SS United States Begins Final Descent Off Destin to Become World's Largest Artificial Reef

At dusk Wednesday, most of the SS United States was still above the waterline off the Florida Panhandle, even after workers flooded its hull to push it under. The ocean liner, longer than the Titanic and once the fastest on the seas, was headed for its final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's largest artificial reef.

The sinking was long planned, according to an Associated Press report by John Hanna and Stephen Smith, carried by News 6 ClickOrlando. The project costs $13.5 million. AP describes it as an effort to draw more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish. Okaloosa County is involved in the project, but the report does not say who is paying the bill.

Where it's going and who can see it

The ship will rest in about 180 feet of water, roughly 25 miles southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. Its top deck will sit about 60 feet below the surface. That is shallow enough for inexperienced divers to visit, which is worth knowing if you are planning a trip.

It will not be alone. More than 500 artificial reefs already sit in nearby waters. The previous record holder, the USS Oriskany, was sunk off Pensacola in 2006 and measures 911 feet. Okaloosa County spokesman Nick Tomecek said an experienced diver could see both in a single day. He said the county is trying to be the best diving destination in the world.

How you sink a ship without explosives

Federal environmental and explosives rules keep the county and its contractor from using explosives, Tomecek said. Instead, crews removed the tanks tied to the old boiler cooling system so that opening the valves would let seawater pour into the hull. They also cut 10-foot-square holes in the decks and pulled more than 400 portholes.

Predictions had been that the sinking could take less than an hour once flooding began. It stretched through the afternoon and into the evening, with smaller boats staying close, some even alongside. Concerns about bad weather had already moved the date up by a day.

The project keeps the ship from becoming scrap metal. Tim Mullane, a Navy veteran and chief operating officer of Coleen Marine, the company sending the ship down, said in a video aired online by local officials: “It's going to serve a second life.”

A ship with a record

At 990 feet, the SS United States is 108 feet longer than the Titanic. On its 1952 maiden voyage it averaged almost 41 mph, beating the RMS Queen Mary's record by 4.5 mph, according to the AP's dispatch. The AP said the trip ended in the face of a full gale that reached 69 mph, strong enough to blow a ping pong table off the deck.

Over its career the liner crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times. Passengers included Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy. A young Bill Clinton rode it to Oxford in 1968. The ship was decommissioned in 1969. Plans by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use it never panned out, and from 1996 until recently it sat at a dock in Philadelphia.

Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of the ship's designer, said the vessel embodies the country's best, with pride, resilience, strength and beauty. She said she is happy parts of it are being saved. The 65-foot smokestacks were removed before the sinking, and organizers plan to use them to anchor a new museum celebrating the ship.