"The History and Preservation of 'America’s Flagship'"

The story of the SS  United States  is the story of a brilliant marine engineer and naval architect who brought her into being. To say that William Francis Gibbs had a long-running love affair with a ship would be, quite frankly, an understatement. Salty-tongued, superstitious, and with no formal training in the field, he quit his job in real-estate law in 1916 to devote himself to designing the world’s fastest ship.

On Saturday, August 25th at the Peconic Landing Community Center in Greenport, Long Island, Conservancy Executive Director Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of William Francis Gibbs, will be giving an exciting talk on the history and preservation of the SS United States .

The event is free and open to the public. CLICK HERE for additional details. 

SS United States designer William Francis Gibbs was insistent that his beloved "Big Ship" be built entirely from fireproof materials, but did you know that before the launch of the Big U, Gibbs was responsible for designing a state-of-the-art fireboat for New York City?

The fireboat Fire Fighter was active with the New York City Fire Department from 1938 to 2010, and led the FDNY Marine Unit response on 9/11 by supplying water to emergency crews fighting fires at Ground Zero. 

Today, the vessel resides in Greenport, Long Island as the Fireboat Fire Fighter Museum. She is a National Historic Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This month, the museum is celebrating the vessel's 80th birthday with a variety of festivities — including a rechristening of the ship by Conservancy Executive Director Susan Gibbs.