The SS United States was the fastest ocean liner ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean, but it might have the slowest time of any vessel intentionally sunk. The once-modern marvel of American nautical engineering sank to its final resting place on Wednesday off the coast of Destin, Florida, in the Gulf of America. It was an hourslong process to complete its final voyage that should have included the playing of Celine Dion’s 1997 smash hit “My Heart Will Go On.”
The SS United States was deployed at approximately 2:40 p.m. Eastern time. The process of sinking the ocean liner began around 5 p.m., as openings cut into its hull allowed water to pour in and slowly submerge the historic vessel. It finally reached the ocean floor around 10 p.m. and is now the world’s largest artificial reef. It was a sad end to a once-glorious and revered product of American engineering ingenuity.
“It is a crime against American history for this nation to allow such an iconic and irreplaceable symbol of our power and innovation to meet such an end,” said Tom Basile, a former adviser to the SSUS Conservancy, the nonprofit organization that once owned the ship.
The SS United States debuted in the early years of the Cold War, making its maiden voyage in 1952. It was the largest ocean liner ever wholly built in the United States, at 990 feet long, 101.5 feet wide, and 175 feet tall. As mentioned above, it set the record for the fastest voyage by an ocean liner across the Atlantic, traveling from New York City to Bishop Rock, United Kingdom, in three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes. The record still holds over 74 years later.
The ship was built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Newport News, Virginia. It soon became synonymous with the lifestyles of the rich and famous, regularly transporting the world’s celebrities and elite on journeys across the Atlantic Ocean, including many from the golden age of Hollywood, such as Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe, and John Wayne, to name a few. And while the vessel spent its heyday going across the Atlantic Ocean, it has a special connection to my hometown of Philadelphia, the city it called home for 29 of its last 30 years.
“She was a beautiful, elegant lady — the fastest ocean liner ever built, a real piece of American history and pride that carried presidents, movie stars, and ordinary folks across the Atlantic with style,” said radio host Tony Bruno. “Growing up in Philly and later boating right up close to her while she sat rotting on the Delaware for decades, you could still feel her grandeur even under all that rust and neglect. Watching her go down off the Florida coast to become a reef is pure bittersweet. Part of me hates seeing something so magnificent and iconic deliberately sunk, but at least she’s getting a new life down there instead of being scrapped. Rest easy, old girl — you were one of a kind.”
I passed the SS United States almost every day for 15 years while it was docked in Philadelphia. The ocean liner arrived in 1996 and departed in 2025, after a feud with the company Penn Warehousing over rent and docking prices. It would only be a slight exaggeration to say that the ship was a landmark in a city full of them. No one will ever confuse it with the same kind of cultural reverence that the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the “Rocky Steps” at the Philadelphia Art Museum, or a cheesesteak have in the city. Still, it became a mainstay on the city’s famous Delaware Ave., later changed to Christopher Columbus Boulevard.
“I always hoped that the SS United States would end up as a floating hotel and museum like the Queen Mary in California, said Miss Robin, former Philadelphia resident and co-host of “The Tony Bruno Show.” I was lucky enough to see her up close when living in Philadelphia & she was even more grand up close. I highly recommend watching the documentary on her. I admit it was bittersweet seeing her take her last breath, but I’m happy to know she will become a destination location for divers & a new home for marine life.
It arrived less than a year before the iconic film Titanic was released in 1997 and was impossible to miss due to its gigantic size. It is said that many Philadelphians at the time thought it was a Titanic replica because it resembled the sunken ship and because of the movie’s popularity. And since it was overshadowed by the ship that sank in 1912, it never really received the widespread recognition it deserved considering its storied history and accomplishments. After years and decades of inactivity, its importance and relevance were essentially mothballed.
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The SS United States deserved a better fate than its ultimate resting place in the Gulf of America and its last decades in anonymity. It was a piece of American history and technological innovation, once a pinnacle of the nation’s shipbuilding dominance. Sadly, it became an afterthought and turned into the country’s largest paperweight, rotting away at a pier in Philadelphia. There were opportunities to save the SS United States in its later years, including a petition presented to President Donald Trump, and requests to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. None allegedly chose to act.
“Leaders like Trump and Hochul had ample opportunity to step in, and they chose not to exert their considerable political influence to save the only ship that bears the name of our great nation,” said Basile. “It took vision and courage and perhaps a little sacrifice to give this symbol of America the future she deserved. Sadly, we failed again to honor and preserve our history. An embarrassing day for America.”