A historic ship with ties to Southampton that is set to become the world’s largest man-made coral reef is to be towed for the first time since 1996.

After years-long legal debate over its future, the SS United States is set to make its final voyage before being strapped with about 1,000 pounds of explosives.

For 17 years the liner powered through the Atlantic making constant journeys between Southampton and New York, and was met crowds of almost 70,000 when she first came to Hampshire in 1952.

The SS United States was also the fastest ship in the world at the time.

Since 1996, the United States has been rusting on the banks of the Delaware River waterfront in Philadelphia at pier 82.

Originally the ship was supposed to go to Norfolk, Virginia, for cleaning before going to be sunk off the Florida coast, but the Virginia county announced on October 25 that work will now be completed in Mobile, Alabama.

While Virginia could only offer a limited amount of space and availability, Mobile offers a significantly less expensive option.

A departure date from the ship’s present dock in Philadelphia has not yet been set.

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SS United States Conservancy, which owns the vessel, and Penn Warehousing, the landlord at the Philadelphia dock, reach a settlement regarding their rent dispute October 11.

The Conservancy agreed to sell the ocean liner to Okaloosa County in Florida's panhandle who intend to sink the ship and transform it into the world’s largest coral reef.

Conservancy President Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer, William Francis Gibbs, spoke at a ceremony earlier this month.

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.