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SAVANNAH Saved?
August 6: N/S SAVANNAH, the world's first nuclear-powered cargo and passenger ship, will be towed to Colonna's Shipyard from the James River "Ghost Fleet" on August 15th and restored. Colonna's Shipyard in Virgina, which dates back to 1875, won the US$1 million dollar contract to repair and clean up the 1962-built ship. The N/S SAVANNAH is a national historic landmark that has been laid up in the Reserve Fleet since 1994. Designed to carry 9,400 tons of cargo, 60 passengers and 124 crew, NS SAVANNAH was capable of cruising at 21 knots and traveling 336,000 miles on a single fuel load. The repair work is the first step of a larger government plan to remove the old nuclear reactor, scrub all remaining radiation and prepare the ship for preservation.

Update: Added August 7: Further details of the work to be done in 60 days at Colonna's includes examining for hull leaks, repairing the dehumidifying equipment, removing old carpets, cleaning the interior and installing a floodlighting system. Following these repairs, SAVANNAH will to another yard for futher maintenance, then spend two years at a nuclear-capable facility where her reactor core will be decommissioned. It is hoped that she will be ready as a museum and in a new home by 2010.

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[ 08-08-2006: Message edited by: J.S.S.Normandie ]

$1m is not enough, there seems to be $5m set aside for the project. I also think she is probably better know than SSUS to the general public? hrough school lesson on nuclear stuff? Certainly she was even mentioned in my school lessons.

I don't think I would travel half-way across the world to visit her though, as I would perhaps SSUS or an unlikely Norway.

Joe at TravelPage.com

[ 08-09-2006: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

After some research found she has since moved to Baltimore since May 08 and is in various stages of restoration.

May 08

Since September 08 she is sparkling!

Sept 08

More
Pics Here

[ 01-02-2009: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

For more information about touring the ship, please email Savannah@dot.gov and include “tour request” in the subject line.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
I am not normally known for supporting the renovation etc of old ships, mainly because I have yet to see one success story and ships are ships, not hotels etc.

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
...Sounds like a Road Trip. May plan on going over in the Spring since its only a 4hr drive.

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I am up for that. Let me know when you are thinking about going.

She was very successful - as a ship doing what she was designed to do - carry pax albeit cruise pax not trans Atlantic. As a hotel I am sure she would have been a flop or mediocre at best.

There may be a time when more modern ships are coming to the end of their lives that a hotel option may be viable - I am thinking of ships like the newer Regent ships for instance that could lend themselves to this option - bigger cabins plenty of dining options etc that would only need "tarting" up rather than a complete strip out but they will still be expensive to operate and maintain thus will always have to rely on other factors to succeed.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Hi Malcolm

She was very successful - as a ship doing what she was designed to do - carry pax albeit cruise pax not trans Atlantic. As a hotel I am sure she would have been a flop or mediocre at best.

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I believe there was a topic about here last year and showing pictures of here interiors in bad shape.

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Originally posted by Garnett:
I have some 35mm photos around here somewhere...I'll see if I can find them and post.
Garnett

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I'd love to see them posted here. Hope you find them.

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Originally posted by Maasdam:
I believe there was a topic about here last year and showing pictures of here interiors in bad shape. Greetings Ben.

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Originally posted by Linerrich:
Here are some photos from a brochure I have on the N.S. SAVANNAH. She was decorated in modern, minimalist style that you would expect from a nuclear ship showcasing the Atomic Age of the late 1950s.

Her Lounge:

Her Dining Room:

Her Veranda:

Rich

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[ 01-04-2009: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]

quote:

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Hi Malcolm

She was very successful - as a ship doing what she was designed to do - carry pax albeit cruise pax not trans Atlantic. As a hotel I am sure she would have been a flop or mediocre at best.

There may be a time when more modern ships are coming to the end of their lives that a hotel option may be viable - I am thinking of ships like the newer Regent ships for instance that could lend themselves to this option - bigger cabins plenty of dining options etc that would only need "tarting" up rather than a complete strip out but they will still be expensive to operate and maintain thus will always have to rely on other factors to succeed.

All that said I still hope the Savannah project succeeds.

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Savannah is the last classic ship I'd worry about, since her fate is protected by SAFSTOR for the time being. The worst that would happen is that no museum could/would take her, and she'd eventually transfer from her layberth back to James River... but even then, she'd still be cathodically protected.

She was indeed successful in the role for which she was designed, but that realization came after the fact. Her safety record was clean, and her operation would have been almost cost-equivalent to traditional steamships in the midst of the oil embargo... but she was taken out of service several years previous and deemed too expensive to be commercially viable.

50 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EVENTS

50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATED

[ 02-01-2010: Message edited by: dmwnc1 ]