The Last Fastest Ocean Liner Starts Its Final Voyage To The Bottom Of The Ocean

You might think that the last great ocean liner to set a high speed record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean would be proudly on display somewhere or used as a floating restaurant for the rich and famous, but it isn't. Instead, the SS United States sat at a dock in Philadelphia for almost 30 years rusting away while anyone and everyone argued about its future. The rusting shell of the last fastest ocean liner finally set sail once again last week, but the journey will be the ship's final voyage and will end at the bottom of the ocean.

American ocean liner the SS United States was once the fastest liner in the world after it crossed the Atlantic Ocean eastbound in three days and ten hours in 1952. A lot has changed since the 1950s, though, and now if you want to get from New York to London you fly instead of spending days at sea.

As a result, the ship went out of service in the 1960s and changed hands several times. It's since spent the last 30 years rusting away at a dock in Philadelphia, but finally set sail once again last week when it was towed out of Philly on its final voyage.

The journey will see the SS United States travel from the east coast down to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico, where it will be sunk to create an enormous artificial reef, reports the New York Times.

Late last week, the SS United States was towed from its berth in Philadelphia by a flotilla of tugs. They hauled the 45,000-ton ship down the Delaware river for the first stage of its final voyage.

The tugs will tow the 900-foot ship to Mobile, Alabama, where workers will remove hazardous materials from the body of the ship, as the Times reports:

Workers will remove hazardous materials, including the fuel still sitting in its tanks, so the ship can be sunk safely. Because it can no longer move under its own power, five tugboats are taking it out of the Delaware River and Bay on Wednesday. Once the ship is in the open waters of the Atlantic, just one of the tugs will be needed to tow it slowly southward.

Once gutted, the SS United States will journey to the Florida Panhandle, where it will be sunk to the ocean floor. After it's met its salty grave, the top of the ship will be around 60 feet below the surface of the waves and it's hoped it will become one of the world's largest artificial reefs, CNN adds.

The enormous vessel will be sunk around 20 miles off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico, where it will become home to all kinds of wildlife and will only be visited by divers. As well as its new designation as an artificial reef, a museum is planned for dry land where fans of the enormous ship will be able to find out more about its history and record-breaking achievements, as the Times adds:

Once it is sunk in about 180 feet of water off the Gulf Coast, the uppermost part of the ship will be about 60 feet below the surface. But there will also be a land-based museum in Okaloosa County, Florida, dedicated to the ship and its history. The design of the museum will incorporate some preserved parts of the ship, including at least one of its funnels.

Alex Fogg, natural resources chief for Destin-Fort Walton Beach, said that as an artificial reef, the ship will be a habitat for sea creatures like snappers, urchins and crabs. He predicted that it would become a major destination for divers from all over the world.

The sinking of the SS United States isn't the first time outdated modes of transport have sunk beneath the waves to benefit the natural world. New York previously sent its old subway cars to the depth to form artificial reefs and even old space rockets end up in a salty grave once they've reached the end of their lives.