The retired luxury liner the SS United States may be the rustiest ship in the Port of Mobile. But she’s also having a moment as the belle of the ball – generating lots of attention from both locals and visitors. The iconic ship is in port so crews can ready it for its final resting place off the Florida panhandle where the United States will be sunk as an artificial reef. APR joined a Mobile River cruise to find out why so many are suddenly drawn to the United States’ last hoorah.
On the day I boarded the Delta Explorer, Captain Michael Dorie told me all 49 seats were spoken for.
“We’ve been very, very busy. And as fast as we put them on the calendar, they seem to sell out just as quickly,” he said.
Dorie says he’s had people from as far away as Europe on his tours. John Sledge is the Maritime Historian for the newly renamed National Maritime Museum of the Gulf. They dropped the word Mexico following action by the White House. Sledge is also surprised by the level of interest.
“They drive down from Iowa, South Dakota, Idaho” said Sledge.
From young children to seniors – everyone eager to get a closer look at the rusting ship, nick named The big U. And Dorie says opinions vary.
“Some people look at it and still think it’s absolutely gorgeous and then I heard one comment was like I think I need a tetanus shot just from looking at it,” he observed.
But nothing can tarnish its reputation – and that’s part of the appeal. The ship still holds the crown for the fastest passenger liner to cross the Atlantic back in July of 1952. Six years later, a three-year old Ruth Bealle and her family left England - sailing to America on the S.S. United States. They traveled to their new home in tourist class.
“I was pretty seasick the whole time as a child,” she recalled.
And a dreary morning greeting the ship’s arrival.
“We came to New York, it was completely fogged in, we did not see the statue of liberty because it was so foggy,” Bealle said.
Today Bealle lives in the town of Spanish Fort – just 12 miles from the temporary home of the retired luxury liner known as Big U. She’s on this tour for one last look. She waits, camera in hand as Captain Dorie dodges tugs, barges, and recreational boaters for the big reveal.
“It’s a magnificent ship. Such a beautiful design. I’m just visualizing where we stood,” said Bealle.
Which isn’t easy. The SS United States is 990 feet long – about the size of three football fields. Its faded red, white and blue smoke stacks are the height of six story buildings. It makes an impression on even the youngest passengers here like second grader Ben Starkey.
“Well I think it’s really cool, because like, it’s like one of the biggest ships I’ve seen,” said the young visitor.
Big - yes - and also sleek. Architect William Francis Gibbs designed the ship to be fast, fireproof, and unsinkable. Built of aluminum and steel, only the ship’s grand pianos and galley butcher block were made of wood. In service during the cold war, the luxury liner was also essential to national security.
“The United States was built to double as a troop ship if necessary so she could be converted to carry a US infantry division,” said historian John Sledge. He says the Big U epitomizes a period of American engineering and maritime design at its peak. – making it popular – even today.
“It’ll never come back. And so they want to, if not literally touch it, they want to bask in it before it’s sunk offshore and becomes something else,” he observed.
The United States last sailed in 1969 – a casualty of trans-Atlantic air travel. It called Philadelphia home for 30 years until the non-profit the SS United States Conservancy sold it to Okaloosa County, Florida for one-million dollars – a far cry from its original price tag of 78 million. Despite its dilapidated state, Sledge says it’s easy to envision crossing the Atlantic in mid-century glamour.
“For every trip she took on 500 pounds of caviar. You know fourteen hundred pounds of prime rib, twelve-thousand pounds of chicken, 58 hundred dozen eggs. Can you imagine what that would be worth today?” Sledge asked.
It’s been more than five decades since passengers traveled in style aboard the United States. Soon the once unsinkable ship will live on as an artificial reef. There are also plans for a museum and visitor’s center. Ruth Bealle, who sailed to America aboard the ship, is okay with that.
“It continues to live, even though it’s underneath the water,” she said.
There are last ditch efforts by a New York group to save the ship. But Okaloosa County officials say plans remain unchanged. Work to prepare the ship for sinking is expected to continue through October. And Tour operators say, as long as the allure of the rusty ocean liner remains, they’ll continue selling tickets for a glimpse of history.
