Time continues to tick away for the S.S. United States, the 1950’s era luxury ocean liner considered the fastest of the Atlantic now destined to become an artificial reef off the coast of the Florida panhandle.
And as she is stripped down for that last mission here along the Mobile waterfront, the United States continues to draw tourists.
This weekend, that included Mark Stephens of Mobile who actually sailed aboard her when he was six years old.
His father was in the military and was being stationed in England, so they began that journey in New York, where they boarded the ship.
“I loved it,” says Mark, “because I actually learned the blueprint of knowing where to go. So, when my parents said let’s go to the dining hall, let’s go to the theater, I was able to take them. And when I wasn’t taking them, I would just excursion off.”
A family from Indiana was also surveying the ship as well, as another family from Florida snapped pictures nearby.
When the work in Mobile is done, the United States will be sunk of the coast of Destin and Fort Walton Beach in the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to be a prized destination for recreational divers.