Historic ocean liner’s move to Gulf Coast delayed by rough weather

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PHILADELPHIA – A vessel that has been moored in the City of Brotherly Love since 1996 will remain at its dock for an extended period due to expected rough weather along her final voyage.

According to the SS United States’ preservation group, the 990-foot ship was set to be moved from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama, but due to rough seas from Tropical Storm Sara and a cold front, crews will attempt the journey at a later date.

The retired ocean liner is set to be sunk and become part of the world’s largest artificial reef off the coast of Destin, Florida.

The vessel, known as “America’s Flagship,” was built during the 1950s and became infamous for its transatlantic crossings between New York and England.

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“Throughout the 1950s, people from around the world booked accommodations on the world’s fastest ship. Familiar names of the day, including Bob Hope, Princess Grace of Monaco, Salvador Dalí, Rita Hayworth, Harry Truman, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, and Duke Ellington headlined the ship’s passenger lists,” the SS United States Conservancy group stated.

Vessel that has been moored in the City of Brotherly Love since 1996.

(SS United States Conservancy / FOX Weather)

According to the non-profit that has worked to preserve the ship, the ocean liner even set records for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

The vessel’s operations were short-lived, as it was retired in 1969 following reported financial struggles.

From the 1960s until the 1990s, the ship had numerous owners, and despite plans for the vessel to return to service, none panned out.

The ship has been docked at Pier 82 in Philadelphia since the mid-1990s, awaiting restoration into a museum, which has never transpired.

The conservancy maintains it was the group’s intention to preserve the ship; however, mounting costs and court battles made the task insurmountable.

“Faced with no options to save the SS United States in her current state and under a binding court order, we were left with the painful but unavoidable choice between scrapping America’s Flagship or converting her into an artificial reef in tandem with a land-based museum. We chose the latter as the most dignified path,” the group announced in October.

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Once the ship is given clearance to leave the Commonwealth, the journey is expected to take two weeks before arriving in Mobile, where it will undergo significant dismantling before its final deployment.

A date for the vessel’s sinking has not been set, but according to the City of Destin, the process could take at least 12 months to complete.

As part of the agreement with the conservancy, a land-based museum and visitor center will be opened in the Florida Panhandle to commemorate the nation’s flagship.

According to the City of Destin, the exact location for the vessel’s sinking has not been set, but it is expected to be about 20 miles south of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area.