The historic liner SS United States was towed down the Delaware River Wednesday, the first leg of its final voyage from Philadelphia to Mobile, Ala., and ultimate sinking as an artificial reef.
After positioning in the river away from its berth of 29 years, the tow slowly began just before 12:30 p.m. with the falling tide. With Vinik Marine’s 141’x35’, 5,700 hp Vinik No. 6 on the tow line, the 992’x101’ SS United States was eased toward the Walt Whitman Bridge.
Downriver the ship was escorted by tugs including the Beverly R. McAllister, Reid McAllister and Cape Lookout. After descending Delaware Bay, the estimated two-week tow will bring the old luxury liner to Mobile for a year’s preparation for being emplaced off the Florida Panhandle coast to be a future recreational diving and fishing attraction.
The nonprofit SS United States Conservancy had worked since 2011 to fulfill a goal of restoring the vessel it calls “America’s Flagship” as a museum and mixed-use waterfront development. But those efforts were repeatedly frustrated by daunting costs, until finally the conservancy faced a demand from Philadelphia pier owners to pay more or remove the ship.
Officials in Okaloosa County, Fla., offered a $10.1 million project as a solution: Salvaging what could be saved from the ship, using it as the world’s largest artificial reef, and building a SS United States museum on shore in the Destin-Fort Walton area to preserve its history.
Once the epitome of American maritime engineering prowess, the liner was the world’s fastest passenger ship when it entered service in 1952, clocking a trans-Atlantic crossing at a sustained 35 knots, powered by Babcock & Wilcox boilers and Westinghouse geared steam turbines.
The liner was subsidized by the U.S. government, and capable of rapid conversion to a troopship. With World War II and the battle of the Atlantic a fresh memory for U.S. defense planners, it was thought the SS United States could sealift reinforcements to a new confrontation in Europe while outrunning the danger of Soviet submarines.
Capable of crossing the Atlantic in three and a half days, the ship was a popular ride with celebrities of the day. But in time the SS United States like other trans-Atlantic liners faced mounting competition from the growing airline industry, and it went out of service in 1969.
After closing the deal in October 2024 Okaloosa County and the conservancy planned the transit from Philadelphia, but faced delays over inspections and Coast Guard approval of the plans. Final preparations began Feb. 14 when the SS United States was moved between piers and its bow pointed to the river.
Two days of high winds were one more delay. Finally shortly after 1 p.m. the ship was nosing under the Walt Whitman Bridge – cleared of traffic on the stopped Interstate 76 – and on its way.
