Follow-Up: All Valves Open and Crew Off, SS United States Begins Final Descent Off Florida
The SS United States began its final descent off Florida on the evening of November 11, Okaloosa County officials said in live updates carried by local media, after all flooding valves were opened and crews left the ship, setting up the 990-foot liner to become the world's largest artificial reef.
The deployment, at a site about 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, started roughly an hour behind schedule. Crews first opened two valves to flood the hull, and county public information officer Nick Tomecek later confirmed that all valves were open and personnel were off the vessel. County officials said in the late afternoon that the ship was fully flooded and had started to sink; under the county's published plan, the descent itself was expected to take about 45 minutes.
The site is about 32 nautical miles southeast of Pensacola Pass, at proposed coordinates of 30°07.148′ N, 86°46.755′ W, with the actual resting position to be fixed by a post-deployment survey. The water is about 180 feet deep, and if the ship settles upright as planned, her upper decks will sit about 55 to 60 feet below the surface.
Dive teams associated with Destin-Fort Walton Beach and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will make the first survey dive, with the results provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the county said. Recreational divers are expected to be able to visit from dawn on November 12 if the deployment proceeds as planned, though officials advised waiting for an official announcement.
Built for United States Lines, the SS United States set the transatlantic speed record on her 1952 maiden voyage and still holds it. Okaloosa County bought the ship in 2024 and moved the sinking up a day, to Veterans Day, because of forecast heavy winds; a federal judge denied a preservation group's emergency bid to halt the sinking on November 6. GSM reported the start of flooding operations earlier in the day; this story covers the latest stage of the same event.
Source: Okaloosa County
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：停泊在阿拉巴马州 Mobile 的合众国号邮轮，船首可见「UNITED STATES」字样（资料照片）。照片：Brian Snelson，CC BY-SA 4.0，经维基共享资源。 / File photo: The SS United States moored in Mobile, Alabama. Photo: Brian Snelson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-11-11Follow-Up: Flooding Begins to Sink SS United States off Florida as It Becomes the World's Largest Artificial Reef
- 2026-11-11Follow-Up: All Valves Open and Crew Off, SS United States Begins Final Descent Off FloridaThis story
