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.”
Eight-year-old Willie Gibbs stared out the window of the horse-drawn coach as it rumbled down Philadelphia’s cobblestone streets toward the banks of the Delaware River. It was 12 November 1894, and the Gibbs family was heading to the William Cramp & Sons shipyard to watch the launch of SS St. Louis, billed as the largest and most spectacular ship ever built in America.
A lawsuit is trying to evict the SS United States, from its current resting place in Philadelphia.
WATCH Delaware Online’s interview with Conservancy President Susan Gibbs.
