The historic SS United States will become the world's largest artificial reef later this week after the ocean liner makes its final destination 22 nautical miles offshore from Destin on Wednesday evening.
“As soon as she goes down, she’ll be ready to dive in the next day or so,” said Jennifer Adams, director of tourism for Okaloosa County.
Today’s sinking was years in the making. Okaloosa County’s Natural Resource Chief Alex Fogg presented the idea to Adams, telling her, “I want to buy a ship.”
“And I said, ‘OK, how much?’ And he said, ‘It’s going to be $1 million,’” she recalled Wednesday ahead of the ship’s sinking ceremony. “I just said, ‘We’ll go get her. Just buy her.’”
The Okaloosa County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of the ship in 2024 and moved it to Mobile, Alabama, where crews have spent more than a year preparing it to become an artificial reef.
Adams said it’s expected for wildlife such as turtles and manatees to start inhabiting the ship within the next few days. The reef will be 29 miles from USS Oriskany, which was sunk off the coast of Pensacola in 2006. Until today, that site was the world’s largest reef.
The site is expected to bring a potential $3 million a year from visitors. In a social media video, Congressman Jimmy Patronis celebrated the ship as a destination for Okaloosa County.
“It will be a full-time museum where it be able to be enjoyed for generations to come,” he said.
Watch parties are taking place in Destin and Pensacola to commemorate the historic event.
You can watch here.