SS United States set to sink in March, despite eleventh-hour efforts to intervene

PHILADELPHIA — The 990-foot SS United States could be making waves as an artificial reef at the bottom of the Florida Panhandle coast as early as March, according to a tentative timeline from its new owners in Florida.

Even so, hope still springs eternal for the most ardent swath of ship enthusiasts who’d rather see it restored to its former glory than swimming with the fishes.

As tourism officials in Okaloosa County report being about 80% done with the remediation work required to meet state and federal requirements for sinking, the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States has urged the New York City Council to intervene to the best of its abilities. A move that appeared to be gaining some traction in recent weeks, until it wasn’t.

A resolution introduced by NYC council member Gale A. Brewer last year finally got a committee hearing in late November.

The symbolic gesture calls on Congress to pass legislation that would allocate funds for restoration and to bring the ship to New York City’s Gowanus Bay Terminal. It also appeals to President Donald Trump, a fellow New Yorker, to sign the legislation.

Okaloosa County, respectfully, is hearing none of it.

“We purchased the vessel specifically to become the world’s largest artificial reef,” said county spokesperson Nick Tomecek. “Anybody that thinks otherwise, that’s just pipe dreams.”

Brewer is aware the odds are against those hoping to reacquire the ship. She acknowledged the resolution was a “Hail Mary” during last month’s committee hearing.

Though the resolution moved to the full council, it has not been put on the calendar for a vote — the last session of the year is Thursday.

Brewer couldn’t speak to why the resolution didn’t get a hearing until a year after she introduced it, but she understands how, despite support on the 51-member council, it hasn’t been put to a vote in the full body.

“Just like in Philly, we got everything under the sun — restaurants, small business, parking, it’s just endless,” said Brewer. “I think there’s lots of support, but it’s not like number one on anybody’s list.”

Brewer said the priority would be to stop the sinking of the ship. Once the SS United States was in New York City, preservationists, donors, and lawmakers could figure out the best way to redevelop the ship, though she could see it as a restaurant.

If this figure-it-out-as-we-go approach sounds familiar, it’s because that was the path the SS United States Conservancy, the ship’s previous owners, took when they bought the vessel in 2011. The Conservancy aimed to save the ship from the scrapyard and spent years courting potential developers while it sat parked in Philadelphia, even publishing a 2023 feasibility study for a mixed-use development that would cost about $400 million.

In many ways, the New York City resolution is also a tried and tested approach. As the SS United States faced eviction from its berth along the Delaware River, the Conservancy launched public campaigns calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro to step in and help the vessel find a new home.

The Conservancy sent its pleas to then-President Joe Biden, as well as members of Congress on both sides of the aisle.

Much to the chagrin of preservationists, no politico ever came, despite the Conservancy’s assurances that whoever championed the ship would be rewarded with all the jobs redevelopment would create.

Whether Trump, his administration, or this iteration of Congress would intervene at the 11th hour is anyone’s guess.

The New York Coalition to Save the Steam Ship United States, which launched as a nonprofit in October 2024, wrote to Trump this year asking him to intervene shortly before the ship left Philadelphia to no avail.

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in Pensacola after the ship’s departure, the coalition said it had “no means of knowing whether the Executive Branch of the United States is even aware of the Letter, let alone whether it is being considered.”

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about whether the ship’s saga had reached Trump’s desk and if the administration would be inclined to step in.

Either way, time is working against the coalition.

The suit warned of how some of the prep work in Mobile, Ala., could hinder preservation efforts.

“...the twin stacks of SSUS will be removed, as will other parts of her superstructure,” read the suit. “Once this is done, any hope of preserving the Ship afloat and intact will be lost forever.”

Those smokestacks were indeed removed at the end of summer.

So have all portholes and windows, along with the ship’s radar mast and propeller, according to an Okaloosa County update last week.

Despite the coalition’s fears laid out in the suit, Dan Sweeney, who co-founded the group, hit a more optimistic note, saying it was not too late to stop a reefing.

“The Big U remains an important symbol of America,” he said of the SS United States. “It could also prove to be a robust economic development engine. These two reasons are more than enough for us to continue the effort and many people across the country agree. For us, it’s ‘damn the torpedoes.’”

Okaloosa County officials, meanwhile, say the months ahead will be used to finish cleaning the ship, removing non-metal items, cutting holes throughout the ship because the sinking won’t be able to be done with explosives, and coordinating with state and local agencies on a sink date.

Should work continue at its current pace and no delays in inspections, the SS United States could be sunk as early as March.

Alex Fogg, the natural resources chief for Destin-Fort Walton Beach, said weather delays, of course, are always possible.

Tomecek reiterated that the county was working with the SS United States’ previous owners to build a land-based museum, which would feature the eye-catching smokestacks and other preserved ship memorabilia and artifacts.

He understands the renewed interest in “saving” the ship, though the ship would have been turned into scrap had Okaloosa officials not stepped in. In any case, Tomecek said these efforts come too little, too late.

“I think that when [the SS United States] was sold to the county, a lot of folks kind of woke up and realized what was going on, when, in fact, they should have been worried about her the past 30 years when she was sitting in Philadelphia,” said Tomecek.