S.S. United States

[Crow]

    Just got back to the campground from the east end of the island. We were here to see her come into Mobile Bay, and we just watched her go out to become an "artificial reef" off Destin.

[Crab Pot]

Any photos?

I visited civil war Fort Morgan a couple years ago in Mobile Bay.

Nice area.

[Patudo]

I saw the Queen Elizabeth 2 come in once.  The great ocean liners of the past had a kind of graceful elegance and charisma sadly lacking in today's floating apartment blocks. 

It should be an amazing structure fishing-wise, though.  I'd love to fish, or even drive around an artificial reef like the Oriskany with the echo sounder on, some day. 

How deep will it be sunk?  I read that the Oriskany had to be sunk in over 200 feet of water to ensure it wasn't a navigational hazard, and the United States has got to be considerably bigger. 

[oc1]

Whew.  It sure was a long and controversial process to get this far. A lot of people thought she deserved better.

[Crow]

That's correct, Steve! There was quite a bit of protesting, and a few lawsuits involved in the process! I just saw that the "sinking: has been moved up from Thursday, to Wednesday because of weather concerns. As to the depth...not sure....they did remove the funnels, as part of the "get ready: process, because they would have been a navigation hazard by not being "deep enough". The USS Enterprise is due to enter Mobile Bay really soon...it's "in transit" right now...on it's way to the "breakers yard". We hope to watch it come in. The Enterprise is "too dirty" to become a reef (the reactors can't be removed without tearing the ship apart)

[Crow]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-ss-united-states-and-her-final-destination/

[happyhooker]

A lot of effort went into trying to save the United States.  Shes been sitting in Philly for who knows how many years; bucks scrounged up to save her went to pay rent at her dock.  Were going to make her a museum, then a hotel, then office space, then a homeless shelter, but it all fell through.  Couldn't find a port willing to take her either.  So sad.

Frank

[oc1]

I guess sitting on the bottom of the ocean is better than being cut up for scrap.  They should deploy a nice S.S. United States buoy to mark her grave for the fishermen.