Bittersweet, perhaps? I've never seen the ship in person but I've been following its story. It seems that Okaloosa County snatched it out of the jaws of the scrapyard just in the nick of time.

It won't be floating anymore, but it will at least be somewhat physically intact, at least relative to the state it was already in. It was pretty well stripped bare back in the 80s, and further gutted after that asbestos abatement project a while back. And it will be available for people who can SCUBA dive to visit.

I sailed in a similar liner, originally the SS America, though renamed the SS Australis by the time my family took it in 1974 for the 5 week journey from UK via Cape Town to Australia.

The SS Australis passed through multiple owners until it ran aground while being towed near the Canary Islands and broke into two.

A sad end to a majestic ship.

One memory of the trip was the week in the Indian Ocean midway between Africa and Australia where the waves were so large the ship's dining rooms made the tablecloths wet to stop the plates sliding off as we tried to eat breakfast...

At one point there was a storm. I was very impressed with the size of the waves and the ship would just muscle through it.

Some years ago I was on a cruise ship. The captain announced that they were changing course to avoid a storm. I was disappointed :-/

Lasted three quarters of a century, not bad!

The fastest transatlantic crossing by a passenger liner was set by the SS United States in July 1952, averaging 35.51 knots (65.76 kmh) earning her the Blue Riband