Thursday

September 17th, 2026

Diversions

News You Can Use

News of the Weird

By News of the Weird

Published Sept. 17, 2026

News You Can Use

The SS United States, which has been docked and deteriorating at a Philadelphia port since 1976, started its 18-day passage to Alabama, NBC10-TV reported.

The ocean liner, in service from 1952 to 1969, holds the record for fastest eastbound and westbound trans-Atlantic crossings, but on this final journey, it will be towed at 5 knots (or about 6 miles per hour).

In Alabama, it will be stripped of its innards -- furniture, engine room equipment, cables and flooring -- and then will be moved to Okaloosa County, Florida, where it will be sunk offshore and turned into a scuba-diving destination.

Capt. Joseph Farrell, a ship-sinking and reef expert, said the sinking will be "a final chapter for the last all-American-made, American-flagged ocean liner."

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