FAIRHOPE, Ala. (WALA) – Baldwin County put out quite the welcoming committee today for the SS United States with folks lining the causeway and points on the eastern shore to get a look. It was quite a sight as she made her way up the Mobile Ship Channel.
By the time the massive ocean liner made it up into the bay, a lot of folks were already on the Fairhope Pier to take a look. Although SS United States was several miles from shore, the weather was perfect for viewing and at 990-feet long, an impressive sight.
“I just want to see this thing come in. It’s too big. It’s just unreal it’s so big,” said Eugene Levert.
Spectators brought binoculars, cameras and cell phones to snap a shot and save the memory. Young and old turned out and all shared in the fascination with the old girl and understandably so. John Sledge was one of the folks taking in the moment and as Maritime Historian in Residence for the National Maritime Museum in Mobile he was happy to offer some perspective.
“You know, we’ve all seen the movies of the piers and the movie stars in furs and the men in the fedoras as they greet one another and say their farewells. Maybe they face the perils of U-boats in the gulf or the glamour of first-class service on the way. It’s just a wonderful era to think about and this ship epitomizes all of that,” explained Sledge.
Waylen Butler was a lucky young man. Not only did he get to join in the excitement, but he also got a special treat when I let him get a close-up look at the ship through my viewfinder.
“I liked it. It was bigger,” Butler said after looking through the eyepiece.
Something about this symbol of days gone by made everyone feel a bit younger at heart.
“Well, it’s a once in a lifetime thing,” Lynette Caldwell said. “When are we going to have another ship like this coming into our port? I wanted pictures of it.”
Further north, folks also lined the seawall along the causeway and got a great look as the ship neared port. One of them, Jim Nissley came all the way from Destin to see the United States one more time. He grew up in New York where the United States homeported, and his grandfather sailed to Europe on it. Nissley was nine or 10 years old at the time but remembers it as sleek and majestic.
“Yeah, when my granddad would travel, I’d go to go down to the dock as he was getting onboard, and we could go onboard with him and walk the ship and things like that, and the ship traveled to Europe most of the time I guess,” recalled Nissley.
The SS United States will have just one more stop when she leaves Mobile. The final destination is the sea floor of the coast of Okaloosa County, FL as an artificial reef.
“I don’t see that as an end. I see it as a new beginning, a way for that ship to continue to live,” offered Sledge. “Not as many people will necessarily benefit from that or enjoy it, but she’ll, she’ll have a different kind of life.”
It took about four hours for the SS United States to make its way from the mouth of Mobile Bay into the Port of Mobile. That gave anyone who wanted to get a look plenty of time to do so.
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