With more than $40 million spent, the SS United States has finally left Philadelphia after almost 30 years
For real this time.
Almost three decades later and with more than $40 million spent on rent, insurance, and feasibility studies, the SS United States — the dilapidated 990-foot ship that adorned or blemished the Delaware River waterfront, depending on whom you ask — has finally left Philadelphia.
The affair was nothing like the vessel’s 1952 maiden voyage. This time, the interior was gutted, long gone were the 7,900 quarts of ice cream and 500 pounds of caviar that once made headlines. As for the exterior, the former luxury ocean liner, which could also transport 14,000 troops if necessary, resembled more of a ghost ship in what’s supposed to be its second-to-last voyage.
The throngs of fans never materialized either. Unlike the 70,000 people who lined the streets of New York to witness the SS United States’ maiden voyage, the vessel’s Philly departure drew a couple hundred people to Freedom Pier in Gloucester, N.J., where many saw the ship in motion for the first and final time.
“I grew up seeing her right next to the Ikea,” said Jill Hyman, 34, who was a child when the ship arrived. “We used to go to Shank’s and get cheesesteaks. She’s just part of the skyline and the city line, it was very moving to see her get to stretch her wings for the first time in a long time.”
Parked across from the big Swedish box store in South Philly, the SS United States was once one of many “weird Philadelphia” landmarks that defined and divided the city and its inimitable residents. Like Graffiti Pier and the Beury Building/Boner 4ever building, which have gone through similar periods of uncertainty, the SS United States earned a new name altogether in its landmark status, colloquially known as the Ikea Boat. In its departure, the Ikea Boat joins names like East Passyunk Avenue’s King of Jeans, and the Disney Hole, as another bit of Philadelphia lore.
The ship now makes a two-week trip to Mobile, Ala., where it will undergo environmental remediation for about a year before it makes its way to the bottom of the Florida Panhandle coast for a passive retirement. Should all go as planned, the ship will ultimately enter its final chapter as an artificial reef.
» READ MORE: How Philly reacted to the SS United States when it arrived in town
The outcome is a decidedly unpopular move with many history buffs and ship aficionados who long lobbied to get the vessel back to work as a cruise ship or redeveloped into a floating hotel or other industrial use. The SS United States still holds the transatlantic speed record, making it a marvel of American engineering.
Time and time again, the scrapyard seemed to draw closer than a ribbon cutting. No white knight ever did appear to restore the vessel’s once glittering ballroom and dilapidated sports deck. Letter-writing campaigns targeting politicians at every level and of every political stripe asking them to step in and save the ship were also unsuccessful. The thousands of jobs supporters swore would materialize for the state that stepped in to adopt the vessel never did catch the eye of governors in New York, Pennsylvania, or Florida.
Presidents Joe Biden and Donald Trump similarly ignored pleas from various groups to intervene.
Though the SS United States Conservancy, the ship’s previous owners, insisted the vessel had fans worldwide who supported their preservation efforts with donations and more, it was never clear just how much support the vessel had in its adopted city.
When the ship arrived in Philadelphia in 1996 one city official warned it “could very easily be the largest abandoned vehicle in the city.” Four years later, the Daily News echoed the sentiment publishing an editorial that called the SS United States the “mother of all abandoned vehicles.”
Even in recent years, Inquirer articles about the ship’s latest redevelopment ambitions or legal troubles divided local readers who wrote in favor and against.
Yet as the ship, which is incapable of self-propulsion, made its way underneath the Walt Whitman Bridge with the help of five tugboats, its most ardent supporters could only share memories among themselves and snap selfies and videos, cheering as the tugboats honked in their direction.
“It’s just a piece of history, not just in Philadelphia,” said Audubon resident Bob Lewallen, 67, who braved the cold, wrapped in a quilt. “It’s been the fastest ocean liner, a lot of dignitaries been on this ship — presidents, actors, actresses.”
But the memories of Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, and four American presidents were not enough to finance the ship’s redevelopment.
A rent dispute between the ship’s previous stewards, the SS United States Conservancy, and its longtime landlord at South Philadelphia’s Pier 82 was the final straw, landing the ship in federal court. Landlord Penn Warehousing argued it was unfair for the parties to remain bound by an open-ended berthing agreement, considering neither party expected the vessel to remain in South Philadelphia for as long as it did.
The conservancy paid a daily rent set in 2011 through all those years and its landlord argued it should either be able to double the rent or evict the ship. A judge last year agreed the contract was outdated and ordered the conservancy to find an alternative, which stewards found in Okaloosa County, Fla.
The conservancy has made it no secret that giving up ownership of the ship to allow Okaloosa officials to turn it into “the World’s Largest Artificial Reef” was not its first choice.
“But the fate of scrapping would be worse,” said Warren Jones, 71, a board member of the conservancy, who traveled on the ship in 1961 and 1962.
“We were dead set we were going to avoid that at all costs. So we’re comforted in this. She’ll give life to marine life and vegetation underwater and it’s good to know she has her life planned out now.”
For its part, new owners in Okaloosa County have committed to helping the conservancy build a land-based museum that highlights the remaining pieces of the vessel, as well as archival material.
Okaloosa County purchased the ship for $1 million last fall and committed a further $9.1 million to clean, transport, and sink the vessel. Jennifer Adams, tourism director of Okaloosa County, said that should all go as planned the hope is to have the ship sunk in Florida before the end of the year.
Already there’s excitement about the ship’s future. Audubon resident Debby Clarke, 56, snapped photos of the ship to send to her friend in Florida who plans to snorkel around it. Marlton resident Ryan Verhey,34, who watched the ship’s Philly departure with his wife in a folding chair and heated vest, said it was a shame the ship couldn’t be saved but called its future in Florida a “fitting end” nonetheless. A diver, Verhey plans to explore the ship underwater once it’s open to the public.
As the ship continued its way down the Delaware, members of the conservancy and Adams focused on the new generation of fans the ship could garner in Florida.
“I understand that people have different thoughts about moving her, but we’re going to take good care of her,” said Adams, already adopting the personification of the ship. “Her next era will be underwater and we will continue to keep her legacy alive.”