Legendary liner SS United States slips beneath waves off Florida coast

Detailed summary

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 SS United States, the historic liner once the fastest vessel on the ocean, finally slipped beneath the waves in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday evening.

Around 9pm, the ship tilted to one side and quickly went under. The sinking had begun hours earlier on a cloudy afternoon, and organizers had predicted it could be finished in as little as an hour. Instead, by nightfall much of the vast hull was still visible in the dark waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle.

The vessel, longer than the Titanic and a veteran of more than 800 Atlantic crossings, was deliberately sent to the seabed to begin a new existence as the world's largest artificial reef.

“She is an amazing lady who will not lay down without a fight,” Coleen O’Malley, president of Coleen Marine, the company sinking the ship, said before the vessel disappeared beneath the water. “Much like the amazing nation she was named after.” Officials described the operation as a controlled sinking, the culmination of a long-planned $13.5 million project.

The aim is to attract more divers and fishing enthusiasts while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish. The descent proved slower than expected, partly because crews filled 128 fuel and lubricant tanks aboard the ship with water so that it would rest evenly on the ocean floor, said Nick Tomecek, a spokesperson for Okaloosa County, which helped organize the sinking.

“She’s a big ship,” Tomecek said. The ship will sink to about 180 feet (55 meters) of water, with its top deck about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface.

That depth is shallow enough for inexperienced divers. It will settle on the seafloor about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. Federal environmental and explosives rules prevented Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor from using explosives to scuttle the ship, Tomecek said.

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