[DownInFlames]

That didn’t take long.

[OttawaFreeper]

Looking at the pictures of it in tow, it is that bit of a sad feeling that this is happening, but there were all of those years in which something regarding restoration and repurposing could have been done.

[George from New England]

Did it go most of the trip under its own power ?

Or was it tugged the whole way ?

[FamiliarFace]

Ping. If Okaloosa County (FL) bought the rights to it, why will it be anchored in Mobile? I think I’m missing something here.

[rlmorel]

I have never enjoyed watching ships get broken up...the SS United States will serve as a man-made reef, which is a pretty good fate for a ship.

I also appreciated the fate of the USS America, which was sunk by ordinance testing...not a bad way for a warship to go down.

But being cut up into scrap...I have never felt positive about that. There is something oddly obscene, the look of a warship with her bow cut off is reminiscent of a face that has had its nose forcibly removed.

My last ship just got towed to the breakers, and while it is 100% true there were times I HATED being on that ship, the fact remains that I spent several years aboard her at sea, slept in the bunks, stood on the flight deck in the dark of night in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with the Milky Way stretched brightly from one horizon to the other, saw porpoises surfing on her bow wave in the bright sun, and watched thousand of hours of flight operations from her deck.

For both better and for worse, she was my home, and an introduction to many things of life in those formative years of my young manhood.

So, yes. I will miss her in my fading memory.

[SkyDancer]

Back In The Day

Last Voyage

[Ezekiel]

She didn't arrive under her own power. She was towed by

Name VINIK NO.6
Flag USA
IMO 7044328

Built in 1970, by Southern Shipbuilding Incorporated of Slidell, Louisiana (hull #88)..

VINIK No. 6

It just so happens that the chosen tug's IMO ID no. is loaded with key numbers that are highly representative and symbolic in the Jewish world:

70 -- it's a long list, from wine and secret to the lifespan of a key player, King David, to the length of the Babylonian captivity to the year for the destruction of the Second Temple.

443 -- Bethel, Beit El [בית אל] which is the house of God. Now David wanted to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel, but the project went to his son.

28 -- ko'ach [כח], meaning power, force.

https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/5568048/jewish/Do-You-Need-Inner-Strength-28-Is-Your-Number.htm

Really, it all adds up:

70 + 443 + 28 = 541 = Israel [ישראל]

[cymbeline]

Puzzling to me why these enormous chunks of steel are sunk rather than salvaged. I’ve read that old cruise ships are sent to India or somewhere over there, and they are salvaged there.

The reason must be that it’s cheaper to make the iron from ore rather than from this scrap.

[Ezekiel]

I found a nice image of the arrival.

The United States is in need of Comfort --

“To ensure an efficient, safe and quality deployment, holes will be strategically cut around the ship to ensure she lands upright as she is submerged. Passages will also be opened allowing for marine life to thrive in and around the ship,” Okaloosa County stated.

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/2025/03/ss-united-states-arrives-in-mobile-ahead-of-becoming-artificial-reef/

Speed 0 kn
Course 0 °
True heading 268 °

https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/details/ships/shipid:455294/mmsi:368817000/imo:7390478/vessel:USNS_COMFORT

268 =

rebus [רבוס]

An arrangement of pictures, symbols, and/or words representing phrases or words, especially as a word puzzle.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rebus

[The Spirit Of Allegiance]

This ship story brought to mind the following story and poem about the beloved U.S.S. Constitution.

The poem below saved that noble ship, which yet floats today.

https://ussconstitutionmuseum.org/

---

Old Ironsides

AY TEAR her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon’s roar;
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.

Her deck once red with heroes’ blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o’er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor’s tread,
Or know the conquered knee;
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!

Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

---

Author’s note

This was the popular name by which the frigate Constitution was known. The poem was first printed in the Boston Daily Advertiser, at the time when it was proposed to break up the old ship as unfit for service. I subjoin the paragraph which led to the writing of the poem. It is from the Advertiser of Tuesday, September 14, 1830:—

“Old Ironsides.-— It has been affirmed upon good authority that the Secretary of the
Navy has recommended to the Board of Navy Commissioners to dispose of the frigate
Constitution. Since it has been understood that such a step was in contemplation we
have heard but one opinion expressed, and that in decided disapprobation of the
measure. Such a national object of interest, so endeared to our national pride as Old
Ironsides is, should never by any act of our government cease to belong to the Navy,
so long as our country is to be found upon the map of nations. In England it was lately
determined by the Admiralty to cut the Victory, a one-hundred gun ship (which it will
be recollected bore the flag of Lord Nelson at the battle of Trafalgar), down to a
seventy-four, but so loud were the lamentations of the people upon the proposed
measure that the intention was abandoned. We confidently anticipate that the Secretary
of the Navy will in like manner consult the general wish in regard to the Constitution,
and either let her remain in ordinary or rebuild her whenever the public service may
require.”—New York Journal of Commerce.

[rodguy911]

This is a great thing the artificial reef program. However, spending several million and taking over a year to prep a ship that will be sunk is ridiculous!!

We should be able to put all kinds of debris into the Gulf and Atlantic without so much regulation. We could ease the problem of too many fishermen fishing in too few spots simply by easing regulation and allowing const. debris and other debris to become artificial reefs. The great thing is in less than a year all kinds of fish congregate on these artificial reefs and become new fishing spots.

Regulations are killing our industry.

Right now regulations on sharks that are tearing up game fish from Key West to the lower Texas Gulf and on the ocean side as well(I have done over 1,000 interviews) are destroying a fishery from true red snapper, redfish(red drum),snook,tarpon, bonefish and so many other game fish . Those of us who have done everything possible to make sure gamefish survive utilizing CPR=Catch photograph and release are being ignored on this vital topic.

If the level of shark killing gamefish continues we will destroy not only the fishery but the economy of the fishery as well.

That amounts to billions.

Fishermen buy second homes,six figure trucks to haul half million dollar boats and their wives spend millions in stores,restaurants not to mention millions in hotels.

If this vital fishery is allowed to be destroyed by sharks destroying gamesfish and fishermen going to the Caribbean or other destinations simply due to excess regulation it will be a sin.

Many concerned about the fishery are already doing what they must to maintain it. But, we would rather that regulation was eased until the fishery can get back to normal.

[1Old Pro]

I saw it being towed off the Treasure Coast last week.