July 19, 1954: One of the more boastful cruise ships to set sail since the Titanic, the superliner United States (“America’s largest, fastest and newest passenger liner”) had an appointment with its own special “beauty parlor” in Bayonne, N.J. “A spokesman for the line said this would be the third time in her two-year career that she would be looked over below the waterline,” The Times reported. “Work to be performed at Bayonne will include bottom scraping, painting and a check of her propellers.” Photo: Robert Walker/The New York Times
Now rusting in South Philly.