SS United States makes its final descent to become a reef

KTVU's report pairs a former passenger's memories with the ocean liner's new purpose off Florida, after a sinking that took far longer than planned.

Channel: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco Story of November 14, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 176,339 views a day, 28 times a normal first day on this channel (6,322).

Historic SS United States sinks to the bottom of Gulf

Next story: "All visitors": tomb guard's order reaches Hegseth's group

Warren Jones remembers feeling the engines come to life as the SS United States sailed past the Statue of Liberty. Watching the liner disappear beneath the Gulf of Mexico brought a different kind of comfort: "In a way, we're comforted that the ship did not go to the scrapyard."

KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco's report follows the intentional sinking off Destin, Florida, where the celebrated passenger ship is becoming an artificial reef. A descent expected to take 45 minutes stretched to eight hours, ending after dark.

For a liner famous for speed, it was a remarkably slow farewell. The SS United States set its transatlantic speed record on its maiden voyage in 1952, before retiring from passenger service in 1969. Reporter Asher Redd traces the efforts to preserve it in Philadelphia and Okaloosa County's eventual purchase for the reef project.

The report drew roughly 176,000 views in its first day, far beyond the station's usual Shorts audience. Its comment section includes memories from people who say they crossed the Atlantic aboard the ship, alongside questions about its position on the seabed and future diving visits.

The new purpose depends on something less romantic than the liner's history: a hard surface. County natural resources manager Rob Fenwick explains that the hull gives encrusting organisms somewhere to grow in an otherwise sandy area. Redd reports that the top deck sits beneath the surface, with plaques for divers visiting the former ocean liner.

Published on Trari

Most watched today ›

Share this story

A ready picture for an Instagram story or a WhatsApp status.

Share the pictureSend the link

×Share the picture

Where next?

More from KTVU FOX 2 San FranciscoVideo taking off 20x its usual first day"All visitors": tomb guard's order reaches Hegseth's groupKTVU's pool footage captures the command for silence as the defense secretary's party moves up the memorial steps.Channel: KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco · Story of November 13, 2026 Also in Local news stationsVideo taking off 16x its usual first dayHundreds of LAX flights disrupted after FAA departure haltKTLA 5's breaking-news Short drew an unusually large early audience before its follow-up turned to the disruption at Los Angeles International Airport.Channel: KTLA 5 · Story of November 14, 2026 A different discovery todayVideo taking off 21x its usual first dayJimmy Kimmel follows Trump's midterm spin from Mississippi to NvidiaScott Colom's Senate upset opens the monologue, which later moves through Iran, a Seattle cat convention and another round of pointless bleeps.Channel: Jimmy Kimmel Live · Story of November 14, 2026

Or follow us on Telegram

Is this your channel?For the channel's owners and team: a ready picture and text for your audience

Share the story with your audience. Everything is ready:

For a community post or your channel's description

SS United States makes its final descent to become a reef The full story on Trari: https://trari.com/en/story/ktvufox2-36381/

Copy the text

The numbers

The ship report drew an unusually large first-day audience for KTVU's Shorts, with comments also arriving much faster than usual.

the video's first day

usual first day here

6,322

this video

176,339

subscribers

393,000

▲ 1,000 in the last 7 days

total views

453,035,801

views per day

644,245

typical day: 406,779

the video

views

182,614

likes

820

comments

325

days online

2

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

WCCO - CBS Minnesota

423,000

FOX 13 Seattle

404,000

WSB-TV

396,000

KTVU FOX 2 San Francisco

393,000

CP24

384,000

CBS Boston

378,000

As of November 14, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.