Titanic-sized SS United States to become an artificial reef

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The SS United States, a long-retired and once-glamorous ocean liner bigger than the Titanic and the fastest ever to cross the Atlantic, will soon set sail for the last time. Its final voyage will end off Florida's Gulf coast with "America's Flagship" becoming the world’s largest artificial reef.

It's a bittersweet finale for the ship. It can't be saved, but it won't be scrapped.

Learn more: Why departure was delayed.

American presidents, movie stars and other celebrities sailed to Europe aboard it in style from 1952 to 1969 before commercial air travel became popular. Since 1978, numerous attempts to return the ship to profitability have been unsuccessful.

And yet the liner still captivates the public, says Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that bought the ship in 2011 and sought to have it restored.

"She remains hugely fascinating to people from all over the world," Gibbs says.

Even today, visitors come to Philadelphia to see it and artists set up easels and paint, she says. "Children send us crayon drawings of the ship."

The liner's departure, originally scheduled for Friday, has been delayed by weather and checks on planning and procedures, Okaloosa County, Florida, officials announced Nov. 12. A new date has not been set.

Where is the SS United States moving to? Can't see our graphics? Click here.

When departure day comes, four tractor tugs and one lead tug will maneuver the 990-foot liner – 108 feet longer than Titanic – from South Philadelphia down the Delaware River to the coast, Okaloosa County officials told USA TODAY.

It'll take about two weeks for a tugboat to tow the SS United States from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama. The ship's engines are not operable. The tug will guide the liner close to the coast, to avoid ocean currents.

The tugs will deliver the ship to the docks of Modern American Recycling Services – MARS – a company that specializes in vessel salvage and other marine operations. The vessel will spend a year there in preparation for its sinking in the Gulf Coast waters off Okaloosa County.

Workers will remove contaminants and non-metal objects from the ship, according to marineinsight.com. The vessel's two funnels, radar mast and other structures will be removed, with some destined to become part of a museum dedicated to the ship.

Where will the SS United States be sunk as a reef? Okaloosa County officials are still deciding on where the ship will be sunk. It’s expected to be about 20 miles south of the Florida Panhandle region in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, the Pensacola News Journal reported.

Holes will be cut into the ship's hull to create holes to flood the vessel. Water will be pumped into the ship until it falls below the water line, letting water into the holes. It could take five hours or more for the liner to sink.

The ship will settle upright on the seafloor. Once submerged, it will become a silent habitat for marine life and provide extra protection against shoreline erosion.

Okaloosa County has prioritized buying and sinking ships using tourist development tax dollars in recent years, which has made the Destin area a diving destination, the News Journal said.

The county agreed in October to buy the SS United States for $1 million, part of a $10.1 million budget appropriation that will turn the vessel into an artificial reef, the Northwest Florida Daily News reported.

The liner will join a group of other vessels that have become artificial reefs in the Gulf region, including the USS Oriskany, a 888-foot-long U.S. Navy aircraft carrier that was sunk 22.5 nautical miles off the Pensacola Pass in May 2006. The carrier has become a popular but challenging dive for scuba divers.

New museum will help preserve ship's memory The SS United States is a marvel of engineering, the longest and largest ocean liner ever built in America and holder of a transatlantic naval speed record that remains unbroken to this day, USA TODAY reported.

Okaloosa County will work with the SS United States Conservancy to build a companion museum and visitor center dedicated to the SS United States and its history. The museum will include "hopefully, both of her funnels, the radar mast, and other components," Gibbs says.

A location has not been set, but the museum will be built in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, United Press International reported.

While it's still in the planning stage, the museum will be paired with the reef and is planned "as an exciting space that will tell the story of the ship and its moments in American history," says Gibbs, who is the granddaughter of William Francis Gibbs, the designer of the SS United States.

It will display artifacts and documents the Conservancy has collected over the years and will incorporate the latest technology, including virtual reality, she says.

"We've begun brainstorming about an enhanced experience for visitors," Gibbs says. "Where would we want to zoom people back to? Would it be the ship's maiden voyage and have you huddling up on the bridge as the wind is racing by?"

The new reef and museum will attract thousands of eager visitors, including scuba divers and fishermen, all bringing tourist dollars to the local economy.

How does the SS United States compare with the RMS Titanic? A comparison between the two ocean liners is inevitable. For the record, the maiden voyage of the SS United States was in 1952, 40 years after the Titanic sank.

Built in the U.S., the SS United States was believed to be "the safest passenger ship ever built, in contrast to the 'unsinkable' Titanic," according to the Conservancy. It was built with fireproof materials.

Its 24 lifeboats and additional rafts could hold 4,060 people, "over 1,000 more than the ship itself could hold booked at 100 percent capacity," the Conservancy says.

Why couldn't the SS United States be saved? Despite its remarkable history, the SS United States could not be saved. The costs proved too high.

It was built after World War II, when hunger increased for international travel, and when ocean-going ships were viewed as necessary for rapid overseas movement of soldiers.

Construction began in 1950 and the U.S. government paid for part of the cost, with the understanding it could be used as a troopship, if needed. It had the ability to transport 14,000 troops 10,000 miles without refueling, according to gcaptain.com. It never had to.

The ship's maiden voyage began July 3, 1952, and the liner broke the trans-Atlantic speed record in both directions. During the next 17 years it made 400 two-way voyages, Gibbs says.

But as trans-ocean airline flights became more popular, few travelers booked passage and the ship's owner, United States Lines, lost money. The SS United States was taken out of service in November 1969.

The liner was sold to a succession of owners from 1978 to 2009. It's been docked on the Delaware River in Philadelphia since 1996.

It was purchased in 2011 by the SS United States Conservancy, which sought to save the ship by redeveloping it into a floating hotel or other East Coast tourist attraction. Financial backing fell through, and the liner was sold to Okaloosa County in 2024.

Want to learn more?You can track the progress of the SS United States on its voyage to Mobile, Alabama, with this online map from Oklaloosa County. It'll be activated once the ship leaves Philadelphia. Click here: https://www.destinfwb.com/explore/eco-tourism/ssus/The SS United States Conservancy will be updating its website with information on the ship's museum and location where the ship will be sunk to become an artificial reef. Click here: https://www.ssusc.org/ CONTRIBUTING Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal; Juan Carlos Castillo, Asbury Park Press; Collin Bestor, Northwest Florida Daily News

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; SS United States Conservancy; U.S. Naval Institute; united-states-lines.org; marineinsight.com; maritime-executive.com; Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

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