
City. On her return trip, they hit some very ruff weather. She told me that the
ladies were not allowed to wear high heels. Mom told me that the ship did
everything but turn upside down. My Mom said everyone got together and
partied. She said a lot of people got sick but she was ok. She told me that
it was one of the most fun times in her entire life.
Weeks later I was watching 'Meet the Press' and they had a film clipping
from someone that was on the ship the same time my mother was on and filmed
that storm. I watch the film clip in complete horror as I watched how high
the waves were and how they hit the ship.
Niecy Moss  Sept 2006

   As part of its contract with the Federal Government, the United States Lines accorded first-class passage to military officers and their families traveling to and from Europe under official orders.

Particularly in the matter of dinning, first class passage set a standard of elegance which, in our subsequent experience, has not been equaled anywhere else in the world. We saved menus, which changed in their entirety every day, and which doubtless now have value to collectors of luxury-liner memorabilia. To give an illustration of their opulence, one entire page of each menu, displayed thirty-five entries, was devoted to appetizers alone. Other pages were comparably lavish.

 We made the passage from New York to Southampton in September 1957 on the SS United States, which held the speed for trans-Atlantic crossings. In January 1959 we returned to New York on the SS America. The photograph was made on the United States two or three hours before departure from New York in 1957.

   On our trip to London in 1957 we traveled with three little children who were well cared for by the staff.  I particularly remember a motherly person in a white uniform who was meticulous about seeing to it that our children were fed food that they liked and that was attractive.  She quite spoiled them.

Bette W Widder. June 2004

At the tender age of 9 and 1/2 I sailed on the SS United States with my parents in November of 1965. This began our 5 years of living abroad, in Frankfurt, Germany. We docked at Bremerhaven.

 The Duke and Duchess of Windsor were on board. I remember thinking that they looked normal.  I expected her to wear some kind of tiara! I have the passenger list from that voyage and our names are on the same page as theirs.

Other memories include my mother NEVER leaving the stateroom. She was seasick the entire trip. I think she finally appeared on the day before we docked. But she couldn't eat a thing. My father and I had a great time.

I loved the steps that led to the dinning room in first class. I would pretend I was Shirley Temple and tap up and down them. Of course, I wouldn't let anyone see me doing this. My other vivid memory of the steps comes from the bad weather we hit in mid-Atlantic. The velvet ropes had to go up so the waiters could maneuver to and from the tables. This was so fascinating to me then. On one particular morning of the bad weather syndrome, I ate a too hearty breakfast, and managed to leave most of it on the first class steps.

I still have the menus from our voyage (in excellent condition). Breakfast lunch and dinner. My son is a chef and is fascinated by what was served. I also have a program card from an evening's entertainment, and the classic postcard of the ship!

What a wonderful experience this was. I can still remember after all these years.

Elaine Tweedy    December 2003

Bill Ashley writes

   I crossed the Atlantic twice on the S.S. United States. Once in 1957 and again in 1960. My father was in the military, an officer, so we had the privilege of traveling first class. Even though I was only a young boy, I still remember the awe of transatlantic travel. It was an experience unlike any other, before or after. I also carry with me the vivid, but less pleasant memoirs of spending the first full two days in bed, terminally ill with seasickness. Once I made my miraculous recovery, I had a blast. I won’t bore you with my reminiscences.

   However, I’d like to share a few things that still stand out in my memory, even after 40+ years. Things such as the pearl my mother found in an oyster while having supper in the first class dining room. She still has that pearl as a treasured memento. Also the night we were dining when the ship’s captain stopped by to talk with my parents; and then he turned his attention to me and spent at least ten minutes talking to me about the ship. And the way they dressed for supper each night (military men in full dress uniforms, ladies were in formal evening gowns).

