Donovan Myrie , Reporter. Such memories. For sharp-eyed readers, you may have already noticed that both Sharon and Donald share my last name. Well, uneventful for him maybe. Share your photos ]. Three of the four Myries docked on the west side of New York aboard the SS United States on March 29, mom had flown ahead two months earlier to find a new place for us to live and help make the transition to America easier.
During World War II, the weather was so bad on our ship you had to strap yourself in at night to sleep. Donald also told me the food was fantastic. He also added that Sharon and I were two of just a handful of kids on the cruise. This, I never knew. After the death of his father in , Edward assumed the throne but created a constitutional crisis when he proposed marriage to American socialite Wallis Simpson.
The problem: Simpson was a divorcee and was in the process of filing for a second divorce. If Edward married Simpson, his prime ministers would have resigned and thrown England and five other countries into political upheaval. So, Edward abdicated. And we were on a ship with him. Had the SS United States remained in service, she would have celebrated her 74th anniversary this summer. As it was, the ship made over transatlantic trips and carried over a million passengers in just 17 years of service.
Construction began on Feb. In her day, the United States owned by United States Lines was a marvel: She was built for transatlantic ocean liner trips, but naval architect and marine engineer William Francis Gibbs also designed her for quick conversion to a troop transport capacity of 14, troops should the need arise. A big part of the architecture and engineering of the SS United States was an emphasis on speed.
The SS United States was slim and long, constructed mostly of aluminum versus steel , and had powerful high-pressure steam engines. To this day, the United States remains not only the largest passenger ship ever built in America, but the fastest in the world.
