SS United States Becomes The World’s Largest Artificial Reef After Sinking Off Florida

Ocean liner SS United States was sunk in the Gulf off Florida on November 11, 2026, turning the 990-foot record-holding ship into the world’s largest artificial reef.

The vessel sank beneath the surface at around 9 p.m. local time at the reef site, which is about 22 nautical miles to the southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach. Okaloosa County officials had brought the sinking forward by one day over concerns about bad weather, which put the operation on Veterans Day.

Crews started flooding the SS United States in the afternoon. Organisers had predicted that the sinking could be over in as little as an hour. The liner stayed afloat for around five hours before she leaned onto one side and quickly disappeared below the water.

A county spokesperson said that the descent was slower than expected partly because crews filled 128 fuel and lubricant tanks with water so that the ship would rest evenly on the seabed. The president of Coleen Marine, the company hired for the sinking, said before the vessel disappeared that the liner would not go down without a fight.

The county and its contractor could not use explosives on the SS United States under federal environmental and explosives regulations. Workers removed the tanks linked to the ship’s boiler cooling system so that seawater would flood the hull once the valves were opened. Large openings measuring 10 feet by 10 feet were cut into the decks, and over 400 portholes were taken out.

The seabed at the reef site is about 180 feet deep. The top deck of the wreck sits roughly 60 feet down, so even inexperienced divers can reach it.

The $13.5 million SS United States reef project aims to draw more divers and anglers and create a habitat for tuna, marlin and swordfish. Okaloosa County’s tourism director said that its reefs bring in around $10 million to $12 million a year. She expects the county to recover its $10 million investment in the liner in a couple of years, and informed that 5 or 6 more artificial reefs are planned after this one.

The new wreck surpasses the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was scuttled off Pensacola in 2006 and held the title of the world’s largest artificial reef till now. The two wrecks are close enough for an experienced diver to visit both in a single day, the county spokesperson said.

The SS United States was the work of more than 3,000 shipyard workers in Virginia and began commercial service in 1952. On her maiden voyage that year, the liner averaged almost 41 mph and beat the transatlantic record set by Britain’s RMS Queen Mary in 1938, winning the Blue Riband. Her speed record for an ocean liner has never been broken.

In total, the record-breaking liner made more than 800 Atlantic crossings before being withdrawn from service in 1969. The vessel was docked in Philadelphia from 1996 and was towed to Mobile, Alabama, in 2025 for cleaning and remediation, before leaving for the reef site on Monday.

Crews removed the two 65-foot funnels of the SS United States before the sinking. They would be the centrepiece of a new museum on the liner’s history.

References: Associated Press, NPR, BBC, Okaloosa County