The SS United States remains afloat … for now. The future of the historic ocean liner, which was docked in the Delaware River in South Philadelphia from 1996 to February, is tied up in court as a New York group makes a last-ditch effort to keep it from being sunk off the coast of the Florida panhandle.
Plans to turn the ship into the world's largest artificial reef began in October when the SS United States Conservancy sold it to Florida's Okaloosa County for $10 million after unsuccessful attempts to preserve it. The SS United States left Philadelphia on Feb. 19 en route to Mobile, Ala., where it currently sits after arriving March 3 to prepare for its overhaul and eventual sinking.
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The New York Coalition to Save the SS United States, however, is trying to prevent the ship from being sunk, filing a case in U.S. District Court in Pensacola, Florida, on March 2. A motion from Okaloosa County to get the case thrown out was denied by U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers on April 23. The county filed a second motion to dismiss the case and the judge has issued a deadline of Wednesday, May 21, for the coalition to respond.
The SS United States still holds the transatlantic speed record after setting that mark on its maiden voyage in 1952. The group wants to preserve the ocean liner's mid-century legacy, appealing to federal courts and sending letters to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump in February.
"The SSUS, an iconic and irreplaceable testament to American achievement, is on the brink of being lost forever," the coalition wrote in its letter to Trump. "This is not just a matter of preserving a historic vessel: it is about honoring the legacy of American Greatness and of the many who traveled on the vessel. We implore you take prompt executive action by ordering the taking of this precious symbol of American engineering and shipbuilding for public use."
The ship has a long history of legal battles, most notably between the SS United States Conservancy and Penn Warehousing, owner of the Philly pier where it had been docked. That dispute began when the landlord increased the daily dockage fee from $850 to $1,700 in 2021. The ship was eventually evicted from its home at Pier 82 before it was sold to Okaloosa last year. Now the saga of the SS United States finds itself back in a familiar place: the courts.
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