Orange Beach, Ala. — (OBA) — The SS United States, one of America's most celebrated ocean liners, is scheduled to make its final voyage from Mobile, Alabama, in November 2026, then be deployed as the world's largest artificial reef in the Gulf. Okaloosa County, Florida, officials announced last Friday that they plan to deploy it the second week of November. The 990-foot ship will be sunk approximately 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The timeline remains weather-dependent, and officials say dates may change.

The announcement came about 30 days before the planned deployment, fulfilling a public commitment Okaloosa County officials made. On October 10, 2026, Nick Tomecek, an Okaloosa County spokesperson, confirmed the project cleared its final regulatory hurdles after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency granted the required approvals. Environmental remediation aboard the ship was completed in May 2026, allowing the project to advance to its final planning stages. Okaloosa County purchased the ship for $1 million and spent approximately $10 million on transport, preparation, and planning.

Built in Newport News, Virginia, the SS United States was christened in 1952 and immediately rewrote maritime history. On its maiden voyage in July 1952, the ship crossed the Atlantic in three days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes, beating the RMS Queen Mary's record by 10 hours. That transatlantic speed record still stands for a passenger ocean liner. During its 17 years of active passenger service, the vessel carried notable passengers, including Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, and four U.S. presidents.

The ship retired from passenger service in 1969 and changed ownership several times over the following decades. After nearly 30 years tied to a pier along Philadelphia's Delaware River, the SS United States departed Philadelphia on February 19, 2025, and arrived in Mobile Bay on March 3, 2025. Workers at Modern American Recycling and Repair Services in Mobile spent more than a year removing approximately 120 fuel tanks, all the windows, large quantities of paint, wiring, glass, and other hazardous materials from the vessel. The ship's two iconic red-and-white smokestacks, each about 65 feet tall, were also removed and will be preserved for a future land-based museum in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area.

As the ship departs Mobile Bay, it will pass the bay mouth near Fort Morgan, where observers at the historic Civil War-era fort on the Baldwin County peninsula may see the massive liner sail into open water. Residents and visitors along the Orange Beach coastline may also catch a glimpse of the vessel as it is towed eastward through the Gulf toward its final destination. Once submerged, the ship will rest at about 180 feet deep, with the upper decks about 60 feet below the surface, making it accessible to novice and experienced divers.

Okaloosa County officials say the reef will become a major tourism and marine habitat asset for the Northwest Florida region. The site will be about 12 nautical miles from the USS Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier that was sunk as an artificial reef off Pensacola in 2006. A museum and visitor center celebrating the SS United States is being developed in partnership with Thinc Design, whose previous projects include the National September 11 Memorial Museum and the Empire State Building Observatory. Okaloosa County is expected to provide additional details about the November deployment in the coming weeks.