Famed ocean liner bigger than Titanic to be sent to watery grave in Florida

Résumé détaillé

An ocean liner that once was the fastest on the seas is headed to its final home on the floor of the Gulf Mexico as the world’s largest artificial reef

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The S.S. United States, an ocean liner longer than the Titanic and once the fastest vessel on the seas, will be sunk on Wednesday off the Florida Panhandle to form the world's largest artificial reef.

The sinking, a long-planned $13.5 million project, is intended to draw more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish.

It also spares what was a technological marvel at the time of its 1952 maiden voyage from being turned into scrap metal. The liner will settle on the seabed about 25 miles southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. It is to go down in about 180 feet of water, with its top deck roughly 60 feet below the surface, shallow enough for inexperienced divers to visit.

Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor are barred by federal environmental and explosives rules from using explosives to scuttle the ship, said Nick Tomecek, the county's spokesperson. Officials moved the sinking forward by a day because of concerns about inclement weather.

The ship has pipes that drew seawater into tanks as part of the system cooling its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so water will flood the hull once the valves are opened. Workers have also cut 10-foot-by-10-foot holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed.

In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum celebrating the ship. Once aboard, passengers were served dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf's Head en Tortue. “It was our goal to make sure that she wasn’t lost forever,” said David Lawrence, a member of the board for the S.S. United States Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving the ship.

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