The SS United States arrived in the Mobile Bay on Monday morning as onlookers watched the historic ocean liner complete its final voyage — two days ahead of schedule. The ship will be prepped in the coming year to be sunk off the coast of the Florida panhandle, where it will live on as the world's largest artificial reef for recreational diving and fishing.
When the vessel departed Philadelphia on Feb. 19, officials estimated it would take two weeks for a tugboat to pull the SS United States 1,800 nautical miles down the eastern seaboard, around the southern tip of Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico en route to the Alabama coast. The ship's early arrival was a fitting nod to the legacy it holds for setting the transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952.
"In the spirit of her record-breaking history, America's Flagship concluded her journey from Philadelphia to Mobile faster than anticipated," Susan Gibbs, president of the SS United States Conservancy, the ship's former owner in Philadelphia, said in a statement. "As she moved through the waves for the first time in 28 years, countless onlookers and admirers along the country's eastern seaboard were inspired by her majesty and beauty."
Photos and videos on social media show the SS United States entering the Mobile Bay on the way to Modern American Recycling Services, the deepwater facility where crews will remove hazardous materials from the ship and make other preparations to ensure it's fit to become a tourism hotspot.
SS United States entering Mobile Bay at Fort Morgan this morning.#SSUnitedStates #America250 #savessunitedstates pic.twitter.com/lfk9T7R0ez
— Titanic New York | Pier 16 (@TitanicNewYork) March 3, 2025
SS United States arrived in Mobile Bay at about 7am, passing by Fort Morgan. Standing as the guardian of Mobile Bay since 1834, this military site and National Historic Landmark is located 22 miles west of Gulf Shores.#SSUnitedStates #America250 #savessunitedstates pic.twitter.com/9oRp0oyYKS
— Titanic New York | Pier 16 (@TitanicNewYork) March 3, 2025
SS United States arrives in Mobile, Alabama to prep her for her final resting place 🚢 pic.twitter.com/gxBR9ORJnl
— Jerry Pike (@JerryPikePhoto) March 3, 2025
Live footage of the SS United States' arrival also was available on YouTube from a webcam stationed atop Dauphin's Restaurant, which overlooks the bay.
Warren Jones, spokesperson for the conservancy, said the tugboat Vinik No. 6 exceeded expectations in getting the SS United States to its destination.
"Not only did the Vinik not need to refuel on the way to Mobile, but she can actually get back to New York without refueling," he said. "It's a pretty amazing piece of maritime equipment."
The SS United States' arrival in Alabama begins a transitional period for the conservancy, which sold the ship to Florida's Okaloosa County for $1 million in October. The sale culminated years of unsuccessful efforts to preserve the ship and a lengthy rent dispute with the owner of South Philadelphia's Pier 82, where the SS United States had been docked since 1996. It was last in service as an ocean liner in 1969.
The SS United States Conservancy is working with Okaloosa County to compile footage for a documentary that will chronicle the ship's years in Philadelphia up through its conversion and sinking. Film crews from Okaloosa County worked with the conservancy to document the ship's departure from Philadelphia and interview people who came to pay their respects. Okaloosa County also had a cameraman capturing the SS United States' arrival in Mobile as local tugboats joined Vinik No. 6 to help steer the ship to its slip.
The most recent documentary about the vessel, "SS United States: Made in America," came out in 2014 and doesn't include many details about the trials and tribulations that led up to the ship's sale.
"It will cover a lot of her life that the earlier films didn't cover," Jones said.
The SS United States Conservancy will complete the new documentary after the ship has been sunken, and then the film will be shopped around for marketing and distribution.
The conservancy also will work with Okaloosa County to develop plans for a shoreside museum in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, near where the ship will be sunk.
"We've got hundreds and hundreds of artifacts from that ship and they're not consolidated in one place," Jones said. "They're in a number of warehouses around the mid-Atlantic. We could do a rotating exhibit in the museum every week once it's constructed. We also have a number of private collectors who want to donate their items to the museum."
At least one of the 65-foot-tall smokestacks from the SS United States will be preserved at the museum. Both will be removed in Mobile so that the ship can be sunk at a depth that meets regulations for recreational diving. So will the ship's radar masses and a propeller that's still attached to the stern deck, among other objects to be displayed at the museum.
"So many of the items have been refurbished already, everything from gauges to builder's plaques and some of the machinery in the engine room," Jones said. "It's fascinating to see them cleaned up and sparkling like new."
During the SS United States' stay in Mobile, work on the ship will be visible to people in the area.
"There's an interstate that goes over the Mobile River just north of the MARS facility, so she'll be a spectacle from several viewpoints," Jones said.
The conservancy was pleased last week when the SS United States crossed paths with Royal Caribbean's much larger Utopia cruise ship near the coast of Palm Beach, Florida. The captain of Utopia altered the ship's course, honked its horn three times in salute, and regaled passengers with the history of the SS United States.
Jones said the two ships passing offered a powerful contrast that helps underscore the SS United States' place in American maritime history. The ship transported four U.S. presidents, many dignitaries and notable celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando, Salvador Dali and John Wayne. It also carried immigrants to the United States and moved U.S. servicemen and women between continents.
"She was really an ambassador for the country," Jones said. "She was famous in that regard and such a popular icon of the ocean liner era."
Correction: An earlier version of this story misattributed the quote from Susan Gibbs, the president of the SS United States Conservancy, to a spokesperson for the organization.
