Historic passenger ship makes final voyage to become world’s largest artificial diving reef

An historic ocean liner that once ferried immigrants, Hollywood stars, and heads of state across the Atlantic in record time has begun her final voyage to become the world’s largest artificial reef

The SS United States, the largest passenger ship ever built in America, left Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront yesterday morning.

She is being towed to Mobile, Alabama, for planned prep work before finding her final resting place at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Officials in Okaloosa County on Florida’s coastal Panhandle hope she will become the signature diving attraction on a giant artificial reef and generate millions of dollars in local scuba tourism.

At 990 feet, the SS United States was 100ft longer than the Titanic and the largest passenger ship ever built in America.

Nicknamed ‘Big U’, the vessel ferried four presidents across the Atlantic Ocean, hosted Duke Ellington and Sylvia Plath, and captured the world’s imagination in the mid-20th century it broke the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage.

The United States crossed eastbound in three days, 10 hours and 40 minutes at an average of more than 35 knots, besting the RMS Queen Mary’s time by 10 hours.

To this day, she holds the transatlantic speed record for an ocean liner.

The vessel went on to cross the Atlantic 800 times, carrying the rich and famous as well as immigrants setting out for new lives and middle-class Americans eager to experience Europe.

Despite her record speed, passenger numbers fell in the mid-1960s due to the rise in jet-propelled transatlantic flights, and she was withdrawn from service in 1969.

She was later bounced between various private owners who hoped to redevelop it. But despite various plans, the ship was left rusting for decades on the Delaware River waterfront.

“The ship will forever symbolize our nation’s strength, innovation, and resilience,” said Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy and granddaughter of the naval architect who designed the vessel.

“We wish her ‘fair winds and following seas’ on her historic journey to her new home.”