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.”
America’s Flagship, the SS United States, departed New York seventy years ago on July 3, 1952 with great fanfare -- and high expectations. She was the epitome of American post-war innovation, engineering, and design. A new global ambassador for the nation, she was conceived by noted naval architect William Francis Gibbs, whose firm had been the designers of major World War II era warships.
On July 3, 1952, a crowd of over 13,000 gathered around Pier 86 on Manhattan’s Luxury Liner Row. In awe and admiration, young and old, they gazed upon a modern marvel. At 990 feet, the SS United States was over 100 feet longer than the RMS Titanic. If stood on one end, she’d have measured up to the iconic Chrysler Building.
Of all the great ship designers, perhaps none is more inextricably linked to a single, exceptional vessel, than William Francis Gibbs and the SS United States. Yet to focus entirely on this culminating achievement, this manifestation of his ‘big ship’ ideal, is to miss out on the life of an extraordinary and complex man.
