page_title: NS Savannah
section_title: Museum ship
hierarchical_section_title: NS Savannah / Museum ship
caption_attribution_description: English: NS Savannah at Pier 13, Baltimore, Maryland, USA Français&#160;: NS Savannah a Pier 13, Baltimore, Maryland, États-Unis
context_page_description: NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship. She was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million and launched on July 21, 1959. She was funded by United States government agencies. Savannah was a demonstration project for the potential use of nuclear energy. The ship was named after SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean. She was in service between 1962 and 1972 as one of only four nuclear-powered cargo ships ever built.
  Savannah was deactivated in 1971 and after several moves has been moored at Pier 13 of the Canton Marine Terminal in Baltimore, Maryland, since 2008.
context_section_description: In 1981, Savannah was obtained via bareboat charter for display at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum near Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. Although the museum had use of the vessel, ownership of Savannah remained with the Maritime Administration, and the Patriots Point Development Authority had to be designated a "co-licensee" for the ship's reactor. Periodic radiological inspections were also necessary to ensure the continued safety of the ship. Once Savannah was open for display, visitors could tour the ship's cargo holds, view the engine room from an observation area, look into staterooms and passenger areas, and walk the ship's decks.
  The museum had hoped to recondition and improve the ship's public spaces for visitors, but these plans never materialized. Savannah never drew the visitors that the museum's other ships, notably the aircraft carrier Yorktown, did. When a periodic MARAD inspection in 1993 indicated a need to dry dock Savannah, Patriots Point and the Maritime Administration agreed to terminate the ship's charter in 1994. The ship was moved from the museum and dry docked in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1994 for repairs, after which she was moved to the James River Merchant Marine Reserve Fleet near Newport News, Virginia.
  The Maritime Administration has not funded decommissioning and removal of the ship's nuclear systems. Savannah had undergone work at Colonna's Shipyard of Norfolk, Virginia, beginning August 15, 2006. That $995,000 job included exterior structural and lighting repairs, removing shipboard cranes and wiring, refurbishing water-damaged interior spaces, and removing mold, mildew, and painting some of the interior. On January 30, 2007, she was towed to Pier 23, which is owned by the City of Newport News. On May 8, 2008, Savannah arrived in Baltimore under tow. Savannah remains in Baltimore through under a US Maritime Administration contract with the Vane Brothers' Co. at the Canton Marine Terminal in the Canton section of Baltimore.
  While still under a long term contract with Canton Marine Terminal, NS “Savannah” was towed via C&D canal to Philadelphia for drydock maintenance and pre-decommission work in early September 2019. She arrived to drydock at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia on 10 September 2019. Pre-decommission work is to include removal of nuclear support systems and other mechanical components leading up to the removal of the reactor. Decommissioning must be accomplished by 2031.
  Since Savannah is historically significant and has been designated a National Historic Landmark, MARAD has expressed interest in offering the ship for preservation once Savannah's decommissioning, decontamination and radiological work is completed. A MARAD spokesman told The Baltimore Sun in May 2008 that the maritime agency envisions the ship's eventual conversion into a museum, but that no investors have yet offered to undertake the project.
caption: Savannah at Pier 13 in Baltimore in 2012
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