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.”
Moving day is finally here for the SS United States, a massive ship that once broke the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage but has sat dormant in Philadelphia for decades. It's set to move to Mobile, Alabama to have hazardous materials removed and then sunk off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach in Florida, where it will serve as the world's largest artificial reef.
The S.S. United States, the fastest liner ever to cross the Atlantic, has been moored in Philadelphia for nearly three decades. Eventually, officials plan to deliberately sink the vessel off the coast of Florida, where it will become the world’s largest artificial reef—a fate that’s been delayed once again.
