Once grand luxury ocean liner to become majestic artificial reef off Florida

Partner Content

UPI

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- Officials in Florida's Panhandle predict the transformation of the former glamour cruise liner SS United States into a sunken artificial reef will be a major boost for the region's eco-tourism industry.

After a years-long legal battle over its future at Pier 82 in Philadelphia, where it has been docked since 1996, the ship Saturday was officially signed over a week ago to Okaloosa County, Fla.

The county plans to submerge the 990-foot vessel in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Destin as part of its long-standing efforts to boost the popularity of sport diving and fishing around artificial reefs.

Once the project is completed sometime next year, it will be touted by county tourism officials as "the world's largest artificial reef," set up to "attract divers and anglers from around the world."

Now that it has obtained ownership of the famous ship from its longtime owner -- the nonprofit SS United States Conservancy -- the county will spend an estimated $10.1 million on the project, including its next step, which is to tow the 73-year-old vessel from Philadelphia to Norfolk, Va.,

There, it will "undergo the necessary steps to be deployed as an artificial reef." That's scheduled to happen sometime in the coming weeks.

Also as part of the effort, the conservancy will develop a land-based museum and immersive experience in conjunction with the artificial reef.

More artificial reefs sought

The plans for the SS United States are part of a long-term effort by the county to invest substantially in the creation of artificial reefs to attract diving tourists, as well as anglers.

Because the reefs provide a source of biological replenishment to local populations of marine vertebrates and invertebrates, they essentially act as fish magnets, pulling in species that range from grouper and red snapper to bigger game fish, such as tuna.

The reefs can be composed of rubble, concrete -- or sunken ships. In 2023, for example, Okaloosa County established five sunken-vessel artificial reefs and also deployed hundreds of prefabricated concrete modules in collaboration with local and national partners.

The Destin-Fort Walton area saw 7.8 million visitors in 2023, and that generated $734 million in direct tourism spending, according to county figures.

Statewide, Florida has one of the most active artificial reef programs among Gulf and Atlantic coast states, with 4,300 deployments situated off 34 coastal counties as of May, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They average 67 feet deep but go down as much as 500 feet.

Some sunken vessels are already undersea tourist attractions, including the freighter Mercedes I, which famously washed up along an exclusive stretch of Palm Beach in 1984, and the USS Oriskany, a former Navy aircraft carrier that in 2006 became the largest artificial reef ever intentionally sunk in U.S. coastal waters -- 22.5 nautical miles southeast of Pensacola Pass at a depth of 212 feet.

"The reason we do all these artificial reefs is that in the area of the Gulf of Mexico where we are, there are no coral reefs," Okaloosa County public information officer Nick Tomecek told UPI.

"If you were to take the water away, it would look like a desert out there, and so these artificial reefs -- once they're properly cleaned and environmentally safe -- are deployed at differing depths, and they create this incredible habitat for marine life."

It amounts to a "win-win-win" for the environment, diving tourism and both the commercial and recreational fishing industries, he said.

"There are so many benefits from these artificial reefs in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach destination area," he said. "It's been pretty exciting. We usually draw a little bit of a crowd [when a new reef is deployed], with divers and their dive boats gathered around ready to go as soon as it goes down to the bottom.

"And this one, being the world's largest artificial reef -- it's definitely going to draw some attention, for sure"

A glamorous history

That's likely not only because of the "world's largest" tag, but also because of the storied history of the SS United States itself.

According to the SS United States Conservancy, it was launched in 1951 and still holds the transatlantic speed record, achieved on her maiden voyage using only two-thirds of her power.

The ship was designed as a top-secret, convertible troop carrier and Cold War weapon, and is still considered "the pinnacle" of American post-war maritime engineering. It was officially retired in 1969.

During its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s before the advent of the jet age, the SS United States' passenger list was studded by stars of stage and screen, as well as world leaders, including four U.S. presidents -- Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy and a young Bill Clinton.

Among the world-class celebrities plying the Atlantic Ocean among its 23 public rooms, 395 staterooms and 14 first-class suites were Marlon Brando, Coco Chanel, Sean Connery, Duke Ellington, Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne.

During that era, the SS United States was a frequent and familiar site at the British port of Southampton, where its arrival at the conclusion of its record-setting maiden voyage on July 3, 1952, drew a crowd of almost 70,000.

It was during that journey that it took the coveted "Blue Riband" -- awarded to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed -- from the RMS Queen Mary. The US United States reached speeds exceeding 38 knots, or 44 mph..

But for all its past glories and accomplishments, the SS United States' recent history has been fraught with trouble. The sale to Okaloosa County came as part of a legal settlement between the conservancy, which is led by the granddaughter of the ship's designer William Francis Gibbs, and Philadelphia pier operator Penn Warehousing.

Under its terms, the SS United States was evicted from the pier following years of ultimately unsuccessful efforts by the nonprofit to find the historic ship a new home.

The group worked for several years on a plan in which it would have been moved to one of several piers along Manhattan's West Side in New York City and converted to a hotel as the anchor for a mixed-use project, but the eviction came before that plan could be made final.

Instead, it will now be a submerged biological habitat and tourist attraction, albeit with a "state-of-the-art" land-based museum that will "blend the latest technology" with the conservancy's expansive collections of original artifacts and artwork from the ship.

Among the collected artifacts will be at least one of the ship's iconic funnels, its radar mast and detailed recreations of spaces using original materials.

"We can tell you that you will not be lost, you will not be forgotten, you will no longer be neglected and abused," conservancy board member Thomas Watkins said a week ago in a farewell to the ship.

"You will be rightly honored, cherished, and loved in a new home and in a new dimension. You will no longer be sailing the seas, but you will be surrounded and caressed by them."

Report a Typo