  I can’t help but think of how far we’ve advanced technologically since air travel became the dominant mode of travel, but in terms of civilized service, comfort, and attention to detail, nothing could compare with crossing the Atlantic on America’s finest superliner. It was, and is, an experience I’ll always treasure

 Bill Ashley. March 2003

      Towards the end of it's career the United States had some very successful cruises, The last one was a 16 day " Christmas-New Year's Cruise" to St Thomas, Dakar, Funchal, and Tenerife. Holly Jahangiri was on board. Check out Pictures of the last Big U cruise.     http://users.ev1.net/~hjahangiri/album.html

   As a very small boy, in Southampton, I sat upon my Dads shoulders to witness the maiden arrival of the quite remarkable "UNITED STATES". I remember very clearly the vast numbers of local folk who had turned out to join all of the dignitaries.

Peter Lamb.

   My brother and I sailed on the SS United States from England to New York in August of 1969 (possibly the last crossing?). Our parents were living in London at the time, having been transferred there from Houston, Texas. We flew to England in early June, after college let out (freshman year for me, junior year for him), to visit our family and to hitch-hike around Europe for the summer. Our dad decided to send us back across to the U.S. by ship, for the experience of a trans-Atlantic crossing. Two memories stand out about the trip: 1. By the second day out Steve (my brother) and I had gotten to know our room steward fairly well. We asked him if there was anything fun to do on board. He said "For the passengers-No! But some of the crew had found some diversions". He told us to change into blue jeans and he would bring us a couple of blue crew work shirts when he got off duty a couple of hours later. Sure enough he showed up, we put the shirts on and he led us on a complete tour of the ship: engine room, communications, cargo holds, kitchens, everything!! He told us we had to wear the shirts in case we ran into any of the officers, and to act like crew members! Anyway, at the end of his tour we thanked him and again asked him about any "fun" stuff. He took us through a door (port) that led outside to the very front of the ship. There was a rope that attached to the bulkhead and ran all the way to the bow. We grabbed on the rope and walked to the bow and looked over. That was really a sight! The waves were big enough that the front was lifting up and down and the guy we were with said to hold onto the rope and jump up as the ship dropped. Wow, that was fun, because we could catch about 6 feet of air as we jumped! 2. The third day, the seas were really big (20-25 foot swells) and everybody, it seemed, was seasick. Steve was sick and didn't want to go the dining hall for lunch. I went and had lunch and was one of only a very few that showed up to eat. Since I didn't have anything to do, I went back to the cabin to check on my brother and he still wasn't feeling good. I decided to go to the indoor swimming pool. There was no one else in the pool room because the ship was moving so much the water was coming out of the pool. Anyway I jumped in the pool and spent about an hour sloshing from one end of the pool to the other. It was great!

RICHARD DOING  MAY 2001                         

Thanks for the interesting site. I sailed from NY to Southampton in September 1963 on the S.S,U.S. I was newly married, a small-town girl from Oregon on her first adventure. We were moving to England for a year. The day before we sailed my baggage was stolen when we arrived in Brooklyn from a cross-country drive. I boarded with only images from movies of how people traveled, and a wardrobe now limited to one hastily purchased black wool suit, two blouses, some underwear, the cotton dress and high heels I had on when the theft occurred, and a new pair of tennis shoes. Fortunately the weather didn't freeze me off the deck. We had a first-class stateroom even though we were ticketed in tourist. I had a distant relative with the company who recognized my name on the roster and did a last-minute upgrade. While it was a great surprise, and I did appreciate it, I had no idea what a luxury we received until our table-mates in the tourist class dining room visited our stateroom and, eyes bulging out, drug us to their much more modest quarters. Funny what floats back to memory now, nearly 40 years later. I commented to the waiter that the cream of chicken soup was good enough for dessert. He smilingly served me a second cup with my dessert. Late one evening we were having drinks and my glass was chipped. Suddenly I wanted to touch the bottom of the sea out there in the middle of the dark night. My fingerprints presumably sank along with the glass somewhere over the mid-ocean rift where I tossed it. Thanks for the memory boost.

