Famed ocean liner bigger than Titanic to be sent to watery grave in Florida

The S.S. United States, an ocean liner longer than the Titanic and once the fastest vessel on the seas, will be sunk on Wednesday off the Florida Panhandle to form the world's largest artificial reef.The sinking, a long-planned $13.5 million project, is intended to draw more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish.It also spares what was a technological marvel at the time of its 1952 maiden voyage from being turned into scrap metal. The liner will settle on the seabed about 25 miles southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola. It is to go down in about 180 feet of water, with its top deck roughly 60 feet below the surface, shallow enough for inexperienced divers to visit.The SS United States is towed down the Delaware River between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, from Philadelphia (AP)Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor are barred by federal environmental and explosives rules from using explosives to scuttle the ship, said Nick Tomecek, the county's spokesperson. Officials moved the sinking forward by a day because of concerns about inclement weather.The ship has pipes that drew seawater into tanks as part of the system cooling its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so water will flood the hull once the valves are opened. Workers have also cut 10-foot-by-10-foot holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed.In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum celebrating the ship. Once aboard, passengers were served dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf's Head en Tortue. “It was our goal to make sure that she wasn’t lost forever,” said David Lawrence, a member of the board for the S.S. United States Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving the ship.The ship will be sunk without using explosivesThe S.S. United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers have included President John F. Kennedy and Britain's former King Edward VIII. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took the ship when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president.The ship made over 800 Atlantic crossings during its time in service, including bringing former presidents Harry Truman, JFK and a young Bill Clinton to Europe (AFP/Getty)More than 3,000 workers helped build the liner in Virginia in 1950 and 1951. An Associated Press reporter and President Harry Truman's daughter, Margaret, were among 1,700 passengers on the first voyage.The ship's average speed on that trip was almost 41 miles per hour, beating a record set by Britain's R.M.S. Queen Mary in 1938 by 4.5 miles per hour, according to the AP's dispatch.The record was set even though the journey ended in the face of a full gale that reached 69 miles per hour – “so strong it blew a ping-pong table off the deck,” AP reported.The liner was more than 100 feet longer than the Titanic (Henry Aldridge and Son Ltd)At 990 feet, the liner is 108 feet longer than the ill-fated Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage across the Atlantic.“She really embodies and expresses this country’s best,” said Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer. “She represents pride and resilience and strength and beauty.”Larger than the Titanic, the ship's first voyage set a speed recordThe waters where the S.S. United States will rest already hold about 500 artificial reefs, Tomecek said. Until now, the largest artificial reef came from the 2006 scuttling of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany in the Gulf off Pensacola. The Oriskany, launched in 1950, was 911 feet in length.It lies near enough to the S.S. United States site that an experienced diver could visit both in the same day, Tomecek said. “We're trying to be the best diving destination in the world,” Tomecek said. The ship was decommissioned in 1969.Attempts by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use the ship never materialized, and from 1996 until recently it sat along a dock in Philadelphia. “I’m just so happy that we are able to save parts of her,” Gibbs said. The ship's resting place has many artificial reefs