Fred Miller II didn’t know it then, but the $50 model ship he bought at age 9 would become more than just a childhood obsession – it charted a course straight into the future.

Back in 1970, Miller brought home a large but deteriorating replica of the SS United States. He had it scrubbed clean, and then watched as his father carefully repainted it. For decades, that model followed him through life—first in Port Huron, Michigan, and later to Daphne in South Alabama —eventually placing it on a mantle above the fireplace.

Then, fate delivered a twist worthy of a maritime legend.

The real SS United States—once dubbed ‘America’s flagship’ and considered an American icon through the 1950s and ’60s after smashing speed records—was towed into Mobile for an extended remediation. Its next journey? A final resting place at the bottom of the Florida Gulf Coast.

Today, the long-retired storied ship sits docked just south of downtown Mobile, undergoing preparations for its sinking. And it now rests within plain view of where Miller, now 64, volunteers at the National Maritime Museum of the Gulf of Mexico.

“That’s just it,” said Miller, a lifelong marine aficionado. “You can’t miss it now.”

Model moment

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The coincidence is uncanny. The vessel he once cherished in model form and rolled on the floor as a young boy now looms just across the water.

Moved by the moment, Miller recently donated the model to the museum, where it’s on display ahead of being installed on the fifth floor. There, it will serve as a centerpiece in a new exhibit chronicling the SS United States and its surprising Gulf Coast chapter.

“We’re a part of its history now,” said John Sledge, a maritime historian at the museum who leads boat tours past the ship, now berthed at the Modern American Recycling & Repair Service (MARRS) facility.

“It’s very touching to show that ship has a power to awaken people about this interest in ship design and Atlantic travel but also the glamor of what travel used to be compared to now,” Sledge said. “People really respond to that. It’s been, frankly, far more than I ever anticipated.”

And respond they have.

Despite its rusted frame and faded paint, the SS United States continues to draw crowds of tourists from afar who are eager for one last look at the legend. Its presence has become an unexpected windfall for Mobile, boosting demand for riverboat cruises aboard the Perdido Queen and Delta Explorer trips through Historic Blakeley State Park.

“We’re real fortunate and grateful,” said David Clark, president & CEO of Visit Mobile. “These type of opportunities don’t come around often, but we’ll take it.”

Timeline and expectations

The opportunity may linger into next year. According to Nick Tomecek, spokesperson for Okaloosa County, Fla., remediation work is ahead of schedule, but the ship isn’t expected to be deployed to its undersea destination until “toward the end of 2025, possibly early 2026.”

Okaloosa County bought the ship last year for $1 million and spent close to $10 million in getting it prepared and relocated from its longtime home of Philadelphia to Mobile. Miller, himself, said he first laid eyes on the ship when it was in Philadelphia in 2003. The ship has been out of service since 1969.

The SS United States will remain in Mobile until all details are finalized for its final voyage to Okaloosa County. There is no exact date for its departure.

While the ship looks the same as it did when it arrived in early March – at least from afar – noticeable changes are imminent.

In the coming weeks, one of the iconic smokestacks will be removed, Tomecek said. At least one stack will be preserved for the SS United States Conservancy and featured in a future land-based museum planned for Destin-Fort Walton Beach, a three-and-a-half-hour drive east of Mobile.

The details about what will happen with the second smokestack has not been finalized, Tomecek said.

There are attempts to stop the sinking of the SS United States as an effort to turn it into the world’s largest artificial reef. The nonprofit organization, New York Coalition to Save the SS United States, is urging President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue an avenue that could prevent the ship’s sinking. The Coalition has also filed a federal lawsuit in Pensacola aimed at preventing the sinking.

Tomecek said the lawsuit is not affecting their timeline for deploying the ship from Mobile to Florida.

Neighboring Bay County is also hopeful to get in on some of the tourist attention the ship is likely to bring to divers worldwide. The Bay County Tourist Development Council is offering $3 million to help with marketing the ship if its sunk closer to Panama City Beach.

Said Tomecek, “Okaloosa County has received multiple proposals and we are currently reviewing all of them. No final decisions have been made on the location.

Mobile’s moment

In Mobile, there are hopes that a piece of the ship will be salvaged and displayed – perhaps at the Maritime Museum.

Sledge said he’s unsure what kind of piece it might be, but added that whatever it is, “we’ll make it part of our interpretation and the city’s maritime history. This is a ship that is in an indelible part of our maritime history now.”

It also continues to be a very big part of Mobile’s present. Anna Jones, with the Perdido Queen, said people are returning for repeat cruises to the ship to watch it transition as crews prepare it for sinking.

“People are flying out from all over,” she said, adding that Memorial Day weekend was a particularly busy time for cruises to the ship. “There is still a lot of interest in it.”

Miller is definitely fascinated in the ship – the real thing and his coveted model. The model will be on a long-term loan to the museum at least while there is still interest in the SS United States and its storied connection to Mobile.

Its fate, as a sunken vessel, has left him with mixed emotions.

“I’d love to do anything I could to keep her afloat,” Miller said. “But in the case of the United States, it’s been retired for more than 60 years. There are very few people who are still left (who recall sailing aboard it). There newer generations don’t have the same love for it.”

During its prime, the SS United States was a prime cruiser that hosted luminaries such as Walt Disney, Marlon Brando, Marilyn Monroe, Walter Cronkite, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, and John Wayne.

Miller said that’s the hardest part of seeing the ship weathered and abandoned in Mobile.

“She’s been completely stripped out,” Miller said. “You could easily spend $1 billion on that vessel and it takes a lot money to get your own money back. If this was 30 to 40 years ago, it would be a totally different story.”

As it is, the model will outlast the real deal.

“I don’t know if I will just donate it outright to them someday or not,” Miller said. “My son has dibs on the collection of the stuff I have. It’s in his control. But for right now for this moment, I’m giving (the public) the opportunity to view this model. It’s quite unique.”