There was once a great symbol of our nation; sleek and powerful, the best of our ingenuity and engineering, embodying all that was new and modern: the transatlantic ocean liner SS United States. As our country’s namesake and the largest passenger liner ever built in America, she was the flagship of our merchant fleet, and her record-breaking maiden voyage still stands as one of the greatest maritime achievements of all time. The SS United States, which sailed from 1952 until 1969, was a marvel of maritime design and engineering created by a self-taught naval architect and engineer, William Francis Gibbs.
The Big U is an in-progress historical documentary that examines the significance of these two lost American icons. It is the untold and forgotten story of the ship and her designer – both deserving to take their rightful place in the history of America.
