The historic SS United States is sunk after a long goodbye off Florida’s coast 

GULF OF MEXICO — The historic SS United States, once the fastest ship on the seas, made a slow final journey beneath the waters Wednesday. The famous ocean liner — which is longer than the Titanic and crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times — was deliberately sunk Wednesday to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where the once-luxurious behemoth was set to begin a new chapter as the world s largest artificial reef. It was a long goodbye. Hours after the sinking began on a cloudy afternoon, much of the hulking ship could still be seen in the dark waters off the coast of the Florida Panhandle by nightfall. Organizers had predicted the sinking could finish in as quickly as an hour. Finally, around 9 p.m., the vessel leaned on one side and then quickly submerged. “She is an amazing lady who will not lay down without a fight,” Coleen O’Malley, president of Coleen Marine, the company sinking the ship, said before the vessel disappeared beneath the water. “Much like the amazing nat