Okaloosa County has brought forward the sinking of the historic ocean liner SS United States by a day, with the vessel now due to be sent to the seabed off Florida on Wednesday 11 November 2026.

The 990-foot ship was originally scheduled to be scuttled on Thursday 12 November to become the world's largest artificial reef. County officials said the forecast of heavy winds and unsafe weather conditions forced the change, and deployment operations will now begin at 1 p.m. Central Time on Wednesday.

The liner was due to be towed from Mobile, Alabama, on 9 November and anchored at the deployment site about 22 nautical miles south-west of Destin, Florida. The public send-off ceremony planned for Wednesday afternoon at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Convention Center has been cancelled.

A record-breaking liner becomes a reef

Launched in the 1950s, the SS United States set a transatlantic speed record in 1952 and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1999. Okaloosa County bought the vessel in 2024 and has spent more than a year preparing it for its new role beneath the Gulf, including removing materials that could pose environmental hazards.

Once deployed, the ship is expected to create a habitat for marine life and become a major diving destination. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and Louisiana State University have been involved in studying the project, according to earlier county announcements. The county says the environmental cleanup of the vessel is finished, and the US Army Corps of Engineers has renewed the federal permit for the artificial reef project.

The liner spent nearly three decades laid up in Philadelphia before being towed to Mobile in 2025, where crews have spent more than a year preparing it for the reef. Its two large funnels have been removed, and the 74-year-old hull shows the rust of its long lay-up. A county spokesperson had previously said the wreck was expected to open to divers on 13 November, the day after the original deployment date, though the new timetable may change that plan.

Legal challenge fails to stop the sinking

A non-profit group, the SS United States Preservation Foundation, sued the US Army Corps of Engineers and Okaloosa County in an attempt to stop the sinking. A federal judge denied the group's request for an emergency restraining order, clearing the way for the deployment to go ahead this week.

Okaloosa County said it plans to livestream the sinking, with a viewing link to be shared on the project's official website before deployment. The proposed location is 30 degrees 07.148 minutes north, 86 degrees 46.755 minutes west.