Can the historic cruise ship SS United States be saved?

This July 1, 2010, file photo shows the SS United States, a luxury ocean liner removed from service in 1969. AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

CITY HALL — The New York City Council on Thursday approved a bill sponsored by Councilmember Gale Brewer calling on the U.S. Congress to preserve the historic ocean liner SS United States and relocate it to New York City, the ship’s original home port.

It’s a race against time. Okaloosa County in Florida plans to sink the SSUS and turn it into an artificial reef near the Gulf town of Dustin — a prospect that dismays historians and preservationists. The county’s Tourist Development Department hopes to attract scuba-diving visitors to what they plan to market as “the World’s Largest Artificial Reef.”

“Letting this iconic vessel slip away would mean losing a huge opportunity to create public space and a maritime museum that could educate and inspire New Yorkers for generations,” Brewer said.

The SS United States, a storied but aging ocean liner, was moored on the Delaware River waterfront, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

A coalition of New York City advocates is working against the clock to “SOS” (Save Our Ship) the largest and most famous ocean liner ever built in the United States and known as “America’s Flagship.” Launched in 1951, the SSUS still holds the transatlantic speed record and remains a symbol of America’s proud maritime history, say members of the group, the “New York Coalition to Save the SS United States.”

At 990 feet long, the SSUS is the longest steam-powered passenger ship constructed entirely in the United States, making it 107 feet longer than the Belfast-built Titanic. The vessel, with its construction heavily subsidized by the U.S. government, was designed to serve both civilian and national defense purposes in times of war.

During its glamorous heyday as an ocean liner for the United States Lines from 1952-1969, the vessel hosted a “Who’s Who” of A-list stars, including Marilyn Monroe, John F. Kennedy and Jackie O, Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant, Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor and Duke Ellington, alongside presidents including Harry S. Truman (and his daughter Margaret,) and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Brooklyn industrialist John Quadrozzi Jr., owner of the GBX~Gowanus Bay Terminal. Photo: Mary Frost, Brooklyn Eagle

Brooklyn industrialist will moor ship for free

The New York coalition includes Brooklyn industrialist John Quadrozzi Jr., members of the Lower Manhattan Historical Association and many others.

In 2015 Quadrozzi, owner of the GBX~Gowanus Bay Terminal, offered to moor the ship — which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places — on his Gowanus Bay waterfront without charge until it becomes self-supporting, and that offer stands to this day. (Quadrozzi also commissioned initial concept renderings of a restored SSUS to illustrate the possibilities.)

Okaloosa County purchased the vessel from an earlier preservation group, the similarly-named “ SS United States Conservancy,” which fought for more than a decade to save and repurpose the ship. In 2024, following increased docking fees at its former pier in Philadelphia, the SSUS was evicted.

Concept rendering of a restored SSUS commissioned by John Quadrozzi Jr., owner of the GBX~Gowanus Bay Terminal. Rendering courtesy of John Quadrozzi Jr.

The SS United States Conservancy now backs the idea of reefing the ship, along with a proposed “SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience,” which would utilize the distinctive red, white and blue smokestacks (aka “funnels”) — each six stories tall — as the centerpiece of a land-based museum.

The New York-based coalition, however, believes America’s flagship deserves better. In January 2025, the organization sent a letter to the Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioners, pleading with them to help preserve the vessel.

“To us, the proposed reefing of this Ship, which is the largest, fastest, and most famous ocean liner ever built in the United States, would be a profound disgrace to all Americans,” the coalition wrote. “We urge you not to permit these actions, and to work with us in our mission to save the Ship from this ignominious end.”

The SSUS could anchor and revitalize the Red Hook area in the way the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier revitalized Manhattan’s West Side, school administrator David Di Gregorio, the coalition’s education officer, told the Brooklyn Eagle.

The ship is “a blank slate, with thousands of square feet available for libraries, schools, performance venues, you name it — in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty,” he said.

Okaloosa County, however, has high hopes for the tourism that the sunken ship is expected to bring in, and continues to strip off its parts.

In February, the New York coalition shot off a letter to President Donald Trump, believing he would take an interest if he became aware of the situation. But the group received no reply.

In April, the group filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Florida seeking to stop the process until the Executive Branch and federal agencies had a chance to weigh in. The lawsuit was dismissed for “lack of standing,” Quadrozzi told the Eagle.

The law requires the ship to be preserved, the organization says. Its online petition, which has received more than 15,000 signatures, states that the SS United States maintains protection under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, Section 106, which requires that any location or object listed on the National Register of Historic Places must be subject to formal, federal review if federal agencies are involved in the funding, permitting or approval of any significant modification.

The group also believes the U.S. government retains the rights to purchase the SSUS under acts of the 92nd and 94th Congress.

The New York City Council hopes to preserve the historic ocean liner SS United States. AP Photo/Matt Slocum, 2024

Potential to harm fragile Gulf ecosystem

The unusual aluminum and steel construction of the ship may present serious environmental issues if it is sunk, said geologist Matthew J. Lesiw, the coalition’s science officer.

Above the water line, neoprene isolation gasket separates the steel hull and aluminum superstructure. But underwater, the two metals are free to interact, and this results in the “preferential corrosion of aluminum,” he noted.

Like the similarly-constructed SS Andrea Doria, which sank off the coast of Nantucket in 1956, the chemical interaction could accelerate the collapse of the superstructure, he suggested.

The Doria’s aluminum superstructure “started collapsing within 17 years of sinking and today has almost completely sloughed off the hull,” Lesiw said. “We simply do not know enough to adequately assess the risk, and the potential downside is truly enormous.”

A secondary concern is that the SSUS was painted with hundreds, and possibly thousands, of gallons of zinc chromate primer, which is soluble and highly carcinogenic. “The potential for harm in one of the richest and most fragile biospheres in U.S. waters is wholly unknown,” he said.

The bridge of the SS United States is seen on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024, in Philadelphia. AP Photo/Matt Slocum

The dismantling continues

The SSUS is currently berthed in Mobile, Alabama. Okaloosa reported on Dec. 12 that all 120 fuel tanks have been emptied, and the towering smokestacks have been removed, along with the radar mast, anchor, portholes and windows.

After the shipyard work, the vessel will be towed out to sea and multiple holes will be blown with explosives through the hull, which could take place as early as February 2026.

A safety and security timeline is being developed, according to Okaloosa County, with polychlorinated biphenyls and remaining nonmetals to be removed. The zinc chromate is not federally mandated to be removed in ocean water, the county says.

Several research labs are lined up to monitor the site afterwards to evaluate physical, biological and chemical conditions, along with changes in underwater soundscape, according to the county.

Okaloosa hopes to develop the proposed SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience in Destin-Fort Walton Beach.

Concept rendering of a restored SSUS commissioned by John Quadrozzi Jr., owner of the GBX~Gowanus Bay Terminal. Rendering courtesy of John Quadrozzi Jr.

City Council’s legislation ‘strengthens the case’

Supporters say the New York City Council’s legislation, while not directly saving the ship, strengthens the case for preservation as federal agencies consider next steps that will weigh historical significance, public interest and long-term economic impact.

“Our goal was that if our legal case failed, by the time it did we would have garnered enough attention to have the federal government step in,” Quadrozzi said. “The City Council process was in effect to do the same thing. Now with the acknowledgement of New York City, there is a sound basis for the feds to act, as it is no longer just a small group of history ship lovers, but New York City itself saying we not only want it, we’re claiming rights to it. So now we need to blast our horns as loud as we can on this latest favorable and substantial development and hope to be finally heard.”

“This is a call to action, President Trump!” Quadrozzi added.