SS United States was a merchant steamship launched in 1864 and lost off Cape Romain, South Carolina, in 1881. She was the most expensive steamer built by the American shipbuilding firm of S. Gildersleeve & Son, which built 120 vessels. The vessel was named for her country and sported the United States' national symbol, an American eagle, as her figurehead. She ran aground on Cape Romain on April 3, 1881. In June 2013, E. Lee Spence announced that United States's wreck site had been located.