She Was Once the World’s Fastest Ocean Liner. It’s Now Been Deliberately Sunk to Create the World’s Largest Artificial Reef
The world's fastest ocean liner has been deliberately sunk off Florida to become the largest artificial reef ever created.
by Tibi Puiu · ZME ScienceThe fastest ocean liner ever to cross the Atlantic took more than seven hours to sink, ending its 75-year-long history. However, this is not the end of the iconic vessel’s legacy.
On Wednesday, November 11, the SS United States, once the pride of American shipbuilding, disappeared beneath the Gulf of Mexico. Water slowly climbed its rusting hull for hours before the enormous ship suddenly tilted to one side and slipped beneath the waves.
The sinking was deliberate. Engineers sent the 990-foot (302-meter) vessel to the seafloor off Florida, where it will soon enough become the world’s largest artificial reef.
The $13.5 million project gives a second life to a ship that once carried presidents, Hollywood stars, and royalty across the Atlantic. Instead of ferrying thousands of passengers and goods, the SS United States will provide shelter for fish, corals, sponges, and other marine organisms for many years to come.
A Ship That Was Almost Too Fast for Its Time
When the SS United States made its maiden voyage in July 1952, it crossed the Atlantic in just three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes.
Averaging 35.59 knots (41 mph), it shattered the previous record held by Britain’s Queen Mary. No passenger liner has surpassed its eastbound crossing record since.
The ship was also enormous. At 990 feet (300 meters) long, it exceeded the Titanic by 108 feet (33 meters). Naval architect William Francis Gibbs designed it as both a luxury liner and a potential military transport capable of carrying 14,000 troops in case things went south. But that was never the case, and the ship’s passengers experienced anything but military austerity.
Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor, several American presidents, and even a young Bill Clinton traveled aboard. Guests enjoyed lavish meals, elegant interiors, and extraordinary speed.
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“She really embodies and expresses this country’s best,” Susan Gibbs, the designer’s granddaughter, told the Associated Press. “She represents pride and resilience and strength and beauty.”
Yet the engineering marvel couldn’t outrun technological change. Commercial jets made transatlantic crossings much cheaper and faster. The ship retired in 1969 after more than 800 Atlantic crossings.
For decades, it deteriorated at docksides as plans to convert it into a hotel, museum, or cruise ship repeatedly collapsed.
In 2024, Florida’s Okaloosa County purchased the vessel for $1 million, rescuing it from the scrapyard with an ambitious plan to turn the aging ocean liner into the world’s largest artificial reef.
How Do You Deliberately Sink a Ship This Big?
Turning a deteriorating ocean liner into a reef requires far more than making a few holes to rush water in.
Workers spent months in Mobile, Alabama, stripping away hazardous materials, residual fuel, electrical wiring, and hundreds of portholes. They also removed the ship’s two massive funnels.
Engineers then cut large openings through its decks and hull. By opening valves and carefully controlling flooding, they intended to lower the ship onto the seabed without explosives.
The operation proved slower than expected. Crews filled 128 former fuel and lubricant tanks with water to help the enormous vessel settle evenly.
Its planned resting place lies roughly 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin, in water approximately 180 feet (55 meters) deep. The upper decks should sit around 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface, within recreational diving depths.
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The vessel surpasses the former largest ship-based artificial reef, the 911-foot aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, deliberately sunk off Florida in 2006.
A Giant Underwater Laboratory
The ecological transformation may prove just as interesting as the ship’s engineering.
Artificial reefs give marine organisms something solid to attach to. Microbes arrive first, followed by algae, sponges, corals, and other creatures. Fish gather around the growing habitat, using its crevices for shelter.
But scientists rarely witness this process from the beginning.
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution have announced a multi-year study of the SS United States. They plan to document how its biological communities develop, beginning with initial surveys within the first month.
“This is one of the first times researchers will be able to watch an ecosystem form from scratch,” marine biologist Kirstin Meyer-Kaiser said in the institution’s announcement.
The researchers will collect water samples from 132 locations around the vessel, tracking how its corroding steel releases metals such as iron, manganese, and nickel. They’ll also monitor changes in microbial communities and marine life.
Artificial reefs can attract large numbers of fish without necessarily increasing the total fish population. A 2020 analysis of 39 studies found that artificial reefs can support fish communities comparable to natural reefs, although outcomes depend heavily on location and construction materials. That makes long-term monitoring essential.
The sinking also sounds like a defeat for preservationists, who had hoped to keep the vessel above water for display. Instead, a planned shore-based museum will display its famous funnels, mast, and other artifacts.
The SS United States will never carry another passenger across the Atlantic. But the ship that once made history through its nautical speed now offers scientists a chance to study something much slower: how an entire marine community establishes itself, one organism at a time.