A new video ad campaign is challenging Okaloosa County commissioners to pump the brakes on their plan to sink the historic ocean liner SS United States as an artificial reef in the Gulf of America.
The US Maritime Patriots Alliance, a campaign of the SS United States Preservation Foundation, Inc., released a 90-second social media ad this week titled “Rethink the Sink.”
- Message: Sinking America’s namesake ship while the country is engaged in active military conflict overseas hands adversaries a propaganda victory they could never earn on their own.
“The timing of this proposal carries unavoidable symbolic implications,” said Carlos Camacho Jr., Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer of the SS United States Preservation Foundation. “Sinking a vessel bearing the name UNITED STATES during the America 250 commemoration would hand our adversaries a symbolic victory they could never achieve on their own.”
- Why: The SS United States is the only vessel in American history to carry the nation’s name on its bow—no prefix, no suffix—and is considered the undisputed flagship of the United States Merchant Marine. The Alliance is directing its appeal squarely at Okaloosa County, home to one of the largest concentrations of active-duty military personnel, veterans and retirees in the country, anchored by Eglin Air Force Base.
A Toxic Reef in the Making?
Beyond the patriotic symbolism, the campaign points to serious environmental concerns. EPA-certified laboratory testing has detected hexavalent chromium at what the Foundation describes as catastrophic levels in the ship’s coatings—a legacy of Cold War-era zinc chromate primer systems that are now banned under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
- Dr. Todd Osborne of the University of Florida’s Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience has warned that submerging the vessel could create a “toxic reef” in the Gulf.
The proposed sinking site at 180 feet also raises safety concerns—there is no civilian hyperbaric chamber within survivability range, creating what the Alliance says would be a predictable and ongoing burden on U.S. Coast Guard search-and-rescue operations.
Federal Red Flags
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has formally determined the proposed sinking would constitute an adverse effect to a National Register-listed historic property. Both a Section 106 review under the National Historic Preservation Act and a required National Environmental Policy Act review remain active and unresolved. The SS United States Preservation Foundation and the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States are federally recognized consulting parties in the ongoing Section 106 process.
An Alternative: Operation Liberty Shift
The Alliance has offered a substitute. The U.S. Maritime Administration controls a fleet of SL-7 Fast Sealift Ships already slated for decommissioning. These vessels are all-steel, environmentally safer, free of historic-property constraints and already federal property.
At roughly 900 feet in length, an SL-7 replacement would still allow Okaloosa County to claim the title of world’s largest artificial reef. The Foundation has formally proposed the swap, dubbed “Operation Liberty Shift,” to the U.S. Department of Transportation and federal lawmakers.
Bottom Line: Okaloosa County doesn’t have to choose between its reef program and desecrating a national icon. As the ad puts it—”The UNITED STATES deserves BETTER—and so do YOUR CITIZENS.”
The Alliance is urging Okaloosa County residents and Americans nationwide to contact their commissioners and demand a pause on the sinking plan.
Yes, keeping the ship afloat is a costly proposition. I have an idea. It’s in the planning stages. I need some help putting it to paper that would give Florida a diving destination. We would have to find a replacement ship. I have an idea for getting a dry dock and wharf to dock the United States at it would have to be purchased and made one with the ship so we don’t end up in the same problem we had before. A full restoration of the ship. Put it back on the water as functional. Have three cruises a year around the United States. It wouldn’t be cheap. I’m looking at probably 3/4 of a billion dollars to a billion dollars to do it but that would also include money to keep the ship going that’ll bring
You say there’s an alternative, and I continued reading hoping to learn what else could be done with the SS United States. Instead, I read about another 900 foot ship that could be sunk. No solution–no alternative–for the ship.
For decades, now, people with means have come forward with proposals for the SS United States–only to find them all too prohibitively costly and unfeasible. Just keeping her–owning her–was stretching the last owners’ resources beyond the breaking point.
Until Okaloosa County came forward with this proposal, it seemed inevitable that the ship would be cut up for scrap. At this point, I think those are the only two possibilities.