During the late 1930's, the finest and fastest American passenger liners were sister ships SS Washington and SS Manhattan, operated by United States Lines. Built in 1932-3 by New York Shipbuilding (Camden, New Jersey), they were 24,000 gross tons, 705 feet overall length, 86 foot beam, and 30 foot draft. Twin turbines provided a top speed of 21.5 knots. They competed in the trans-Atlantic trade with the much larger and faster Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, Ile de France, Normandie, Rex, Bremen, and Europa. Purchased by the US government in 1942, she was renamed Washington in 1945 and was handed over to the US Maritime Commission after the completion of her trooping duties. She returned to service on 2 April 1946, with a New York-Southampton sailing.
In 1948, Washington was chartered to her original owner, United State Lines, for service on her original route, New York-Hamburg. She made her commercial last voyage, from Southampton to New York, on 12 October 1951. She was then turned back to the Maritime Commission, which placed her on Military Sea Transportation Service duty through 1953. In February 1954, Washington was mothballed as part of the Hudson River reserve fleet, becoming the largest ship ever to travel up that river north of New York City. She remained there until she was broken up in Kearny, New Jersey, in 1965.
This model of the Washington is approximately 12 feet in length.