Eight days after leaving its home in South Philly, the SS United States is far along in its trek to Alabama where the ship will be prepped before being sunk off the Florida panhandle and become an artificial reef. This week, the ocean liner caught the attention of people along the South Florida coast as it was pulled by a tugboat in the Atlantic Ocean.
Social media users posted photos of the SS United States as the ship made its way past Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and other coastal communities.
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The SS United States Conservancy, the former owner and steward of the ocean liner, posted photos on Instagram of the vessel passing Palm Beach on Wednesday. It's being towed because the ship's engines – which in 1952 propelled the SS United States to set the transatlantic speed record – are no longer operational.
A post shared by Rick Rose’s Essential Palm Beach (@rickrosepb)
On the Philadelphia subreddit, one user shared a photo from a beach in Fort Lauderdale showing the SS United States passing in the distance. Another shared photos of the ship from South Beach.
Spotted off the coast of Fort Lauderdale
byu/naturegirl0326 inphiladelphia
Posts from the philadelphia
community on Reddit
While navigating the coast near Palm Beach, the SS United States crossed paths with Royal Caribbean's Utopia cruise ship. On X, formerly Twitter, maritime historian Sal Mercogliano posted a photo showing the contrast between the two ships. During its heyday as an ocean liner, the SS United States had capacity for 1,972 passengers. Utopia can hold about 7,000 passengers.
SS United States off Florida with @RoyalCaribbean Utopia of the Seas passing down her port side.
You can see the differences between the two – size and graceful lines. pic.twitter.com/MvfbmMT8KO— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴☠️ (@mercoglianos) February 26, 2025
Early Thursday morning, video showed the SS United States passing the Port of Miami en route to a trek around the Florida Keys this afternoon.
SS United States escort flotilla off the Port of Miami yesterday…heading past the Florida Keys today.
Last chance for many to see her at sea in person.
Track location: https://t.co/BWJd6LW58i#SSUnitedStates #BigUflotilla pic.twitter.com/fL9ixIznQk— Titanic New York | Pier 16 (@TitanicNewYork) February 27, 2025
The SS United States received an emotional sendoff from Philadelphia last Wednesday after months of delays complicated the ship's departure date. Officials had said its journey to Mobile, Alabama – where it will spend about a year being stripped of hazardous materials – was expected to take about two weeks.
On Thursday, a spokesperson for Florida's Okaloosa County, the ship's new owner, said the SS United States is ahead of schedule but still likely to arrive in Mobile around the middle of next week. The ship's full journey from Philadelphia to Mobile is about 1,800 nautical miles, and a map of its path can be tracked online. The ship is expected to travel directly to Mobile once it enters the Gulf of Mexico, but weather conditions and currents will play a role in when it arrives.
Before leaving South Philly, the SS United States had been docked at Pier 82 since 1996. The ocean liner's storied history includes carrying four presidents and various celebrities over the years. It set the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage and still holds the record. The ship remained in service until 1969. At 990 feet long, the ship is 100 feet longer than the Titanic, and it weighs 53,000 tons.
Years of efforts to preserve the SS United States failed, and in the fall a legal battle between the SS United States Conservancy and Penn Warehousing, owner of the pier where the ship had been docked, precipitated its sale to Okaloosa County.
Okaloosa County's plan is to sink the vessel and make it a destination for scuba diving and fishing, in addition to the ship serving as a habitat for marine life. The SS United States will be reefed about 20 miles south of the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area on the Florida Panhandle.
