Tom Swift and the Amazing Lithium Steamship

Tom Swift stood at the launching ramp. In minutes, the S.S. Appleton would be christened and sent on its maiden voyage. With ports of call as far apart as Fairbanks, Alaska, and McMurdo Station, Antarctica, the Appleton would make the world’s first Bipolar Cruise.
The ship was a technological marvel, constructed with a pure lithium hull. “A metal so light, it floats!” Tom said, airily.
Smash! went the Champagne bottle. The Appleton slid into the harbor as Tom’s admirers cheered.
With the hull sizzling ominously, Tom realized too late that highly reactive alkali metal was not, alas, good Hull Material.