Posted on 11/18/2025 12:37:54 PM PST by E. Pluribus Unum
A historic ocean liner will become the world’s largest artificial reef after it’s sunk off Florida’s Gulf Coast early next year.
Okaloosa County officials announced Tuesday that they expect to sink the SS United States in early 2026 about 22 nautical miles (41 kilometers) southwest of Destin and 32 nautical miles (59 kilometers) southeast of Pensacola.
The nearly 1,000-foot (305-meter) vessel, which shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, has spent most of this year at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, being scoured to remove chemicals, wiring, plastic and glass.
Regional Partnership
The ship’s final location was selected as part of an agreement with Pensacola tourism officials, who are contributing $1.5 million to the project, and Coastal Conservation Association Florida, which is kicking in another $500,000. Officials had been considering two other locations, including one that would have placed the ship further east and closer to Panama City Beach.
“This collaboration will foster amazing adventures for generations of visitors and create a tourism economy that will benefit the state and the entire Northwest Florida region,” Okaloosa County Board Chairman Paul Mixon said in a statement.
The contributions will be used to transform the SS United States into an artificial reef and finance a multi-year marketing campaign. The deal is part of Okaloosa County’s $10.1 million plan to purchase, move, clean and sink the ship, which includes $1 million toward a onshore museum to promote the ship’s history.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
That’s here where I live................
Say what! He’ll naw!
in the Gulf of America ...
Ping!...................
What’s so artificial about a reef anyhow?
Glass?
F*CK THAT! Somebody ping President Trump!
"The nearly 1,000-foot (305-meter) vessel, which shattered the trans-Atlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, has spent most of this year at the Port of Mobile in Alabama, being scoured to remove chemicals, wiring, plastic and glass."
With all of the money stolen / grifted / wasted and these bastards couldn’t keep a Yacht such as this in pristine shape. A Gods honest sin.
Although I understand the benefits of an artificial reef, I hate seeing that much refined steel being put to such a use. Better to scrap it.
Too late for that.
Most of the ship has already been dismantled. The smoke stacks were removed a couple months ago. The insides were mostly already gutted while it was in Philly............
It’s never too late! God Bless The United States!
Some good grouper and snapper fishing if the sharks don’t get them as you reel them in.
The logistics/expense of scrapping a 1,000 foot vessel might easily exceed the value of the scrap.
“Glass?”
My question also.
Glass is not going to decompose (maybe very slowly like centuries or more) when it does it will be mostly silica and calcium carbonate anyway, The carbonate is what makes up hard coral.
Worried about sharp edges wait till you get scrapped by coral.
As nice as it would have been to save it, there were all of those years that it could have been done, but it was not. At least with the Queen Mary, it went from active service to being converted to a hotel.
I suspect they would have paid somebody to take possession of and responsibility for it.
I remember when I was a kid, this ship was hailed as the greatest ocean liner of all.
I've seen it done to plenty of ships more than two thirds that size using a crane and oxy-propane torches. As long as it has watertight bulkheads below the upper decks, I doubt it's that difficult. I'd bet there are plenty of non-ferrous metals too.
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