After nearly 30 years docked in Philadelphia, PA, the SS United States has begun its final voyage to become the world’s largest artificial reef off the coast of Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

• The 990-foot vessel, which still holds the transatlantic speed record set on its maiden voyage in 1952, is now being towed around Florida’s coastline toward Mobile, AL, where it will undergo approximately a year of preparation before its deployment as an artificial reef.

Okaloosa County Natural Resources Chief Alex Fogg, who is spearheading the project, said the acquisition process began about two-and-a-half years ago when a contractor working on other artificial reef projects messaged him about the ship.

“At that point I had never heard of the SS United States, so I looked her up and was immediately awestruck,” Fogg said. “I thought it was the Titanic for a second.”

The acquisition

The county began engaging with the SS United States Conservancy, the ship’s previous owner, last summer after a judge ruled the vessel needed to vacate its Philadelphia pier.

• “After a lot of back and forth with them, they agreed that we could purchase it with the purpose of deploying it as an artificial reef offshore of Destin-Fort Walton Beach,” Fogg said.

The agreement includes funding for a land-based museum in the destination, which Fogg noted is unusual for artificial reef projects.

“There’s no other artificial reef that has a dedicated museum, but honestly, I don’t know of any other artificial reefs out there that could justify a museum,” he said.

• The museum will feature artifacts the conservancy has been collecting for years, including at least one of the ship’s iconic funnels, its large anchor, and the propeller, which will be removed and preserved during the remediation process.

The vessel left Philadelphia about a week ago and is currently making its way around Florida’s coast, moving faster than initially expected thanks to the Vinik #6. It will soon enter the Gulf of Mexico and head to the Modern American Recycling Services facility in Mobile, AL, where it will undergo extensive remediation to prepare it for deployment as an artificial reef, led by county contractor, Coleen Marine Inc.

“There’s a lot of fuel oil still on board. There’s also hazardous paints, wiring, plastics and other things on board that are going to have to be removed,” Fogg explained.

The SS United States has several distinctions that make it historically significant. At 990 feet, it’s more than 100 feet longer than the Titanic. Built as part of a top-secret Cold War program, it was designed to be the world’s fastest and safest ship, reaching speeds of over 38 knots (about 44 miles per hour) during sea trials.

• Its deployment as an artificial reef will surpass the USS Oriskany, an 888-foot aircraft carrier deployed offshore Pensacola in 2006, that is the current world’s largest artificial reef.

Project Costs

The total project cost is approximately $10.1 million, with $1 million for the purchase of the vessel, another $1 million allocated for the land-based museum, about $7.1 million for transport, cleaning, and preparation work, and $1 million for contingency costs. Fogg noted that the county expects about half of the project to be funded through grants and partnerships with private companies.

“We’ve been in discussions with a lot of public and private entities about funding share agreements,” he said. “I suspect we’ll be able to start talking about those in the next few months.”

The funds being used from Okaloosa County come from tourism tax dollars, which Fogg emphasized can only be spent on tourism-related initiatives.  Further, tourism tax dollars are collected from hotel stays and not Okaloosa county residents.

• “A lot of people think those funds should be spent on building roads or fixing infrastructure. The fact of the matter is tourism tax dollars can only be spent on things that benefit tourism,” he said.

Economic impact

The economic impact of the project is expected to be substantial. Fogg cited studies showing that the USS Oriskany generates around $3 million in economic impact annually, with expectations that the SS United States will bring in significantly more.

“I think we had a general idea on what sort of impact this vessel was going to have based on the USS Oriskany in Pensacola,” Fogg said. “The SS United States is certainly going to be bringing significantly more than $3 million of direct economic impact to the destination.”

• The project has also generated considerable media attention. “As of last week we were over $241 million in earned media since October 1, 2024, which means that we would’ve had to spend over $241 million in order to get the level of media coverage that we’ve received to date,” Fogg said, adding that the figure is likely to increase as the project progresses.

Fogg believes the project will continue to elevate Destin-Fort Walton Beach to be a premier diving destination. While the county has deployed numerous ‘smaller’ artificial reefs in recent years, including vessels such as the RV Manta, RV Dolphin, RMS Atlantis, and USAF Big Dawg, the SS United States is on a different scale entirely.

“Once the SS United States is deployed, people are going to be learning about the destination, coming here to dive, and then not only discovering the hundreds of additional artificial reefs that have been deployed over the years, but also some of the other innovative programs we are establishing in the destination,” he said.

