SS United States (1864)
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | SS United States |
| Builder: | S. Gildersleeve & Son, Portland, Connecticut |
| Launched: | 1864 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | Wrecked off Cape Romain, South Carolina, 3 April 1881 |
| Status: | lost |
| Notes: | no lives lost |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | steamship |
| Tonnage: | 1,289 GT 1,180.10 NT |
| Length: | 197 ft 0 in (60.05 m) LOA |
| Beam: | 36 ft 5 in (11.10 m) |
| Draught: | 17 ft 2 in (5.23 m) |
| Depth of hold: | 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m) |
| Decks: | 3 |
| Installed power: | 40 in × 40 in (1,000 mm × 1,000 mm), two cylinder, direct action steam engine |
| Propulsion: | screw |
| Sail plan: | brigantine |
SS United States, was launched in 1864 and was lost off Cape Romain, South Carolina, in 1881. She was the most expensive steamer built by the American shipbuilding firm of S. Gildersleeve & Son, which built 120 vessels. She was named for her country and sported the United States' national symbol, an American eagle, as her figurehead. In June 2013, E. Lee Spence announced that United States's wreck site has been located.
United States, official number 25082, signal letters HSCM, home ported at Boston, was built in 1864 at the S. Gildersleeve & Son shipyard in Portland, Connecticut, USA during what many considered the height of American shipbuilding in the 19th century.
The eagle mounted under the bowsprit at the top of United States's bow was likely ornately carved, complete with spread wings and talons out and not simply an eagle's head.
A screw steamer, United States was brigantine rigged (square rigged on the foremast and fore-and-aft rigged on the mainmast). She had a medium model, iron strapped, wood hull with three decks, a round stern, and deck saloons. She was built of white oak and cedar. Her fastenings were copper alloy (probably copper and zinc) and iron and she had a copper bottom (probably Muntz Metal, which was 60% copper and 40% zinc, with a trace of iron). She was built under inspection and classed A-1 for insurance purposes. She had a vertical direct action steam engine with two 40-inch (1,000 mm) cylinders with a 40-inch piston stroke.
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