The SS United States, a long-retired and once-glamorous ocean liner bigger than the Titanic and the fastest ever to cross the Atlantic, will soon set sail for the last time. Its final voyage will end off Florida's Gulf coast with "America's Flagship" becoming the world’s largest artificial reef.
The Virginian-Pilot: So long to ‘America’s Flagship'
A 34-ton propeller from the SS United States at the entrance to The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News is a reminder of the golden age of ocean liners. Equipped with powerful steam-driven turbines, the SS United States was the fastest ocean liner ever to cross the Atlantic Ocean. “America’s Flagship” was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and delivered in 1952 as a secret Cold War military transport ship ready to carry 15,000 soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean if then Soviet Union forces invaded Western Europe.