SS United States gets a little closer to............

[Kay Dee]

............becoming a reef wreck.

First Funnel Removed as SS United States Prepares to Become a Reef

Five months after the famed ocean liner ss United States arrived in Mobile, Alabama, to prepare for her conversion into a man-made reef, the signature...

maritime-executive.com

 

[lexvil]

Oh the ship…too

 

[happy-diver]

Design Begins for New SS United States Museum and Visitor Experience — SS United States Conservancy

The towering funnels of the legendary SS United States will soon be removed from the historic ocean liner in Mobile, Alabama. Soaring six stories high and sloping backward to convey the record-breaking speed of the ship, the iconic structures will form a dramatic centerpiece of the future SS Unite

www.ssusc.org

 

[Kay Dee]

Oh the ship…too

 

[bradlw]

Personally, I was very disappointed when I first saw that they were removing the stacks.

Those are THE iconic feature of that ship and it would be cool for those to be your first sight of it on descent and your last view of the wreck as the diver ascends

 

[Johnoly]

On the museum side of it............
Some of the most sustainable {profitable} nautical and aeronautical museum sites have blended together the story of the artifact along with a restaurant & retail venue in an outdoor mall setting that attracts a high percentage of tourists. Sites like the Titanic Experience Orlando, Queen Mary Los Angeles, & others have a long history. If they can combine that business plan for the SS United States it might be a good long term plan.

 

[Kay Dee]

On the museum side of it............
Some of the most sustainable {profitable} nautical and aeronautical museum sites have blended together the story of the artifact along with a restaurant & retail venue in an outdoor mall setting that attracts a high percentage of tourists. Sites like the Titanic Experience Orlando, Queen Mary Los Angeles, & others have a long history. If they can combine that business plan for the SS United States it might be a good long term plan.

Agreed. Personally I think its a great idea to use the funnels at the museum. Better than leaving them on the wreck, IMO. Besides if, as I assume, they are hoping to drop her upright it would have to be too deep for the 'tourist' divers if the funnels were left on. Besides, a funnel, well if you have seen one, you have seen them all, more or less. Well, I guess the below one is a little different.

 

[Kay Dee]

Abandon ship!

 

[USdiver1]

Unfortunately for the Sun Vista, her becoming an artificial reef was not planned and executed on schedule. She sank on 21 May, 1999 following a fire the previous day. No loss of life, more than 1,100 passengers and crew successfully rescued.

 

[sea_ledford]

Personally, I was very disappointed when I first saw that they were removing the stacks.

Those are THE iconic feature of that ship and it would be cool for those to be your first sight of it on descent and your last view of the wreck as the diver ascends

But it would be your ONLY sight of the wreck unless doing deco dives. There is minimum clearance depths required by the coast guard, add that to the funnel height, and you are probably looking at just another version of the Oriskany. But less interesting because it is just a big metal tube.

I'm not at all associated with this project, but I used to work for the Texas artificial reef program. No matter what we did, we'd get people wanting it to be in 100 feet of clear water (even if the structure was 110 feet tall), close enough to shore to kayak to it. I mean, I'd like that too, but physics and geography say otherwise.