Sometime later this year, probably in the fall, the folks who live along the Florida panhandle will bear witness — from a distance — to an amazing once in a lifetime event. An ocean liner that was once the grandest and fastest in the world will sink about 20 miles off the coast near Destin and Fort Walton Beach, Fla.

Americans of a certain age, and I count myself among them, remember the pride we felt for a vessel called, appropriately enough, the SS United States, a luxury liner nearly 1,000 feet long and bigger than the Titanic itself.

Soon it will meet the same fate as the Titanic, although no iceberg will be involved and no one will die. The vessel will be deliberately sunk in 180 feet of water, where it will become the world’s largest artificial reef.

Launched in the 1950s, it sailed the Atlantic Ocean in style, connecting North America and Europe and doing so with grace and speed.

Its slender profile and pointed prow were designed to get from Point A to Point B quickly, and it delivered. It once crossed the Atlantic in three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes, which beat the Queen Mary’s best time by 10 hours. It still holds the trans-Atlantic speed record, earning the ship the title of fastest ocean liner afloat by reaching speeds over 38 knots, or 44 mph.

But soon the ship will enter a new phase of its life when it is sent to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico — or if you embrace historical revisionism, the Gulf of America. Before that can happen, in six months or so, it must have any toxic materials such as plastics, paint, fuel, and oil stripped from it that could harm the marine life it is intended to protect and shelter.

The Gulf’s new manmade reef will be home to all manner of undersea critters, which will glide and swim and hopefully thrive in quarters that once housed the rich and famous. Throughout the 1960s the passenger list of the SS United States included Princess Grace of Monaco, Harry Truman, Bob Hope, John Wayne, Rita Hayworth, Salvatore Dali, and Duke Ellington, to name a few.

The SS United States remains the largest ocean liner ever built in the United States. It accommodated 1,984 passengers, which was a big number for its day but far less than the capacity of today’s mega ships, which qualify as ocean liners only because they float.

Ultimately, crossing the ocean at 44 mph was deemed too slow. Commercial jet travel reduced the demand for transoceanic crossings by ship. The SS United States was retired in 1969 and over time became a rusting hulk at a shipyard in Philadelphia. A group called the SS United States Conservancy wanted to convert it into a floating hotel like the Queen Mary in California, but those efforts failed and the ship was unceremoniously evicted from the Philadelphia shipyard for unpaid rent and damage to the pier.

So authorities in Okaloosa County, Florida, stepped up. Two weeks ago the ship made its 401st and final voyage, guided and towed by tug boats for 1,800 miles — down the east coast, around the tip of Florida, and up the gulf to Mobile, Ala., where it will be prepared for the big day it is sunk.

Videos of the ship’s present-day interior show salons and gathering places that have been stripped bare. It is impossible to look at the images and not imagine the slow fade from the grandeur that once existed to the ghostlike vessel that remains today. Its maiden voyage was in 1952; today it looks every bit of 73 years old.

That’s a shame, but in death the ship will find new life. Rather than be cut up for scrap, its service as an underwater habitat will be a fitting way to restore its stature.

Prior to its sinking several holes will be cut into the hull to ensure the hulk lands upright on the bottom.

The holes will also provide access to whatever marine life wants to come in. The hulk will become an instant mecca for divers. While the ship will sit 180 feet down, its top deck will be just 55 feet from the surface, easily accessible for underwater explorers craving a unique experience.

The two distinctive funnels will be removed before the sinking and displayed at an onshore museum along with other artifacts from the ship. But the real museum will be the vessel itself.

The Okaloosa County tourism department is already excited about that. The underwater site, its spokesman says, will provide a “much-needed habitat for a variety of marine species like grouper, snapper, mackerel, and tuna.” I’d say that’s good for the fish, good for the ship.

The SS United States has always been a point of national pride for me and millions of other Americans. I still remember building a scale model of the ship as a teenager and entering it in my school’s science fair. I even won a ribbon, although if memory serves, the ribbon was not blue and it said “participant.” Still, I displayed it proudly for years — the model, not the ribbon.

I hope the authorities allow the public to witness the sinking of the SS United States in person so people can pay their respects. America’s flagship deserves a flotilla of mourners when this icon slips beneath the waves.

Thomas Walton is the retired editor and vice president of The Blade. His column appears every other Sunday. His radio commentary, “Life As We Know It,” can be heard every Monday at 5:44 p.m. during “All Things Considered” on WGTE FM 91. Contact him at: twalton@theblade.com.

First Published March 23, 2025, 4:00 a.m.