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machinerer t1_j1klrlq wrote

Reply to comment by blowjob215 in The Ikea in Philadelphia has a unique neighbor. by Cabton

S.S. United States is a cruise ship. It never had a nuclear reactor. U.S. Navy vessels had those.

It was fitted with regular oil fired boilers, and steam turbines. The engines have been removed, last I checked.

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blowjob215 t1_j1kn0yw wrote

I must’ve been confusing it with the Savannah or something, I could’ve sworn it was a nuclear-powered cruise ship

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machinerer t1_j1kp8e5 wrote

To the best of my knowledge, only a few Navies of the world operate nuclear powered warships.

I have never heard of any civilian vessel having such technology. The cost is enormous, and the safety regulations involved are quite taxing and severe.

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blowjob215 t1_j1kpxj7 wrote

Yeah, you’re right on all points. I think my mind connected the dots from “built in the 1950’s,” “fire-proof” and “speed record holder” to erroneously conclude it must have been nuclear-powered. TIL it was made of aluminum, and had tremendous fuel capacity—i.e. fossil fueled, not atomic.

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