STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Today, a giant ship will sink off the coast of Florida. And the U.S. Coast Guard will not do a thing to stop it.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
That's because the SS United States is sinking on purpose. The retired ocean liner will become the world's largest artificial reef.
INSKEEP: This is amazing. A couple years ago, I got the chance to tour that ship before it was towed away from Philadelphia.
MARTIN: Jealous.
INSKEEP: Our guide led us up spiral stairs and through cabins stripped back to the walls...
UNIDENTIFIED GUIDE: This would have been first-class cabin space.
INSKEEP: ...Until we emerged on deck. I walked all the way to the bow, the very front.
I'm the king of the world.
MARTIN: You just could not...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
MARTIN: ...Help yourself, could you?
INSKEEP: No. No. You see that movie, you want to be Leo DiCaprio. Anyway, the movie, of course, is "Titanic." This ship is bigger than the Titanic - almost 1,000 feet long, which should make for an incredible playground for divers and fish.
MARTIN: While they might be looking forward to it, it is bittersweet for Susan Gibbs.
SUSAN GIBBS: It's a combination of grief that I will be saying goodbye to her in her current form, but gratitude and hope in terms of what she will continue to give to the world.
MARTIN: Gibbs is the granddaughter of William Francis Gibbs. He designed the SS United States. It entered service in 1952.
GIBBS: She embodied the spirit of a nation so confident in its ability to accomplish the extraordinary. She blasted across the sea on her maiden voyage, smashing the speed record, which, back then, was a big deal.
INSKEEP: Gibbs chairs the SS United States Conservancy, which tried to save this ship and planned for a while to convert it into a hotel or museum.
GIBBS: We came so close. But ultimately, it proved legally, financially, politically, just too daunting.
MARTIN: Instead, the ship was sold to Okaloosa County, Florida. Coleen O'Malley is part of the team responsible for sinking it there.
COLEEN O'MALLEY: We've maintained the actual hull, so she's very recognizable. We've made it so that the structure under the water is going to look like she did above the water.
INSKEEP: The company, Coleen Marine, specializes in creating artificial reefs from old ships. This is a thing. O'Malley says the challenge is keeping the SS United States upright.
O'MALLEY: The biggest thing with sinking a ship is not how much water you put in. It's making sure the air comes out.
MARTIN: Otherwise, O'Malley says it could capsize, flipping over like the plastic boats a kid might play with in the bath. You can see for yourself if they succeed because the whole operation is being live-streamed.
INSKEEP: And I want to dive to see that ship again someday.
MARTIN: 'Cause you're king of the world.
INSKEEP: Absolutely.
(SOUNDBITE OF CELINE DION SONG, "MY HEART WILL GO ON") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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