The historic SS United States, an imposing 1,000-foot American luxury liner that once carried presidents, Hollywood stars, and the Mona Lisa, is destined to become a multi-tiered marine ecosystem. Designed by William Francis Gibbs and built at Newport News, the retired ocean liner will become the world’s largest artificial reef as Florida’s Okaloosa County intends to deliberately sink her approximately 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. This move gives the former luxury cruiser a final resting place while providing a new lease on life.
Her record-breaking eastbound Atlantic crossing in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes on her July 1952 maiden voyage, to becoming permanently stationary, the SS United States is commencing a very different chapter. According to county officials, the planned sinking off the Gulf Coast is scheduled for the second week of November, reported APNews. Crews will use hull openings, valves, and pumps to flood the vessel in a controlled manner, with the aim of settling her upright on the seabed.
The ship, more than 100 feet longer than the Titanic, will create a one-of-a-kind resource for both the environment and the tourism industry. A $13 million budget was allocated for the project to handle acquisition, towing, remediation, and support for a land-based museum. As the world’s largest artificial reef, the county expects the reef to provide habitat for red snapper, grouper, and open-water species like amberjack, mackerel, and tuna. On the tourism front, officials hope this attraction will boost the $3.1 billion generated annually for Florida’s economy by the artificial reefs. For comparison, the USS Oriskany, attracts about 10,000 divers annually.
In addition to the sunken attraction, a conservancy museum on land, designed by Thinc Design alongside LMN Architects and Buro Happold, will further draw visitors. In nearly six decades since her retirement, the luxury ocean liner has become unrecognizable from what she once represented, yet could generate renewed tourism business as an underwater destination.
The bygone era of the SS United States-
Made at a cost of about $80 million, this maritime marvel displayed robustness, elegance, and top-notch luxury, capable of carrying 14,000 troops and sailing 10,000 miles nonstop. With a top speed of almost 38 knots, she was a beast of the sea with the charms of a palace. As the largest passenger ship ever built in America, she was constructed entirely of aluminum to eliminate fire risks, meaning no wood was allowed anywhere onboard, unlike the superyachts of today. The only wood was found in the butchers’ blocks and the Steinway pianos.
There were 14 first-class suites for elite travelers, charmed by interiors designed by Dorothy Marckwald and Anne Urquhart. From royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor to four U.S. presidents including Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and a young Bill Clinton, the passenger list was unmatched. Hollywood icons like Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor, and John Wayne were all lucky enough to sail aboard.
Amazingly, the 1,000-footer entered service in 1952 and was withdrawn in 1969. Her career spanned only 17 years, but it saw illustrious company. The ship that carried 500 pounds of caviar and nearly 8,000 quarts of ice cream on her maiden voyage will now lend her hull and decks to provide shelter and marine growth surfaces. She will rest off the coast of Okaloosa Island, lying roughly 25 nautical miles from Sunset Isle Marina & Yacht Club, silently sharing the Gulf with the showstopping superyachts of today.
