I knew it was the
United States before I even read the link.
Its definitely a piece of history worth saving, and honestly I can't believe it hasn't been done yet. As for 'you could build a new ship for the same money,' that's not true. The technology is gone- a ship as fast as the the
United States couldn't realistically be built for ANY amount of money (short of what it takes to build a nuclear aircraft carrier) today. The powerplant alone, unless you powered it with a reactor, is a lost art.
That said, I don't know if it would ever be practical even for 'high end' cruising. Norwegian Lines did that with the
France for a few decades (renamed
SS Norway) until a major fire a couple of years ago put her out of commission for good. But the only way it was practical was to essentially cut her power in half and her speed by 2/3 or more- they pulled half the boilers out, and removed 2 of the 4 shafts and associated turbines and gearing to make it more practical as a putt-around-the Caribbean cruise ship. If you did that to
United States, there really wouldn't be much point because her uniqueness WAS the powerplant.
The biggest similar loss I know of was the
Enterprise of Midway fame. The most-decorated ship of the war, turned to razor blades in the 50s because nobody had the foresight to realize just how significant a part of history it was.