New York magnate seeks to stop famous ocean liner from becoming world's largest artificial reef

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3. SS United States, record-setting ocean liner, {might be making} its final voyage

National
SS United States, record-setting ocean liner, makes its final voyage

November 20, 20245:00 AM ET
Steve Inskeep, photographed for NPR, 13 May 2019, in Washington DC.
Steve Inskeep


The SS United States' departure from Philadelphia has been delayed by the weather. A team from NPR climbed aboard before it takes its final voyage.

Stephen Mallon for NPR
In the coming days, the United States is expected to take its final voyage, on its way to be buried at sea.

It's not the country nearing its end, but a ship that bears its name. The SS United States is a mid-20th century ocean liner that set the speed record for crossing the Atlantic. Now tied up at a Philadelphia pier, its paint peeling and faded after decades of inactivity, it's bound for an ending that is, in reality, a new phase of its life: serving as an artificial reef that attracts divers and marine life in the waters off Florida.

It's an intricate job to tow a 990-foot ship that no longer has its own working engines. The ship's planned departure from Philadelphia last week was delayed by the weather, and a new date hasn't been set. But the United States must go. The pier operator wants its dock space back, and its sale has been completed.

Before departure, a team from NPR climbed aboard what is, in effect, a ghost ship — a relic from the era of great liners that connected North America with Europe. Some of the most famous of these ships are those that sank, like the Andrea Doria, the Lusitania and the Titanic. The builders of the United States learned from others' mistakes, and it will not go down until it's scuttled by design.

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