The SS United States, a nearly 1,000-foot ocean liner built in 1952, was deliberately sunk in the Gulf off Destin, Florida, on Wednesday, November 11, 2026. A timelapse video shows the historic ship going down at night, and reports put the final sinking at around 10 p.m. ET, roughly 22 to 25 nautical miles southwest of Destin. Okaloosa County bought the ship in 2024 for about $1 million after decades in limbo, and the reef project cost about $13 million, funded by tourist tax revenue. County officials said federal environmental and explosives rules ruled out explosives, so crews used a slow, controlled flooding process instead. The ship took almost eight hours longer to sink than scheduled, which left some of its supporters joking that she simply did not want to go.

Okaloosa County later confirmed that the liner settled upright on the Gulf floor, making it the world's largest artificial reef. It now takes that title from the USS Oriskany, which sits only about 12 nautical miles away, and county officials say the site is already open to divers. The ship still holds the unbeaten transatlantic speed record it set on its 1952 maiden voyage, and it was retired in 1969 after years of service. It spent decades docked in Philadelphia before this final voyage, and the county plans a land-based museum in Destin to tell its story, including pieces saved from the ship. Divers, tourism officials and history fans will now be watching to see how the wreck changes the area.