22 February 2025: We have been posting over the past few years, on average, about every two weeks. Due to the timely nature of this subject, and its impact on lots of areas - historic ships, artificial diving reefs, and sad news we thought this might be worthy of an "out of cycle" post. From United States Naval Institute.
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After months of delay, the historic ocean liner SS United States is getting towed down the Delaware River from Philadelphia on the first leg of its journey to become the “world’s largest artificial reef” about 20 miles off the Okaloosa, Fla., Gulf Coast.
The liner was a staple on the city’s waterfront for almost 30 years before tugboats began moving into position shortly before noon on Wednesday. Last week, SS United States was moved from an adjacent pier to make the towing easier. [ed: headed out the Delaware River 20 February]
Gale-force winds since Saturday further delayed the ship’s departure.
The former liner’s journey to Alabama, where it will be cleaned before getting moved to the Florida site, is expected to take about two weeks. Live tracking of the movement is available here. Tracking began when the vessel started moving operations.
The Walt Whitman Bridge, which carries Interstate 76, was closed to traffic at 12:40 p.m. as the liner traveled down the river. The Commodore Barry Bridge, which carries U.S. Route 322, and the Delaware Memorial Bridge that features I-295, were closed to traffic as the 900-foot long liner was towed down into Delaware Bay.
The liner’s once bright-red funnels are 65 feet high, or the equivalent of a six-story building, are the key safety reason for the bridge closures. In addition to safety precautions, the bridge closures allowed motorists to take pictures and record the movement.
When the hulk of the former aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy (CV-67) moved down the Delaware River last month, SS United States remained pier side in Philadelphia. The liner was scheduled for towing in November, originally bound for Norfolk, to get cleaned and prepped for sinking so it can serve as an artificial reef for diving and fishing.
The preparation work, expected to take a year, shifted to Mobile because the Alabama city is closer to the final destination point.
In the fall, the U.S. Coast Guard halted the liner’s movement to ensure its seaworthiness. To ensure safety in the tow to Mobile, the liner will remain relatively close to shore to avoid ocean currents.
Philadelphia’s local NBC affiliate reported a statement from Capt. Joseph Farrell, identified as an authority on reefs and ship sinkings: “The SS United States will be towed more than 1800 nautical miles, at 5 knots per hour, from Philadelphia, through Delaware Bay, into the Atlantic Ocean, past Cape Hatteras, around the Florida Peninsula, into the Gulf of America, and onto The Bay of Mobile. … The voyage is expected to take 18 days.”
Upon arrival in Mobile, contractors at Modern American Recycling Services will remove hazardous material, including non-metal parts and fuel, to ensure the ship is clean and not harmful to the environment. Items like command bridge components, engine room equipment, wires, cables, loose items, flooring, furnishings, fuel, paint, and contaminants – possibly including asbestos – will be removed.
The work in Mobile will include removing the two iconic funnels and the radar mast, which will go to the Conservancy for its proposed museum, The Maritime Executive reported. A few other artifacts, including the builder’s plaque, will be removed for the Conservancy, while the preparation includes removing all the portholes as well as onboard contaminants.
The SS United States Conservancy calls reefing the best option for the vessel. The organization will put the proceeds from the sale, in addition to $1 million from Okaloosa County, toward the cost of establishing a permanent museum and visitor center for the ship. It will display the collection of artifacts from the vessel and tell the story of her design and speed record.
Contractors will also make modifications to ensure that when the vessel is deployed, it will land upright underwater, Nick Tomecek, the public information officer for Okaloosa County, said in a news release.
Those modifications include poking holes in the ship’s hull to facilitate its sinking,
“It’s actually pretty hard to sink a ship,” Tomecek told UPI in November. “They’ll cut some holes on the outside, on the inside and all around the vessel. Once they tow it to the spot, they’ll use a pump on the tow boat to begin filling it with water. As that water fills the ship, it sinks lower and lower to where those holes are cut. As more and more water goes in, the ship eventually goes down.”
He added that it could take hours for water to fill the ship.
The exact site is still undetermined, but will be about 20 miles offshore from Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
Tomecek told USNI News: “We are currently on budget and on schedule for the vessel reef deployment process.” He added that the entire project cost allocation is $10.1 million. That includes buying the vessel for $1 million, another $1 million to the SS United States Conservancy, and additional funding for the remediation, dock fees and deployment of the vessel off Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
He added that the county has been paying the pier owner’s rental fee since Oskaloosa took title to the liner.
In October, the Florida county took title to the historic ship, effectively ending a three-year-long legal struggle between the non-profit that owned SS United States and Penn Warehouse and Distribution, the owner of the pier where it has been berthed for years.
The dispute centered on the berthing charges doubling while the SS United States Conservancy, established in 2011, was still trying to raise funds to preserve the liner as a museum and hotel, similar to the former Queen Mary’s operation in Long Beach, Calif.
At the ceremony transferring the title, Paul Mixon, chairman of the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, told The Philadelphia Inquirer he was proud of Florida’s ability to “keep that legacy going” through the museum and reefing of the ship. The museum will receive the group’s collections of original artifacts and artwork from the ship and at least one of the vessel’s iconic funnels.
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Sad to see this record holding vessel fall into such disrepair and neglect that her only use is as a reef. "From the sea she was born and to the sea she returns." As a matter of interest to some, we understand her resting place will be about 130' below the surface; not sure how that works for sport divers who generally limit their dives to a depth of 100'-120'- bottom time severely curtailed at that depth.
Until next time, stay safe.
Fair Winds
Old Salt
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