A 1952 Ocean Liner Gets Its Final Voyage, Straight to the Seafloor

The SS United States, the 1952-built ocean liner, has a date for its last act. Okaloosa County, Florida, announced that the assisted sinking will take place on Thursday, November 12, 2026, turning the ship into what officials call the world’s largest artificial reef.

The ship will be placed about 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. Deployment operations are set to begin at 10 a.m. on November 12, and the county will hold a sendoff ceremony the day before, on November 11 at 1:30 p.m., at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center.

The liner spent nearly three decades in Philadelphia before being towed to Mobile, Alabama, in 2025. Okaloosa County acquired it from the SS United States Conservancy in 2024 and completed an environmental remediation process ahead of the planned sinking.

Those who cannot travel to the Gulf Coast can still watch. A live feed from the deployment site will play on a large outdoor screen at AJ’s Seafood and Oyster Bar in Destin starting at 9 a.m., and a pre-deployment live viewing link is on the destinfwb.com website. Board Chairman Trey Goodwin called it a historic day, and the ship’s story will also be told at the Conservancy’s land-based museum.

Sources: Cruise Industry News