The towering funnels of the legendary SS United States will soon be removed from the historic ocean liner in Mobile, Alabama. Soaring six stories high and sloping backward to convey the record-breaking speed of the ship, the iconic structures will form a dramatic centerpiece of the future SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience. The aft funnel is expected to be removed soon after the forward funnel. The ship is now being prepared for deployment as the “world’s largest artificial reef” off the coast of Florida’s Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
The SS United States, America’s Flagship, arrived in Mobile, Alabama today after an approximately 1,800-mile tow from her berth in Philadelphia. The iconic national symbol and last surviving American ocean liner will now undergo preparations for her deployment as the “World’s Largest Artificial Reef” off Florida’s Gulf Coast near Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
“Today, the nation’s sole surviving ocean liner will glide down the Delaware River to begin the next chapter in her uniquely American story. As the fastest ship to ever cross the Atlantic travels for the first time since arriving in Philadelphia in 1996, we are reminded of the postwar high-water mark that the SS United States so gracefully and powerfully embodied when she was launched in 1951.”
Seventy years after her launch in Newport News, Virginia, and a quarter century as a fixture of Philadelphia’s waterfront, the SS United States is celebrating another milestone. This February marks ten years of tireless work on the part of the SS United States Conservancy to celebrate and save this iconic symbol of America.
Prior to COVID, Jens-Erwin Siemssen, artistic director at Das Letzte Kleinod, had prepared a theatrical production to be shown in Bremerhaven as a tribute to the old terminal that was scheduled to be torn down and refurbished. As part of his research, Siemssen visited the ship at her pier in Philadelphia, and conducted interviews with Conservancy President Susan Gibbs, former crew member and Conservancy Board Member Joe Rota, and former crew member and Conservancy Hampton Roads co-chair Joe Muchulsky about the ship’s history, and the unique stories that make America’s Flagship special. While the program awaits its premiere, now scheduled for Autumn 2021, Siemssen provided his reflections on the ship and the interviews he conducted in a story special to to Nordsee-Zeitung.
