The SS United States and its final destination

Even with its peeling paint and rivers of rust, the Queen of the North Atlantic – five blocks long and 12 stories high – still strikes a pretty pose in the setting sun. The SS United States quickly became the fastest ocean liner in history. On its maiden voyage in 1952, it reached speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour – a record for a transatlantic crossing that has never been broken.

But she was also elegant – regal and refined. During its nearly two decades of service, it has carried four U.S. presidents, countless celebrities and tens of thousands of happy travelers.

But what was once glamorous and spacious has been taken away by the jet age. Speed ​​trumped starry nights at sea. In 1969, the SS United States was decommissioned, and that brings us back to its current desolate state. She ended up in Philadelphia, where she sat for nearly 30 years with only spiders and rays of sunshine blocking her path.

But it was still impossible to ignore.

“She always casts a spell; there’s something about her,” said Susan Gibbs, president of a nonprofit called the SS United States Conservancy. “She has always been this resolutely American symbol that brings so many people together.”

Gibbs knows every inch of this ship. His grandfather, William Francis Gibbs, designed the SS United States, with the U.S. Army helping to foot the bill – a floating investment that could be converted in less than 24 hours into a troop ship to carry an entire division. “It might not seem like it today, but back then she was the space shuttle of her age,” Gibbs said.

However, only its bones remain: its once grandiose staircase is bare; the swimming pool covered with salt water is nothing more than a ghostly abyss; the dance floor is still there, but nothing else.

And yet, there were still enough that Gibbs was determined to save. There were all kinds of ideas – museums, restaurants, event spaces – but no takers.

Our old flagship product seemed destined for the scrap heap. In the meantime, one man came up with a crazy idea: send the SS United States back into the Atlantic, not to sail, but to sink – sending it to the bottom of the sea where nature, instead of the wrecking ball, will take its course.

“This will be the largest purpose-built artificial reef in the world,” said Alex Fogg.

As head of natural resources for Okaloosa County, Florida, Fogg sank many ships – in fact, dozens of them, smaller ones off the coast of Florida, as part of the county’s artificial reef program.

Ships have created habitats that delight fish, fishermen and frogmen. But sinking the SS United States is something completely different. Just take a look at its two immense engine rooms and you realize the enormity of the task that awaits you.

For Okaloosa County Tourism Director Jennifer Adams, what better tourist attraction could she bring? When asked about purchasing the SS United States, she replied, “How much?” And he told me and I said, ‘Go get her.'”

This price to pay? Just $1 million for the legendary ship, plus another $13 million to prepare it for sinking. But then the idea of ​​sinking it suddenly became a little too real.

“I cried this morning when I got on board,” Adams said. “It’s just that I was overwhelmed.”

His county now had a historic ship, but one filled with environmental contaminants from the 1950s; This is the first problem. The second problem was that the SS United States still had many fans ashore, such as Linda Sylva, who made her first voyage as a teenager. “It was made in America, from American parts, all over America,” Sylva said.

Joe Beaman was only eight years old when he came on board. All these years later, he never forgot it. “Oh no, once this ship has your heart, you never lose it,” he said. “I mean, it’s part of me.”

Even those who never sailed on his boat, like Jeffrey Smith, felt a sort of pull: “I arrived from Detroit yesterday because I wanted to say goodbye.”

He and the others were on a sort of farewell cruise, organized by the Conservancy, to give fans one last look before his final stop.

In 2025, crews cast off and began towing the SS United States south, its smokestacks barely clearing Philadelphia’s Walt Whitman Bridge.

Once at sea, she had all the majesty she had always had, cutting the waves like a scalpel. It arrived almost two days ahead of schedule. “She’s still breaking records, even today,” Fogg laughed.

At a shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, the ship underwent extensive sanitation work from bow to stern, removing these environmental contaminants. Holes were drilled throughout to allow air and water to circulate quickly and evenly as she sank.

If all goes well, it will be scuttled this week about 20 nautical miles off the coast between Pensacola and Destin/Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.

Its two funnels – among the largest ever built – will become the bookends of a planned museum by the SS United States Conservancy that will eventually house unique artifacts, including the tourist-class smoking room bar.

There will be many salty tears when she is gone. Sinking seems contrary to everything it was designed to do. That said, the SS United States will forever remain a part of maritime history.

After so many years alone, it will soon become a place to live again.

“She would sit there year after year,” Linda Sylva said, “waiting for someone to say, ‘Come here, you’re welcome here.’ And for whom is it welcome? It’s the ocean. What a perfect place for her to rest. »

FROM THE ARCHIVES: Watch a 2013 “Sunday Morning” report on the history of the SS United States (Video)

Story produced by Michelle Kessel. Editor: Carol Ross.

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