PENSACOLA, Fla. — The historic SS United States, once the fastest ship on the seas, made a slow final trip underwater Wednesday. The famous liner, which is longer than the Titanic and crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, was deliberately sunk to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, where the once luxurious giant was ready to begin a new chapter as the world’s largest artificial reef. It was a long goodbye. Hours after the sinking began on a cloudy afternoon, much of the massive ship could still be seen in the dark waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle as night fell. Organizers had predicted the sinking could be over in just one hour. Finally, around 10 pm EST, the ship listed to one side and then quickly submerged. SS United States completes its final voyage, sinking to the bottom of the Gulf to become an artificial reef. “She is an incredible lady who will not go down without a fight,” said Coleen O’Malley, president of Coleen Marine, the company that sank the ship, before the ship disappeared underwater. “Much like the incredible nation it is named after.” The event, described by officials as a controlled sinking, was a long-planned $13.5 million project aimed at attracting more divers and fishing enthusiasts while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish. RELATED: A ship sinking expert explains how the SS United States will be prepared for its underwater grave. would rest evenly on the ocean floor, said Nick Tomecek, a spokesman for Okaloosa County, which helped organize the sinking. He said the process “took longer than we thought.” “It’s a big ship,” Tomecek said. IMAGE: These screenshots capture the moment the SS United States made its final voyage beneath the waters of the Gulf on Nov. 11, 2026. Destin-Fort Walton Beach A massive ship with a long history The project will prevent what had been a technological marvel when it made its maiden voyage in 1952 from becoming scrap metal. Famous passengers included Hollywood stars such as Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers included presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and former King Edward VIII of Great Britain. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took it when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president. The US SS is now one step closer to becoming the world’s largest artificial reef. Once on board, passengers enjoyed dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and turtle calf’s head. Judge denies preservation group’s request to stop sinking of SS United States. In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot (20-meter) funnels and plan to anchor them for a new museum celebrating the ship. The use of explosives was not permitted. Federal environmental and explosives rules prevent Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor from using explosives to sink the ship, Tomecek said. Concerns about inclement weather led officials to move up the sinking by a day. SEE ALSO | The SS United States will be dismantled, prepared to sink off the Gulf Coast of Florida. The SS United States has pipes that draw seawater into tanks as part of the system that cools its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so that once the valves are opened, water floods the hull. Workers have also cut 10-foot-by-10-foot (3-meter-by-3-meter) holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed. The SS United States, an ocean liner that was once the fastest on sea, will soon hold a new title, becoming the world’s largest artificial reef. The ship will sink in about 180 feet (55 meters) of water, with its upper deck about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface. — shallow enough that inexperienced divers can visit. It will settle at the bottom of the waters about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. Larger than the Titanic, the ship set a speed record on its first voyage. More than 3,000 workers helped build the SS United States in 1950 and 1951 in Virginia. An Associated Press reporter and Truman’s daughter, Margaret, were among the 1,700 passengers on the first trip. The ship’s average speed for that trip was nearly 41 mph (66 kph), surpassing a record set by Britain’s RMS Queen Mary in 1938 by 4.5 mph (7.2 kph), according to the AP dispatch. The SS United States set the record even though its voyage ended in a gale that reached 69 mph (111 kph)—”so strong that it blew a ping pong table off the deck,” the AP reported. At 990 feet (302 meters), the ship is 108 feet (33 meters) longer than the ill-fated Titanic, which struck an iceberg and sank on its first voyage across the Atlantic. “She truly embodies and expresses the best of this country,” said Susan Gibbs, granddaughter of the ship’s designer. “She represents pride, resilience, strength and beauty.” The ship’s resting place has many artificial reefs. More than 500 artificial reefs are located in the waters near where the SS United States will rest. Previously, the largest artificial reef came from the 2006 sinking of an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany in the Gulf off Pensacola, close enough to the site of the SS United States that an experienced diver could visit both on the same day, Tomecek said. The Oriskany, launched in 1950, was 911 feet (278 meters) long. “We’re trying to be the best diving destination in the world,” Tomecek said. The ship was decommissioned in 1969. Attempts by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use the ship were never successful, and from 1996 until recently, it sat along a dock in Philadelphia. Mullane called the enormous funnels, the chimneys that have been removed to anchor the new museum, “works of art.” “I’m so happy we were able to save parts of it,” Gibbs said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright © 2026 WPVI-TV. All rights reserved.
