Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of naval architect William Francis Gibbs, who designed the SS United States, is working hard on saving the ship that needs to vacate its Philadelphia home in weeks, writes Jesse Pesta for The New York Times.

The ship was William Gibbs’ masterwork and was once an icon of the nation. It was so luxurious that many presidents and royalty chose it as a mode of transportation and it was so trusted that it was once selected to carry the Mona Lisa.

Gibbs heads the SS United States Conservancy, a small nonprofit group that owns the ship. Now that the ship has been ordered to leave its pier in Philadelphia due to a rent dispute, the group is scrambling to find it a new home. The biggest problem is the ship’s size.

There are not many huge piers that can be a home for the ship and no master list of their locations.

In case a home is not located in time, the ship will either be scrapped or reefed, which means intentionally sunk.

For Gibbs, there are many reasons why the ship is worth saving, including “the idealism and the can-do spirit” it used to represent.

Read more about Susan Gibbs and her fight to save the S.S. United States in The New York Times.

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