Science · SS United StatesSS United States sinking: Florida plans world's largest artificial reef on November 12Aired November 8, 2026 at 7:00 PM UTCWatchTranscript0:07Okaloosa County plans to sink the SS United States to create the world's largest0:11artificial reef.0:12The nearly thousand footliner would become a permanent underwater destination,0:15ending its future as an above water vessel.0:18What would survive of its history, and what has to happen before the ship goes0:21under?0:22The county has scheduled the sinking for November12,2026 , weather permitting.0:26The ship is nearly1,000 feet long.0:29More than100 feet longer than Titanic.0:31Its conversion would put an entire ocean liner on the Gulf Seabed.0:34The SS United States still holds the transatlantic speed record for a passenger0:38ship.0:38On its maiden voyage in1,950 ,2 %, it crossed in three days,10 hours and400:44minutes, averaging36 knots.0:46It cut ten hours from Queen Mary's record.0:48Built to double as a military troop ship.0:50The liner carried world leaders, Hollywood stars, and thousands of immigrants.0:54The planned reef site lies about twenty two nautical miles southwest of Destin and0:57thirty two nautical miles southeast of Pensacola.1:00The ship is to be towed from Mobile, Alabama in the preceding days.1:03Those distances describe the intended offshore area approximately.1:07The liner spent nearly three decades docked in Philadelphia, while preservationists1:11sought a restoration plan.1:13High cost repeatedly defeated those projects.1:15A dispute over dockage fees and rent eventually brought a court order requiring it1:19to leave.1:19The ship reached Mobile in March2025 .1:22After a12-day tow.1:23Workers have since removed wiring, glass, plastic, and hazardous chemicals to1:27prepare it.1:28The New York Coalition to Save the Steamship United States sued on March2,2025 ,1:34seeking to prevent its destruction and sinking.1:36A federal court dismissed the case on August 6 that year for lack of standing and1:40terminated it, standing concerns whether someone has the legal right to bring a1:44case.1:44The dismissal left the historical and environmental merits of sinking the ship1:48undecided.1:49An earlier court pause covered the litigation and evidence, gathering while the1:52judge considered jurisdiction.1:54The coalition's lawsuit therefore can't simply be treated as a court order holding1:57up this deployment.1:58Okaloosa County committed ten point one million dollars to acquiring, transporting,2:03cleaning, and submerging the liner.2:04That funding covers the work of turning a historic ship into a reef.2:08The commitment also includes a reported allocation for a museum ashore.2:11County commissioners approved the acquisition arrangement by four votes to one on2:15October one, two thousand and twenty-four.2:17The ship's purchase price was one million dollars.2:19A separate one million dollars is reportedly earmarked for the onshore museum.2:23The museum is intended to tell the vessel's story to visitors who'll never see it2:26underwater.2:27The county commitment is a budget figure, with actual expenditure still to come.2:31Conservancy president Susan Gibbs supports preserving the ship's history through an2:35underwater attraction and an onshore museum.2:37She said the liner has inspired millions as a symbol of American pride and2:40excellence and described the proposed reef as a historic attraction.2:44The Conservancy and the coalition pursued different futures for the same ship.2:48The coalition sought to keep the physical vessel from being destroyed or sunk.2:51Local leaders describe reefing as the only viable alternative to scrapping.2:55Under their plan, the surviving vessel goes underwater, while an accessible account2:59of its history is meant to remain ashore.3:01County official Paul Mixon expects the collaboration to benefit tourism across3:05Northwest Florida and the state.3:06Dive businesses, charter fishing operators and hotels anticipate millions of dollars3:11in annual tourism revenue.3:12Those are expectations for a reef that hasn't yet been deployed.3:15Pensacola tourism officials contributed one point five million dollars to the3:19regional partnership that helped secure the location.3:21Coastal Conservation Association Florida contributed five hundred thousand dollars,3:25its largest single donation in forty years.3:28Those contributions haven't been reconciled with the county commitment closely3:31enough to calculate a separate overall project price.3:34The upper decks are expected to sit roughly sixty feet below the surface, with the3:38seabed approximately one hundred and eighty feet down.3:41Those are planned depths.3:42The final position will depend on the deployment, and nobody has announced a public3:46diving opening date.3:47The liner would join more than five hundred artificial reefs in Okaloosa County,3:51including a dozen smaller shipwrecks.3:53Its planned site is about twelve nautical miles from USS Oriskini.3:57The aircraft carrier sunk as a dive site in two thousand and six.4:00The existing network gives the project a regional setting.4:02New habitat and tourism gains from this ship still lie ahead.4:06The send-off ceremony is scheduled for November11 .4:08Deployment operations are due to begin at10 a.4:11Hem on November12 , weather permitting.4:14That's the scheduled start of the operation.4:16It doesn't promise the moment the ship will pass beneath the surface.4:19The Coast Guard has described a1 100 yard-moving safety zone around the ship and4:23vessels officially involved in its tow.4:26That restriction covers the tow operation.4:28Officials haven't announced a public diving opening date or the sinking site's4:31exclusion boundaries.4:32A planned upper deck depth of sixty feet doesn't give anyone permission to dive.Story timelineHeyDex
