Historic SS United States, once the world's fastest ocean liner, sinks off Florida to become the world's largest artificial reef

The SS United States, the record-setting American ocean liner that carried presidents across the Atlantic, slipped beneath the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday night after an hours-long controlled sinking off the Florida Panhandle, the New York Post reports.

The ship, longer than the Titanic, crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times after its maiden voyage in 1952. Organizers expected the sinking to take as little as an hour, but much of the hull was still above water at nightfall. Around 9 p.m. the vessel rolled onto one side and went under.

"She is an amazing lady who will not lay down without a fight," said Coleen O'Malley, president of Coleen Marine, the company sinking the ship. "Much like the amazing nation she was named after."

The $13.5 million project, organized by Okaloosa County, turns the liner into the world's largest artificial reef, about 25 miles southwest of Destin, with its top deck roughly 60 feet below the surface so recreational divers can reach it. Crews flooded 128 fuel and lubricant tanks so the ship would settle evenly, which slowed the descent. Past passengers included Presidents Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. The ship's smokestacks were removed and will anchor a new museum.