The SS United States

William Francis Gibbs, the designer of the SS United States, was a self-taught naval architect, a Harvard dropout with a single-minded devotion to his work. During World War II, three-quarters of U.S. naval vessels built were designed by Gibbs' shipbuilding firm -- from destroyers to "liberty ships" to the landing craft used on D-Day.

After the war, Gibbs poured everything he knew into one, ultimate ship.

Credit: SS United States Conservancy