Hello, Voyagers:
Welcome to the winter 2025 edition of the Captain’s (b)Log. For lovers of the great ocean liners, this is going to be an unhappy New Year.
As you know from reading the acknowledgements pages for Shadow of the Queen and Queen of Diamonds, there are only two of the grand trans-Atlantic ocean liners in existence. The Queen Mary, serving as a museum ship and floating hotel/conference center at Long Beach, California, and the SS United States, stripped of her interiors, propellers, and her engineering and propulsion machinery frozen in time and sitting at Pier 82 in Philadelphia. The United States belongs to the non-profit SS United States Conservancy, www.ssusc.org, which was working to restore and redevelop the ship as a destination attraction with the help of RXR Realty of New York.
The landlord for the United States, Penn Warehousing, made an attempt to force the ship from its dock by doubling dockage fees without notice. The Conservancy went to court and won, but with a stiff caveat. The US District Court Senior Judge overseeing the case ruled that the United States must vacate its Philadelphia pier.
With nowhere to go, the SS United States Conservancy was faced with two choices: scrap this historic vessel, or let it live on in an entirely different fashion. The latter decision was made, and a contract was signed in October of last year with Okaloosa County, Florida to sink the ship and turn it into an artificial reef off the Florida coast.
The nearly 1,000-foot-long ship will become the world’s largest artificial reef, off Destin-Fort Walton beach. It is envisioned that the United States will be a huge recreational diving draw, as well as a marine biologist’s paradise.
The sinking of the United States won’t take place until at least 2026 or possibly 2027, as environmental work needs to be done to make sure the vessel is safe for its new underwater home. An interactive museum about the ship is planned at the location, including a mockup of the ship’s bridge, one of its iconic funnels, and other artifacts.
The United States will always be America’s only super liner, designed and built entirely in the United States. She is the final holder of the Blue Riband for fastest crossing of the Atlantic which she did on her maiden voyage in 1952 in just over three days – wresting it from the Queen Mary, which will soon be the only floating survivor of the class of huge trans-Atlantic luxury liners.
Best wishes
Scott Finley
© 2025 Scott Finley. All rights reserved.