A historic ocean liner which regularly docked in Southampton will soon be sunk and turned in the world’s largest coral reef.
For 17 years the SS United States powered through the Atlantic waves making constant journeys between New York and Southampton.
When the ship first came to the city in 1952, she drew in crowds of almost 70,000 as it was the fastest in the world at the time.
Now, after a years-long legal debate over its future, the iconic ocean liner is set to make its final voyage.
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SS United States will be submerged off the Florida coast where it is expected to create the world’s largest artificial coral reef.
The SS United States Conservancy group and county officials gathered on Saturday at the Philadelphia pier, where she has been docked at pier 82 since 1996, for a small transfer of title ceremony.
Conservancy President Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer, William Francis Gibbs, spoke at the ceremony.
She said: "Under a binding court order, we faced the painful but unavoidable choice between scrapping America's flagship or converting her into an artificial reef in tandem with a land-based museum.
"We chose the latter as the most dignified path."
Many people who grew up in Southampton will still remember seeing this magnificent liner in the docks on her many regular visits to the city.
After making hundreds of voyages from New York to Southampton, singer and dancer Cyd Charisse is one of the many famous faces to have disembarked in Southampton.
The ship is expected to leave Pier 82 in Philadelphia by the end of the month.
United States is formally still the holder of the Blue Riband, the fastest passenger liner to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
The honour was previously held by Cunard's Queen Mary since the 1930s, SS United States travelled across the Atlantic in just three days, ten hours and 42 minutes averaging more than 35 knots or over 40mph.
By 1969 the ship had withdrawn from service and since 1996 has been docked up at pier 82 on Philadelphia’s Delaware River waterfront.
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