As a postscript to my previous blog on the design and construction in 1952 of the S.S. United States luxury liner, I have the following update:
After sitting at a Delaware River dock and rotting away in South Philadelphia for the last 30 years, someone has finally purchased the liner. That “someone” was Okaloosa County, a county along the southern coast of the Florida panhandle. The purchase price was somewhere around $10 million, I have read.
Okaloosa County's intention is to sink the liner in the Gulf of Mexico about 20 miles from shore as a tourist destination reef for fishes and divers. Currently the ship is docked in nearby Mobile, Alabama for six months to strip all its parts and fuel containers that could pollute the waters of the Gulf. Below are photos of the liner's trip from Philly as it was being towed to Mobile:
In its route shown above the liner leaves Philadelphia as it’s towed in the Atlantic along the East Coast to eventually arrive at Mobile.
The sunken ship is to become a tourist destination reef and will debut in 2026, about 20miles off the coast of Destin, Florida (map below).
The S.S. United States, the speed record holder for crossing the Atlantic, left Philadelphia on February 25, 2025 to be towed to Mobile, Alabama (below).
The liner currently rests in Mobile, Alabama (below).
Blog post written by David Tritt, Senior Architect.