MS KINNEY THIELE     May 2001

   On December 30,1952 my mother, father, sister and I climbed the gangplank of the largest ship I had ever seen as a 14 year old. We were going to Southampton on the SS United States. My father, a Colonel in the United States Army was being assigned to the Imperial Defense College of the British Armed Forces in London England for a year. We were one of the first military families to sail on the ship. In order to get to England in the 50’s you went by ship. We were initially going on the USS Hubbard but it was decommissioned and the next day they said we would have to go to New York and would be on the SS United States. Needless to say we were all exited.

   I have an article which I cut out of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on December 27, 1997 telling of the plight of the ship. I have found memories of the Great ship, and hope it could be preserved as a museum.                      Charles Hal Dayhuff, III   Jan 99

  I   remember the voyage well. Life Magazine ran an article on the SS United States, with a centerfold of the ship. I remember saying to Daddy, " Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we went to England on this ship". He laughed  and said, " No honey we will be going on an army ship, not one like this".

   Several months later there we were boarding the SS United States!. I remember the daily time and speed announcements. When the water got rough they had to slow down, especially after a lady fell and broke here ankle. I still remember when they put the ropes up in passageways. They only served solid foods, no liquids, no soups. We tried to go swimming with the pool water swooshing like mad making us seasick. It also snowed and we all went out on deck to see if it would land on the ship. Of course it did. The kids first trip, and it was wonderful.      Jane Dayhuff Collins   Jan 99

   A departure on the United States would draw a crowd. People would come to see the beautiful liner with its tall red white and blue stacks, racked back at an angle. The imposing white superstructure sat on a sleek black hull, with a sharp, slender prow. They also came to say goodbye to friends and relatives, and a party in your cabin was the best way to celebrate. The champagne would flow, flowers were delivered, and the party would continue until the "all ashore that’s going ashore" was announced. Everyone would be on the starboard side waving and throwing streamers to those left behind. The band played, the ship gave three powerful blasts from its whistle and eased out into the Hudson river.

Once underway, the first thing that you became aware of was the ship’s speed. All out the ship's engines produced 241,745 of horsepower propelling 53,290 tons at 48miles per hour. A more typical speed was 36 knots or over 41 mph.. You were knew you were moving when you looked out a porthole and saw the water fly by.. At times the speed of the ship combined with the wind would send deck chairs and Ping-Pong table flying. I remember standing in the front of the ship with the force of the oncoming wind meeting the fast ship. It was a struggle to stay on your feet and not be pushed back against the ship. Yet once inside, the ride was smooth, stable, and relatively of free vibration..

   Each superliner’s interiors and atmosphere reflected its country of origin. The Cunard line ships were known for their emphasis on class, size, and art deco interiors. The French ships had style, glamour, and elegance. The United States'style and atmosphere were uniquely American. It was comfortable and inviting. There was nothing stuffy or pretentious about this ship. The interior had a contemporary look, combined with the work of the best American artist and craftsman of the time. They provided us with western artwork in the Navajo lounge, sculpture state flowers and birds, ducks in the Windsor suite. The symbol of the US Lines was the eagle. It showed up in sculptures, on dinnerware, and on passenger blankets. The furnishings were both comfortable and functional. The staff was friendly, and helped you feel at ease. The food was excellent with cuisine that featured American regional specialties. This all came together in a ship that was a national symbol.

   I remember one crossing where we encountered rough weather. Ropes were strung in the public areas, to keep passengers from getting tossed into walls and furniture. Walking standing or sitting is an experience when your environment is going up down and from side to side. Eating can be a challenge when the salt and pepper shakers roll about the table that had a ring that around its circumference and could be raise to keep plates from sliding onto your lap.

   On the last crossing from LeHavre to New York we took our Irish Setter. Each day we would take turns walking the dog. The dogs had their own small deck complete with fire hydrant. Unfortunately our dog had been confined for some time and really had to go. When we were on deck she went, and a river started to flow down the deck towards several lap dogs whose horrified owners picked them up and cleared the deck.

   Arrivals in New York were always exciting, as the ship sailed by the statue of Liberty and the lower Manhattan skyline.                   Larry Driscoll 1997