SS Washington

SS Washington With The United States Lines Livery Colors.
History
United States
Ordered:	24 May 1930
Builder:	New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden
Laid down:	20 January 1931
Launched:	20 August 1932
Commissioned:	16 June 1931
Decommissioned:	18 January 1946
In service:	1934-1940, 1947-1957
Out of service:	1957
Refit:	1947, 1955
Struck:	1962
Homeport:	New York, New York
Nickname(s):	"President Washington's Ship"
Fate:	scrapped 1965 (Kearny, NJ)
Status:	scrapped
Notes:	Flagship from 1934-1940
General characteristics
Class and type:	America Class
Tonnage:	24,289 GRT
Length:	705 ft 3 in (214.96 m)
Beam:	86 ft 0 in (26.21 m)
Decks:	8
Propulsion:	B&W boilers, Parsons steam turbines (30,000 shaft HP) - twin screw
Speed:	20.5 knots
Crew:	565
Armament:	(as Mount Vernon) four 5" guns, four 3" guns

SS Washington was a 24,189-ton luxury liner of the United States Lines, named after the US capital city.

Washington was ordered by Transatlantic Steamship Company and laid down on 20 January 1931 in Shipway O at New York Shipbuilding in Camden, New Jersey. By the time the vessel was launched on 20 August 1932, Transatlantic Steamship's assets had been acquired by International Mercantile Marine, and the Washington went into service for the United States Lines following delivery on 2 May 1933.

At the time of their construction, Washington and her sister ship SS Manhattan, also built by New York Shipbuilding, were the largest liners ever built in the United States, a status they held until the 1939 launch of SS America. Washington and Manhattan were two of the few pure ocean liners built by New York Shipbuilding, which had previously built a large number of cargo liners. Accommodations were 580 in Cabin class, 400 in Tourist, and 150 Third class. Both ships were to garner a reputation for a very high standard of service and luxury.

United States Lines signed contracts in 1931 for the Manhattan and Washington for approximately $21 million each. This was a substantial cost in a depression era and considered a gamble by men in the passenger liner business. The Haskelite Manufacturing Corporation provided various types of haskelite plywood for the two ships.

Washington joined her sister ship Manhattan on the New York-Hamburg route, a route she continued to serve with only one short break until December 1939, when Roosevelt invoked the 1939 Neutrality Act against Germany. Both ships then moved to the New York-Naples-Genoa run until Italy declared war on Great Britain and France in June 1940. With the increasing danger from German submarines, Washington and Manhattan were shifted to the New York-San Francisco service via the Panama Canal.