With hindsight, the Conservancy not taking an offer of free berthing in Brooklyn is what probably did her in more than anything. Not having to pay harbor fees would have meant donations could go towards cleaning her up enough to then market for visitors, even with the interior looking rough. Realistically she was never going to be fully restored, but just getting her into a state where tours could be done in some reconstructed spaces would have been enough I think to save her. Alas, she was just unlucky. Farewell beautiful lady, you deserved so much more

This is a much better fate than scrapping to be honest, and it just means that I’ll have a reason to learn how to scuba-dive!

If I could buy it 😢

позорно будет творить историю на дне гнить в качестве рифа а не музея как Квин Мэри 👍

The United States is actually going to sink its namesake because neither your government or your many billionaires have the slightest interest in stepping up and donating relatively little to organise a professional business plan to preserve for posterity the greatest vessel American shipyards ever produced. Engineering wise it is intact. Structurally it is sound. Okay some interiors have been stripped; the paint is peeling; the lifeboats are gone, but all this can be addressed. What is the matter with you? Even here in the demeaned Old Country we haven't yet stooped to melt down the crown jewels and burn Magna Carta because we don't have the patriotism or enthusiasm to keep them. I'm not talking about many enlightened US citizens donating a few dollars here and there to keep her moored up and in rusty limbo - your wealthy institutions could sort it overnight, and in the years to come your country would realise the true value of what was saved. Wake up to the terrible folly that the tired and hapless 'Conservancy' are willing to contemplate (no disrespect intended)!

How about keep the whole damn ship as a museum piece instead of the stacks???

The conservancy had it in their head all along that they were going to transform it into a major tourist attraction in New York. When that didn't work out, they could have donated the ship to a number of history-based port cities that would've gladly taken her. I'm close to New Orleans, we have a huge shipyard here that rebuilds everything from naval vessels to modern cruise ships, it wouldn't have been a big deal to dry dock her here, slap on fresh paint, and conduct fund raising to rebuild her interiors while she waited in a fresh water port. Their greed and their narrow-minded approach led to this disaster. They need to be ashamed of themselves.

Internally, she had all the charm of a 1950's Howard Johnsons motel.

The conservancy did not do it any good...just a lot of big talk....let it deteriorate into an eyesore that nobody wants

Once it's gone, it's gone. Keep in mind that this was made in a time when we could make such things. We can't make things like this anymore. Maybe we shouldn't throw this away while we're scatterbrained.

United States will give billions of dollars to random countries, but won't dedicate half a billion to restore a ship that represents it

"Why? I did you so proud. Made a name for myself, those who built me, and the name I carried. You stripped me down to nothing and tried to pass me off as something. How'd that work out for both of us? Nice try for the last 30 yrs to rebuild what I had, as you stripped me to my bones because you thought you knew better. At least now, I can rest in peace. In the water I was meant to be in, while still being inviting, at least to a select few." - S.S. United States

Welcome to your new "PENN STATION."....... 😢

Bullshit

This is just disgraceful. That thing should just be preserved in Norfolk, not forgotten about in the onslaught of carcentric America.

A waste of precious metal, it seems they rather mine, with all negative impact, than save resources... this is being 'green' anno 2024

So sad, a metphor for America. It could have been restored and made into a hotel like Queen Mary in Long Beach.

Biggest ever con and got many exited for a good future. More could of been done. TOTAL WASTE OF EVERYONES MONEY

17 YEARS?!?!? How could an awesome ship like this only last 17 years?!

RIP, SS United States. Enjoy your future home down in Florida.

Such a waste. This pisses me off beyond belief. This ship is such a part of US history. Should be saved and toured. Still holds the blue riband for crying out loud. It was American engineering at its finest.

I hate that people don’t seem to get that these people have been trying their absolute hardest to save the ship for so many years. If they didn’t fight for this long, she‘d have already probably been at the bottom of the ocean for years at this point

When the Queen Mary was retired from service, it traveled on a final cruise, intact, under its own power, with passengers, from England, around Cape Horn and to California. It went directly from revenue passenger service to tourist attraction without decades of neglect. It would cost a fortune to restore the United States to any semblance of its former self.

S.S. United States is in Norfolk VA to be stripped down

Anyone who sinks this ship are those who betrayed God.

First, the Boeing 747 was discontinued, and now THIS??? I HATE THIS Fate!!!!!😡😡😡

you do not sink such a ship.

And so the SS United States ship will sink into history as her very namesake is slowly doing on land. Everything has a life expectancy. The ship and her namesake nation seemingly…and sadly are on similar paths these days.

