The SS United States begins a final journey to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico

DESTIN, Fla. (AP) — An ocean liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas headed Wednesday toward its final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world's largest artificial reef.

The SS United States floated placidly under a cloudy sky off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, most of it still above the water at dusk, even after workers flooded the hull to push it under.

The event — described by officials as a controlled sinking — was a long-planned $13.5 million project aimed at attracting more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish.

The process of sinking the behemoth vessel stretched through the entire afternoon and into the evening, despite predictions that it could happen in less than an hour once flooded. Smaller boats remained around and even up beside it.

The project will keep what had been a technological marvel when it made its maiden voyage in 1952 from becoming scrap metal. The ship's scuttling was streamed live online.

The SS United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers have included Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy and Britain’s former King Edward VIII. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took it when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president.

Once aboard, passengers were treated to dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf's Head en Tortue.

In preparation for the sinking, organizers removed the 65-foot (20-meter) smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum that celebrates the ship.

“We're not destroying anything,” Tim Mullane, a Navy veteran and chief operating officer of Coleen Marine, the company sending the ship to the ocean floor, said in a video aired online by local officials. “It's going to serve a second life.”

Federal environmental and explosives rules prevent Okaloosa County, Florida, and its contractor from using explosives to scuttle the ship, said Nick Tomecek, the county's spokesperson. Concerns about inclement weather prompted officials to move up the sinking by a day.

The SS United States has pipes that pulled seawater into tanks as part of the system that cooled its boilers, he said, and those tanks have been removed so that once the valves are opened, water will flood the hull. Workers also have cut 10-foot by 10-foot (3-meter by 3-meter) holes in the decks, and more than 400 portholes have been removed.

The ship is to sink in about 180 feet (55 meters) of water, with its top deck about 60 feet (18 meters) below the surface — shallow enough that inexperienced divers can visit. It will settle on the floor of the waters about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southwest of Destin, between Panama City and Pensacola.

More than 3,000 workers helped build the SS United States in 1950 and 1951 in Virginia. An Associated Press reporter and Truman's daughter, Margaret, were among 1,700 passengers for the first voyage.

The ship's average speed for that trip was almost 41 mph (66 kph), besting a record set by Britain's RMS Queen Mary in 1938 by 4.5 mph (7.2 kph), according to the AP's dispatch.

The SS United States set the record even though its journey ended in the face of a full gale that reached 69 mph (111 kph) — “so strong it blew a ping pong table off the deck,” AP reported.

At 990 feet (302 meters), the ship is 108 feet (33 meters) longer than the ill-fated Titanic, which hit an iceberg and sank on its first voyage across the Atlantic.

“She really embodies and expresses this country’s best,” said Susan Gibbs, the granddaughter of the ship's designer. “She represents pride and resilience and strength and beauty.”

More than 500 artificial reefs are located in the waters near where the SS United States will rest.

Previously, the largest artificial reef came from the 2006 scuttling of an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany in the Gulf off of Pensacola — near enough to the SS United States site that an experienced diver could visit both in the same day, Tomecek said. The Oriskany, launched in 1950, was 911 feet (278 meters) in length.

“We're trying to be the best diving destination in the world,” Tomecek said.

The ship was decommissioned in 1969. Attempts by a hotel magnate and Norwegian Cruise Lines to use the ship never floated, and from 1996 until recently, it sat along a dock in Philadelphia.

Mullane called the huge funnels — the smokestacks that have been removed to anchor the new museum — “works of art.”

“I’m just so happy that we are able to save parts of her,” Gibbs said.

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Eisenhower.

Hanna reported from Topeka, Kansas.

The S.S. United States is intentionally sunk in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, to create the world's largest artificial reef Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Media members and visitors photograph the S.S. United States as the historic ocean liner is intentionally sunk in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida to create the world's largest artificial reef, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

The S.S. United States is seen in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida before being intentionally sunk to create the world's largest artificial reef, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) CORRECTION: Corrects to before being intentionally sunk from after being intentionally sunk

Boats gather at a safe distance from the S.S. United States as spectators watch the historic ocean liner being intentionally sunk in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida to create the world's largest artificial reef, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Sightseer aboard a boat watches the intentional sinking of the S.S. United States in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida, where the historic ocean liner is being scuttled to create the world's largest artificial reef, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Milwaukee's Jacob Misiorowski and the New York Yankees' Cam Schlittler were unanimous Cy Young Award winners Wednesday night after delivering dominant performances in their first full seasons in the major leagues.

