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yesterday

SS United States Funnels and Smoke Stack Removed Ahead of Reef and Museum Project

Thinc Design will preserve the vessel’s iconic structures for a land-based Gulf Coast museum following final hazardous-material remediation.

A huge cordon of tugs accompanies the SS United States past the New York skyline on June 23, 1952, as the ship completes her shakedown cruise from Newport News, Virginia.
The funnels of the famed SS United States ocean liner are set to be preserved as part of a new museum dedicated to the record-breaking ship.
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Overview

  • In Mobile, Alabama, crews have removed the ship’s 65-foot forward smoke stack and plan to detach the rear funnels for off-site conservation.
  • Museum design firm Thinc Design will feature the preserved funnels and smoke stack as a dramatic centerpiece of a land-based visitor center near Destin-Fort Walton Beach.
  • Okaloosa County has invested more than $10 million in hazardous-material remediation and structural alterations to ready the 990-foot vessel.
  • Scuttling is scheduled for late 2025, when the liner will be sunk about 20 nautical miles south of Destin-Fort Walton Beach at a depth of 180 feet to form the world’s largest artificial reef.
  • Officials expect the sunken hull to enhance Gulf marine habitats, support local fishing and diving industries, and boost a tourism economy that tops $2 billion annually.