On a Wednesday in November, a ship that once carried presidents, paintings and movie stars across the Atlantic at record speed was let go into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle. Its sinking, without explosives and after long delays, marks an unusual turn in the life of a machine built for speed, now given a second purpose as a home for fish and a destination for divers. It is one more chapter in the coastal habit of turning obsolete vessels into something that draws people back to the water. Whether that second life proves as lasting as the first remains an open question.
SS United States Sinks Off Florida to Become World's Largest Artificial Reef
The fastest liner in the world sank in five hours.
Mark
Why sink a ship like this instead of scrapping it?
Mimi
Susan Gibbs, whose grandfather designed it, said her conservancy saw reefing as the more dignified option. Her group sold it to Okaloosa County for $1 million in 2024.
Mark
And the county sees it as an investment?
Mimi
Yes. It paid $10 million and tourism director Jennifer Adams expects to recoup that in a couple of years through diving visitors.
Luke
That's her projection, though. Nothing in the reporting shows the payback yet. The $10 to $12 million a year from reefs is also her figure.
Mimi
Fair. The broader NOAA analysis is independent, and it found almost a billion dollars a year from visits to just a few reefs, using 2017 data.
Luke
Which covers a few reefs, not this one. It tells us reefs can pay off, not that this one will.
Mark
Does anyone push back on the economics?
Mimi
Economist Andrew Ropicki says the area has a critical mass of wrecks, but warns of diminishing returns if visitors get overwhelmed by choice.
Luke
And the county plans five or six more. That tension is unresolved.
Mark
What did the sinking itself involve?
Mimi
Plugs removed from the hull, no explosives, hours of delay, then the ship tilted and went under.
Il Polso
- The former ocean liner SS United States was flooded through its hull and slipped beneath the Gulf waters about 20 nautical miles from Destin's beaches.
- After hours of delay, the final moments came quickly as the ship tilted onto its side and vanished below the surface.
- Okaloosa County, which bought the ship for $1 million, is betting that divers will pour in and repay the investment within a couple of years.
- Early divers are already booking charters, while economists warn that too many reefs could eventually dull the appeal of the whole Panhandle.
- The county plans five or six more sinkings, and whether the divers keep coming is what it will now have to find out.
On a Wednesday in November, a ship that once carried presidents, paintings and movie stars across the Atlantic at record speed was let go into the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle. Its sinking, without explosives and after long delays, marks an unusual turn in the life of a machine built for speed, now given a second purpose as a home for fish and a destination for divers. It is one more chapter in the coastal habit of turning obsolete vessels into something that draws people back to the water. Whether that second life proves as lasting as the first remains an open question.
On Wednesday, the SS United States, once the fastest passenger liner ever built, went down in about five hours off the Florida Panhandle. Crews opened its hull and let the sea rush in, with no explosives. After long delays, the ship tipped onto its side and disappeared.
Launched in 1951 and longer than the Titanic, the liner had carried four presidents, the Mona Lisa and a parade of movie stars. After decades of rust and the threat of the scrapyard, it found a different end: becoming what is expected to be the world's largest artificial reef, a little more than 20 nautical miles from Destin.
Okaloosa County has already sunk hundreds of reefs, and officials say they bring in $10 million to $12 million a year. The county's tourism director expects the ship to pay back its cost in a couple of years. Divers like Karen Flynn, who has already booked a trip, are the visitors the county hopes for: people who stay, spend and come back.
For Susan Gibbs of the SS United States Conservancy, the sinking brought mixed feelings of sorrow, gratitude and pride. Her grandfather had poured his life into the ship. Still, she believes reefing was the more dignified fate than rusting at a dock.
Economists caution that too many reefs could eventually lose their pull, and five or six more are already planned. For now, the ship rests below, and the county waits to see whether the divers will follow.
On Wednesday, the fastest passenger liner ever built went down in about five hours. In its prime, the SS United States crossed the Atlantic in less than four days. Off the Florida Panhandle, crews removed plugs from the ship's hull and let the sea flood in, with no explosives involved. After hours of delays, the final moments went quickly: the ship tilted onto its side and slipped beneath the surface.
Launched in 1951 and longer than the Titanic, the liner carried four presidents, the Mona Lisa and a roster of 20th century movie stars. Decades of rusting followed, and the ship faced the scrap heap. Its minders eventually settled on a different end: a deal to turn it into what is expected to be the world's largest artificial reef, off the coast of Okaloosa County, Florida. The ship, nearly 1,000 feet long, rests just over 20 nautical miles from the beaches of Destin.
The sinking is the latest effort by coastal communities to draw thrill-seeking tourists away from international destinations, and so far it has produced surprising economic returns. Okaloosa County has already sunk hundreds of artificial reefs, many of them ships or boats. "Certainly this is the biggest that we've done," said Jennifer Adams, the county's tourism director. She said reefs bring in roughly $10 million to $12 million a year in economic benefits, and she expects that figure to rise. The county paid $10 million for its investment in the United States and expects to recoup it in "a couple of years."
The ship was prepared with three audiences in mind: tourists, marine life and federal regulators. Its hull was stripped of toxic materials and bulky components. Its depth matters to divers as well. Karen Flynn, a wreck diver and maritime enthusiast, said the upper decks should sit within recreational diving limits. Her club, the Maryland-based Atlantic Wreck Divers, booked tickets and a charter boat just days after the deployment date was set. They are, Flynn said, the kind of visitor the county wants: divers who stay overnight and spend on equipment, food and lodging. "We've dove everything that you can around the world," she said. "This will just be one more unique, new thing for us to dive." She said it was far more tragic to watch the ship sit and rust at the dock.
The United States joins the USS Oriskany, an 888-foot post-war aircraft carrier the Navy sank off Pensacola in 2006. Together they are set to give the Panhandle the first and second largest artificial reefs in the world. Florida has created more than 4,000 artificial reefs since 1940, according to a state fish and wildlife commission tally. NOAA analyzed 2017 data on diving tourism around artificial and natural reefs and calculated that visits to just a few of them generated almost a billion dollars in annual economic benefits.
University of Florida economist Andrew Ropicki says Okaloosa and its neighboring counties have a kind of "critical mass" of planned shipwrecks, letting them capture more tourism dollars than other areas. He also warned that overinvesting in reefing could eventually bring diminishing returns, as visitor interests shift or people are overwhelmed by choice. Adams said plans are already underway to sink "five or six" more artificial reefs after this one.
For Susan Gibbs, head of the SS United States Conservancy, the day was more tangled. The conservancy was the ship's custodian through much of its time moored in Philadelphia. Gibbs is the granddaughter of William Francis Gibbs, who worked obsessively on the liner; she said he would freely admit he loved the ship a thousand times more than her grandmother. Before the sinking, she described a "complex mix of sorrow but gratitude and pride and hope." Her organization sold the ship to Okaloosa County in 2024 for $1 million, a fraction of its original cost. Still, she said, "We felt that reefing was by far the more dignified solution."
Flynn expects the wreck to keep its grandeur underwater, imagining the view from the bridge out to the bow and the blue beyond. Whether that view, and the five or six reefs planned next, keep the divers coming is what the county will now find out.
Citazioni salienti
We felt that reefing was by far the more dignified solution.— Susan Gibbs, head of the SS United States Conservancy
Certainly this is the biggest that we've done.— Jennifer Adams, Okaloosa County tourism director
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