Copyright Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
Those interested in watching the famed Cold War carrier vessel S.S. United States take her final plunge into the sea will have multiple digital options. The conservancy group for the ship — built by Newport News Shipbuilding in the early 1950s — announced in a Facebook post Tuesday that a live stream and a professional documentary will be produced covering the tow-out and reefing of the vessel. The ship, which spent nearly three decades docked on the Delaware River, is slated to become the world’s largest artificial reef when it is sunk about 20 miles off the Gulf Coast of northwest Florida. At a board meeting last week, Okaloosa County (the ship’s new owners) authorized a 50% advance payment to WMV Productions and Gannet Creative House, according to the post. The firms will provide comprehensive video documentation of the ship’s deployment, including: Onboard and aerial (drone) footage of the tow-out from Mobile, Alabama Underwater footage capturing the vessel’s final placement on the reef site A professionally edited documentary, to be completed within two weeks of the event “While the exact date and reefing location have not yet been released, both will be announced closer to deployment for operational and safety reasons and to ensure no incidents occur,” the post reads. After months of delays, the ship arrived in Mobile, Alabama, in early March, where contractors have started the process of ensuring it is safe for ocean life and poking holes in its hull to make it land upright at the bottom of the Gulf. This process has been predicted to take a year to complete after which the ship will take its final journey to a location about 20 miles south of the Florida Panhandle region in the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area, according to the Okaloosa County Commission. The ship will be sunk in about 180 feet of water. It will join more than a dozen other large vessels Okaloosa County has placed off the coast in recent years. The county says the ships benefit the marine environment and are a boom to tourism, attracting divers to the Gulf Coast. The project also calls for a land-based museum of the S.S. United States’ history. Originally designed as a top-secret, convertible troop carrier during the Cold War in 1951, the S.S. United States has transported presidents, famous actors, heads of state, tourists, members of the armed forces, and immigrants before it was retired in 1969. It once held the world record for the fastest trip across the Atlantic Ocean. Notable passengers included four U.S. Presidents (Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, and a young Bill Clinton), Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, and John Wayne. NJ.com contributed.
