SS United States 86cm Ocean Liner Model

The SS United States remains the fastest ocean liner ever built and she has never surrendered the title. On her maiden voyage in July 1952, the SS United States crossed the Atlantic in just 3 days, 10 hours and 40 minutes – beating the Queen Mary’s long-standing record by ten hours and winning the famous Blue Riband. No ocean liner has ever crossed faster. This handcrafted 86cm model captures her in the classic United States Lines livery: black hull, red antifouling, white superstructure and her enormous red, white and blue funnels.

Her final chapter is making world headlines right now. After nearly three decades laid up in Philadelphia, she is being prepared off the American Gulf Coast to become the world’s largest artificial reef – meaning this legendary liner will soon rest beneath the waves forever. There has never been a more fitting time to preserve her above the waterline, exactly as she looked at the height of her glory.

Key features of the SS United States ship model:

• Dimensions: 86cmL x 12cmW x 30cmH (33.9″ L x 4.7″ W x 11.8″ H) – 1:351 scale.
• Faithfully painted in her United States Lines livery with the distinctive winged red, white and blue funnels
• Fitted with LED lights for a beautiful illuminated display
• Plank-on-frame construction with individual wood strips applied to the hull
• All windows, portholes and deck details carved directly into the timber – no stickers or decals
• Finely detailed lifeboats, cargo masts, rigging and radar mast
• Green decks and superstructure detailing true to the original ship
• Built entirely with wooden and metal fittings – no plastic components
• Mounted on a polished wooden stand with a brass SS United States nameplate
• Want to display your SS United States in full view? We have display case that you can pick from. (The case is sold separably).

The story of the SS United States

Designed by the brilliant naval architect William Francis Gibbs and built at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, the SS United States was launched in 1951 as the ultimate expression of American maritime power. At 302 metres she was over 30 metres longer than the Titanic, yet thanks to revolutionary lightweight aluminium construction she was capable of astonishing speed – her true top speed of more than 38 knots remained a closely guarded military secret for decades.
That secrecy had a purpose. Built with substantial US Government funding at the height of the Cold War, she was designed for rapid conversion into a troopship capable of carrying 14,000 soldiers, and Gibbs made her so fireproof that famously the only wood aboard was in the pianos and the butchers’ blocks.
In commercial service she was the pride of the North Atlantic, carrying presidents, royalty and Hollywood stars between New York and Europe until the jet age ended the great liner era. Withdrawn in 1969, she spent decades awaiting a second life before being acquired for her remarkable final role: sunk off the Florida coast as the world’s largest artificial reef, where divers will visit her for generations to come.
This model preserves America’s greatest liner as she will always be remembered – record-breaker, Cold War secret and the fastest ship of them all.