This is one of the many reasons Philadelphia sucks...

This is the fate of the fastest passenger ship to cross the Atlantic...EVER? Inexplicable.

Imagine if a consortium of American and international companies (particularly defence contractors) united to restore the SS United States as a tribute to freedom and democracy. Had their chance, muffed it.

There goes the "conservancy's" money grab. Years and years of donations for absolutely nothing but storage and salaries.

The languishing SS United States is an allegory of the current state of America.

A disgraceful act of vandalism to deliberately destroy such an icon. How much would it cost to rub down, repaint and put on show in New York harbour as a static exhibit

Why can’t she be preserved like the queen Mary? Why do we treat a British oceaner with way more respect than our own?

Hi Jaime its Jennifer I spoke to the conservancy and OKALOOSA county government. At my request I asked kindly could they remove the smoke stacks and crows nest. It doesn't need to go down with the ship. I also requested that any operational gages and other working equipment to be donated to the last remaining American ferry ship the SS Badger also built 1951 in Michigan. The badger is running out of parts to use . JAIME LET ME KNOW IF YOU'RE GOING TO FLORIDA. I WILL MEET YOU THERE. PEOPLE THAT ARE READING THIS YOU HAVE 3 MONTHS BEFORE THEY STRIP THE SHIP ANY FURTHER AND ONE YEAR BEFORE THEY SINK HER TO SAVE THE SHIP AND TELL OKALOOSA COUNTY TO DEVELOPE THE SS UNITED STATES INSTEAD OF SINKING HER 😢

The Conservancy never intended to save the SSUS, from the beginning their stated goal was to "preserve her history" in the past tense as if she was already gone. Jerry Lenfest gave them $5mil, $2mil to buy the ship, $3mil for dockage and find a buyer. Instead they enjoyed themselves holding lavish yacht parties, hiring a tug to tour New York Harbor, and several fake press conferences naming a specific buyer and the buyer responding no deal, no contact or negotiations existed. The whole purpose of owning the SSUS was to aggrandize themselves, hopes the ship's fame would rub off on themselves. To speak with anyone from the Conservancy, responses were always condescending, the elitist group always knows better than the common rabble. After the $3mil was gone, dockage rent was paid by donations from the common rabble. Susan Gibbs who knew nothing of the SSUS until the Conservancy was created took for herself a salary of $80,000/yr from donation money raised by the nickels and dimes of children setting up tables in malls, while non-profit org members usually volunteer their time. Instead of lavish parties, first priority with $3mil in hand should have been to find a less expensive pier to dock the ship, perhaps put her in one of the nation mothball fleet locations? Their publicized "farewell signing ceremony" should make most people vomit, once again glory all about themselves when they really should hang their heads in shame, then go home and cry. The SSUSC has been a disgrace from day one, they never cared, just crocodile tears. Did you all know that Conservancy members will now personally profit in the millions $$$ by selling the SSUS to become an artificial reef, why care about the ship when stabbing it and the people of the country in the back will make you rich? If Jamie Exploring deletes this post, then you're censoring the facts and truth which ended the SS United States existence..

We've officially lost, farwell SS US. :C

I think removing the funnels before it's sunk is misguided. Tantamount to defacing a grand old lady by removing her jewelry before she's buried.

Na endlich kommt der Schandfleck weg.

“A new era” right, *under the sea.*

Adeu Big U.

It's so sad to see a historic ship destroyed! With all the billionaires out there, you think one would step up and save a piece of American history. The Walton family could easily save this ship and others.....sad.

They are about to put the United States under water. Let that sink in

The government always finds money to destroy, never to help or save the nation. And you pay for it all. It’s not as if Florida just had a national disaster and has no money to help citizens 🤔

So let me get this straight The government wastes money on supplying foreign countries with artillery and resources involved in foreign wars and fund them just so they can pretend to be saints when it’s corporate greed they couldn’t care less about preserving their own country history because they can’t face the fact that America as we know it today was built on greed they will standby and let their history get destroyed because the truth hurts them so much and their precious egos

I like the way US cant save their most famous ocean liner. But they spend money for useless shit. In the end that will be nice and symbolic pucture- United States at the bottom... Sad reality.

I’m not American and I think this is bullshit preserve it not sink it

This is depressing, that ship looks so good

Plus, to be honest, it’s better than being scrapped a giant artificial reef is exactly what we need. Just imagine this in 100 years. It’ll probably be a massive reef with life and beautiful nis. That’s a pretty good thing to be remembered for right.