The historic and aging ocean liner, planning to turn Florida County into the world’s largest artificial reef, has completed the first leg of its final voyage.
SS US, a 1,000-foot (305-meter) ship that crushed the transatlantic speed record in 1952, arrived early Monday in Mobile, Alabama, nearly two weeks after departing from the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.
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The ship was scheduled to arrive at the mobile repair facility later Monday. The crew will spend about six months cleaning and preparing the ship before it finally sinks off the coast of Florida’s Gulf.
The 1,800-mile (2,897km) journey began on February 19, about four months after a year ago rent dispute was resolved between the ship and the sanctuary that oversees its landlord. Plans to move the vessel last November delayed concerns from the U.S. Coast Guard about whether the vessel is stable enough to travel.
Officials in Okaloosa County, located in Florida’s coastal panhandle, hope that the ship will become a standout encased among the county’s more than 500 artificial coral reefs, allowing scuba shops, charter fishing boats and hotels to generate millions of dollars each year.
Authorities say the contract to buy the ship could ultimately cost more than $10 million.
SS America was once considered a beacon of American engineering and doubled as a military ship capable of carrying thousands of troops. The maiden’s voyage broke records of transatlantic speeds in both directions when it reached an average speed of 36 knots, or more than 41 mph (66 kph), the Associated Press reported after aboard the ship. The ship crossed the Atlantic in 10 hours and 40 minutes for three days, earning 10 hours of RMS Queen Mary’s time. To this day, SS US holds a record of Ocean Liner’s transatlantic speeds.
The SS US became a spare vessel in 1969 and later bouncing off among various private owners who wanted to redevelop it. They ultimately felt their plans were too high or bad timing, and for years they forced the vessels on the waterfront of the Delaware River in South Philadelphia.
