The Historic S.S. 'United States,' the Fastest Liner to Cross the Atlantic, Is Heading to a Watery Grave

[Judi Lynn]

Officials plan to purposefully sink the passenger ship off the coast of Florida, where it will become the world's largest artificial reef

February 14, 2025 5:03 p.m.

Sonja Anderson
Daily Correspondent

February 14, 2025 5:03 p.m.



The ship has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996. SidewalkMD / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons


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.

“This is a large project and requires multiple steps to ensure a safe move,” as Nick Tomecek, a public information officer for Florida’s Okaloosa County (which purchased the liner) tells CNN’s Danny Freeman. “Okaloosa County is working in collaboration with federal, state and local agencies to ensure a safe move of the ship that includes requests from the Coast Guard.”

The S.S. United States is a nearly 1,000-foot-long passenger liner completed in 1951. Made mostly of lightweight aluminum, she was built for speed. The ship’s maiden voyage from New York to Cornwall, England, in 1952 broke the record for the fastest transatlantic round trip ever sailed—a title the vessel holds to this day.

“You can’t set her on fire, you can’t sink her and you can’t catch her,” as William Francis Gibbs, the ship’s designer, once said, according to the S.S. United States Conservancy, a nonprofit that previously owned the ship.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-historic-ss-united-states-the-fastest-liner-to-cross-the-atlantic-is-heading-to-a-watery-grave-180986059/