Depth and location

The ship is expected to be deployed in approximately 180 feet of water about 20 nautical miles from Destin’s East Pass. Despite the depth, Fogg said the vessel’s size means its upper decks will be at about 50-55 feet below the surface, making it accessible to divers of all skill levels.

• “It’ll be very much accessible to the beginner diver as well as advanced and technical divers depending on what they’re wanting to do,” he said, adding that upper decks will be modified to reduce the risk of entrapment and ensure a safe diving experience .

Modifications to the ship will include removing the stacks and crow’s nest to allow for deployment in shallower water, modifying upper decks for safety, and adding openings to allow for diver and marine life egress.

The deployment itself will involve controlled flooding rather than explosives. “Some holes are cut just above the water line, patched, and then removed when it gets on site. Through hull valves will be opened and pumps are used to sink the vessel to the point where those holes begin to fill quickly with water,” Fogg explained.

The role of artificial reefs

Artificial reefs play a crucial role in Northwest Florida‘s marine ecosystem due to the lack of natural reef habitat, including coral reefs, which cannot survive in the region’s cooler winter waters.

• “We rely on artificial reef habitat to be deployed to create sites for people to go diving and to go fishing,” Fogg said. “The benefit to the ecosystem is compounded because if you’re able to deploy hundreds of new artificial reefs… you’re able to spread that effort out a little bit and minimize the constant fishing and diving pressure on any single reef site.”

Currently, Destin-Fort Walton Beach has a database of over 570 public artificial reef sites, ranging from large shipwrecks to small concrete modules. If you consider individual structures, that number is in the thousands.

The SS United States is expected to attract numerous fish species almost immediately after deployment, including red snapper, amberjack, and groupers, as well as various pelagic species like mackerel and tuna.

“It’s going to attract plenty of fish right from the start,” Fogg said. “While that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve made it their home, it will take some time for growth to begin and to become a functioning ecosystem. But there will be things to see very quickly, besides a 1,000ft ship.”

Industry support

The project has received strong support from local fishing and diving operations, with dive shops already receiving numerous calls about the future reef.

• “All of the dive shops and dive charters are getting call after call, asking to get on a boat for the deployment itself or just to go diving,” Fogg said. “They’re getting hundreds of calls on a weekly basis asking to come to the destination to go diving at this site.”

The fishing industry, which forms a significant part of the local economy, is also expected to benefit substantially.

“We have a huge for-hire fishing fleet here in Destin-Fort Walton Beach, the largest in the country,” Fogg noted. “I don’t think I’ve received a single negative comment from the fishing fleet just because it’s such a benefit to their industry.”

The project is expected to create a host of jobs, both during the preparation and deployment phases and afterward through increased tourism and recreational activities.

“Not only for the actual preparation and the deployment itself, but the boost in business for the existing operations and the amount of operations that are going to start up here in the destination,” Fogg said. “I know of a few folks who are getting boats and getting operations set up for when the SS United States is deployed, they can start taking people out there on dive charters.”

Looking ahead…

For those interested in seeing the ship, its route from the Florida Keys to Mobile will likely take it about 90 miles off the Okaloosa County coast, though its exact path may change based on weather conditions.

• “When it gets into the Gulf, that’s when we’ll start to get additional weather routings, and it very well may reroute it to where it passes close to Northwest Florida and Okaloosa County, but we won’t know until the days leading up to its arrival,” Fogg said.

Aside from the records it set, the SSUS carried four U.S. presidents—Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and Bill Clinton—as well as numerous celebrities, including Marlon Brando, Coco Chanel, Sean Connery, Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe, and Grace Kelly.

• After being decommissioned in 1969, the ship passed through several owners, each with plans for its future that ultimately fell through. Since 1996, it had been docked at Pier 82 on Philadelphia’s Delaware River. The SS United States Conservancy purchased the vessel in 2011 with help from Philadelphia philanthropist H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest.

In June 2024, a federal judge ruled that the ship must vacate its Philadelphia location within 90 days, creating urgency for a new solution. This led to Okaloosa County’s purchase agreement, which was finalized in October.

The SS United States Conservancy will now focus on developing the land-based museum that will complement the artificial reef, allowing non-divers to learn about the historic vessel and its significance to American maritime history.

For Fogg and his team, the successful departure of the SS United States from Philadelphia represents a major milestone in a project that still has about a year of work ahead.

“This revamp of the artificial reef program in Okaloosa County is a direct result of our leadership on the Board of County Commissioners as well as the Tourism Development Council caring about our environment and wanting to make this happen,” Fogg said. “We wouldn’t be able to do this without their support.”