Misiorowski won the NL Cy Young Award after helping the Brewers win their first World Series title while setting a new standard for velocity by a starting pitcher. Schlittler was the AL winner, becoming the second Yankees pitcher in four years to receive the award.

The two right-handers made their respective MLB debuts in the summer of 2025.

The Baseball Writers Association of America, which votes on the awards, said this is the third time the Cy Young winners in both leagues were unanimous. The other years were 2022 when Houston’s Justin Verlander won in the AL and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara in the NL, and 1968 when Detroit's Denny McLain won in the AL and St. Louis’ Bob Gibson in the NL.

Toronto’s Louis Varland won the AL reliever of the year award, while San Diego’s Mason Miller was a unanimous selection for the NL version of the award. This marks the first year that the BBWAA voted on a reliever of the year.

Misiorowski becomes the fourth Brewer to win a Cy Young Award. The others were Rollie Fingers (1981), Pete Vuckovich (1982) and Corbin Burnes (2021). Fingers also won the MVP award in 1981, when the Brewers still played in the American League.

The 24-year-old right-hander posted a 1.80 ERA, struck out 252 batters and limited hitters to a .157 batting average to lead the major leagues in all three categories. The only other pitchers since 1950 to lead the majors in ERA, strikeouts and opponents’ batting average were Sandy Koufax in 1965, J.R. Richard in 1979 and Mike Scott in 1986.

That .157 batting average was the lowest since 1900 for any AL or NL pitcher with 100 or more innings. Misiorowski also owned an 0.80 WHIP (walks and hits allowed per innings pitched) that represented the lowest in a full regular season for pitchers with at least 150 innings since Pedro Martinez had an 0.73 for Boston in 2000.

Misiorowski went 16-5 during the regular season while throwing 1,115 pitches of 100 mph or more for the highest total since tracking started in 2008, shattering the prior mark of 673 by Jordan Hicks in 2018.

He followed that up by going 2-0 with an 0.84 ERA during Milwaukee’s 4-1 World Series triumph over the Tampa Bay Rays. Misiorowski threw 5 2/3 shutout innings during Milwaukee’s 4-1 Game 5 win that clinched the Brewers’ first title in franchise history.

Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez finished second and Atlanta’s Chris Sale was third in the NL Cy Young Award voting. Sánchez was 18-7 with a 2.91 ERA and 231 strikeouts in 207 innings. Sale, who won the Cy Young Award in 2024, went 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA and 200 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings.

Schlittler won the AL Cy Young Award three years after the Yankees' Gerrit Cole received it. Tarik Skubal won the last two AL Cy Young Awards while pitching for Detroit. Cole had been the first Yankee to win the award since Roger Clemens in 2001.

“Cam had as dominant a season as a starting pitcher can have from start to finish,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in a statement. "He’s shown an astonishing amount of growth since we drafted him, and his success is no accident. Cam has a tireless appetite for hard work and refinement that has allowed his talents to truly flourish. This Cy Young is richly deserved. Cam was the most dominant pitcher in our league and continues to grow into a foundational player for this franchise.”

Schlittler, 25, went 14-6 with an AL-leading 1.95 ERA that ranked third in Yankees’ history, behind Spud Chandler (1.64 in 1943) and Ron Guidry (1.74 in 1978). Schlittler’s 239 strikeouts tied for second in the AL with Toronto’s Dylan Cease, behind the 248 from Cleveland’s Gavin Williams.

Cease finished secon in the AL voting after going 11-6 with a 2.40 ERA. Cleveland’s Parker Messick finished third after going 12-9 with a 2.56 ERA and 193 strikeouts in 186 1/3 innings.

This was the second runner-up finish for Cease, who also placed second while pitching for the Chicago White Sox in 2022.

Varland won the reliever of the year award after going 5-6 with a 1.27 ERA, 35 saves and 97 strikeouts in 78 innings. Cleveland's Cade Smith finished second in the voting and Tampa Bay's Bryan Baker was third.

Miller was 5-2 with a 1.67 ERA, 38 saves and 129 strikeouts in 70 innings for San Diego. Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran finished second in the NL reliever of the year voting and Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill was third.

See AP’s full MLB coverage here

Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski celebrates the end of the fourth inning of Game 5 of baseball's World Series, Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2026, in St. Petersburg, Fla., between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

FILE - New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler looks on during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago, July 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh, File)