SS Stevens

SS Stevens

Coordinates: 40°44′40″N 74°1′22″W / 40.74444°N 74.02278°W / 40.74444; -74.02278

SS Stevens, a 473-foot (144 m), 14,893-ton ship, served as a floating dormitory from 1968 to 1975 for about 150 students of Stevens Institute of Technology, a technological university, in Hoboken, NJ. Permanently moored on the scenic Hudson River at the foot of the campus across from New York City, this first collegiate floating dormitory became one of the best known college landmarks in the country.

Twenty-four years prior to her duty as a floating dormitory, the ship served with distinction in World War II as USS Dauphin (APA-97), a Windsor-class attack transport vessel. Originally launched in 1944, Dauphin was awarded one battle star and was present in Tokyo Bay for the Surrender Ceremony of World War II, September 2, 1945.

Following the war, the vessel underwent significant modifications, and emerged as cruise liner SS Exochorda — a member of the post-war quartet of ships named "4 Aces", operated by American Export Lines. During her eleven years of cruise liner service, from 1948 to 1959, Exochorda — along with her nearly identical sister ships in the "4 Aces" — regularly sailed with passengers and cargo on a 12,000-mile (19,000 km) route from New York Harbor to various Mediterranean ports. Exochorda was retired to the Reserve ("mothball") Fleet in 1959 where she remained for eight years.

Exochorda's conversion to a dormitory ship, following her purchase by Stevens Institute of Technology in 1967, required only minor modifications such as the connection of land-based water, sewer and electric utilities. Accommodations enjoyed by many student residents aboard Stevens included private baths and in-room control of heating and air-conditioning. Featuring portholes, roll-up berths and nautically-themed artwork, Stevens became quite popular among her residents.

Purchased by the institute to fill a shortfall in student housing, the ship's operating costs during the initial years of service were comparable to conventional land-based dormitory housing. In later years, however, the ship's burgeoning operating and repair costs, combined with a more favorable housing outlook, forced the institute to sell Stevens in 1975. In tribute, one of her 6-ton anchors was prominently placed on the campus grounds by the graduating Class of 1975. In August 1975, the ship was towed to a shipyard in Chester, PA, and she was later scrapped in 1979.