A record-setting liner reaches her last voyage
The SS United States, a ship about five city blocks long and 12 stories high, is expected to be scuttled this week in the Gulf off northwest Florida, according to CBS News. Plans call for her to become what Okaloosa County officials describe as the largest purposely sunk artificial reef in the world.
On her maiden voyage in 1952, the liner topped more than 40 miles an hour, a transatlantic crossing record that CBS says has never been broken. In nearly two decades of service she carried four U.S. presidents, numerous celebrities and tens of thousands of passengers. Jet travel ended the era of the great ocean liners, and she was withdrawn from service in 1969.
Decades of idleness in Philadelphia
The ship ended up in Philadelphia, where she sat for almost 30 years. Her interior is now stripped. According to CBS, the grand staircase is bare, the indoor salt-water pool is an empty void, and only the dance floor remains.
Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy, said the ship "still casts a spell." Her grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, designed the vessel, and the U.S. military helped pay for it. It was built so it could be converted in less than 24 hours into a troop ship able to carry an entire division. "She was the space shuttle of her age," Gibbs said.
Ideas for reuse, including museums, restaurants and event spaces, drew no takers, and the ship appeared headed for scrap until the reef proposal emerged.
How Okaloosa County came to own her
Alex Fogg, natural resources chief for Okaloosa County, has sunk dozens of smaller vessels as part of the county's artificial reef program. Those ships have become habitats for fish and popular spots for anglers and divers. Fogg called the SS United States a far bigger undertaking.
Jennifer Adams, the county's tourism director, said that when she was asked about buying the ship, she responded, "How much?" The price was $1 million for the vessel and another $13 million to ready her for sinking. Adams said she was moved to tears when she first walked aboard.
The county inherited a ship carrying 1950s environmental contaminants, a problem CBS described as the first major hurdle. The second was a base of devoted supporters. Headlines from other outlets listed with the CBS report indicate the sinking also drew a legal challenge from a preservation group, and that a judge denied its request to stop it.
Preparing the ship and saying goodbye
In 2025, crews towed the liner south from Philadelphia, her funnels barely clearing the Walt Whitman Bridge. She reached her destination almost two days ahead of schedule. "She's still breaking records, even today," Fogg said.
At a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, workers carried out extensive remediation from bow to stern to remove the contaminants. They also cut holes throughout the hull so air and water can move quickly and evenly when she goes down.
Before the final trip, the Conservancy organized a farewell cruise for fans. Linda Sylva, who first sailed on the ship as a teenager, said she was "made in America, made from American parts." Joe Beaman, who sailed as an eight-year-old, said, "once that ship has your heart, you never lose it." Jeffrey Smith, who never sailed on her, said he drove in from Detroit to say goodbye.
What happens next
If the operation goes as planned, the ship will be sunk about 20 nautical miles off the coast between Pensacola and Destin/Fort Walton Beach. The SS United States Conservancy plans a museum that will use her two funnels, among the largest ever built, as bookends. It is expected to house artifacts, including the bar from the tourist-class smoking lounge.
Sylva said the ship stood for years "waiting for somebody to say, 'Come here, you're welcome here,'" and that the welcome now comes from the ocean. "What a perfect place for her to rest," she said.
