Historic Liner SS United Potentially Facing a Watery Fate

Image: The SS United States could soon leave the Philadelphia dock at which it’s been moored since 1996.

by Brian Major
Last updated: 3:25 PM ET, Wed September 11, 2024

The country’s most historic ocean liner faces an uncertain future that may include submersion deep beneath ocean waters.

After nearly 30 years moored at a Philadelphia dock, the historic liner could soon have its future determined. In late August, a federal judge sided with pier operator Penn Warehousing in a rent dispute with owners the SS United States Conservancy and ordered the vessel to leave the pier by September 12.

The ship’s owners subsequently announced they had “entered into a contingent contract” to sell the SS United States to Oskaloosa County, Fla. The municipality plans to sink the rusting ocean liner to create an underwater reef.

That plan seemingly remains on hold as on September 2 the Oskaloosa’s County Board of Commissioners reportedly delayed a budget vote that would have met the court deadline for the ship to leave or pay Penn Warehousing’s higher rental fees, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

In a statement, the Conservancy said the agreement remains subject to “various contingencies” and is not yet complete.

On the organization’s website, officials said Philadelphia judge Anita Brody “indicated that should the Conservancy enter a contract to remove the vessel to a new location by September 12, she expects that a good faith negotiation be undertaken to allow the ship’s safe and proper removal at a later date.”

The statement added, “Judge Brody also indicated the parties will likely be called back to court in early September to discuss progress toward a removal scenario.”

Conservancy officials confirmed they have “engaged in extensive negotiations with two counties in Florida for the ship's potential conversion into an artificial underwater reef in tandem with a land-based museum."

The Conservancy has struggled to find a new purpose and berth for the famed ship over its near three decades in the City of Brotherly Love.

Launched in 1952 in the waning years of transatlantic liner travel, the 53,329-gross ton SS United States was considered a hallmark of post-war industrial design and innovation. The ship set a transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage, earning the Blue Riband, a distinction which still stands.

The United States also remains the largest passenger vessel ever designed (by American naval architect William Francis Gibbs) and built in the U.S. The liner transported four U.S. presidents, international royalty and Hollywood celebrities prior to its 1969 retirement.

The historic ship has been sold many times since then as an array of owners sought to make the by-then outdated vessel profitable. The ship’s interiors were sold at auction, leaving the interior bare by 1994.

Since purchasing the liner in 2011, the SS United States Conservancy has conceived several unfulfilled proposals to restore the vessel.

In 2016, luxury operator Crystal Cruises entered an agreement with the Conservancy on a plan to return the classic ocean liner to service. In a press briefing in New York, then-Crystal president and CEO Edie Rodriguez said Crystal would cover all costs associated with preserving the ship, which she estimated at $700 million, and launch a feasibility study on restoring the vessel to service.

But after the six-month, $1 million study, engineering study, Crystal announced the plan to convert the liner unfeasible and backed out of the agreement.

“Unfortunately, the hurdles that would face us when trying to bring a 65-year-old vessel up to modern safety, design and international regulatory compliance have proven just too great to clear in both a technically and commercially responsible manner,” said Rodriguez.

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