跟进：合众国号在佛罗里达外海沉没，成为世界最大人工鱼礁
据当地媒体 Pensacola News Journal 11月11日晚的现场直播报道，美国佛罗里达州 Okaloosa County 主导的合众国号沉放作业已经完成：这艘全长990英尺的邮轮于中部时间11月11日21时在 Destin-Fort Walton Beach 西南约22海里的墨西哥湾海域沉没，成为世界最大人工鱼礁。
直播记录显示，作业人员当天先打开两处阀门向船体注水，县方于中部时间15时50分确认下沉进程正式开始，随后全部阀门打开、船上工作人员撤离。船体此后缓慢而稳定地下降，速度慢于原先预计，路透社傍晚的现场报道说，日落时船体大部分仍在水面之上。直播记者 Lisa Nellessen Savage 于美东时间22时05分更新：合众国号在中部时间21时最终沉没，临沉前船体向一侧倾斜，随后在数分钟内没入水中。
沉放点位于 Pensacola Pass 东南约32海里，县方此前公布的拟沉放坐标为北纬30°07.148′、西经86°46.755′，实际坐底位置以沉放后的勘测为准。该海域水深约180英尺，船体上层甲板预计距水面约60英尺。Destin-Fort Walton Beach 与 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 的潜水队将首先下水勘测船体坐底姿态，勘测信息将提供给美国陆军工程兵团；若勘测顺利，休闲潜水员预计可自11月12日清晨起前往参观，县方提醒以官方公告为准。
为把这艘邮轮变成人工鱼礁，作业方在阿拉巴马州 Mobile 用数月时间做准备：两根65英尺高的红白蓝烟囱被吊离保存、留待陆上博物馆展出，船上有害物质被清除，128个燃油舱全部洗净，数百扇舷窗与舱门被拆下以便潜水员安全进出，船体还开有专门的孔洞，让注水时空气可以排出、船体平稳下沉。
合众国号1952年首航即刷新横渡大西洋速度纪录并保持至今，船身比泰坦尼克号长100多英尺。Okaloosa County 于2024年10月以1010万美元购入该船，它此前在 Philadelphia 停泊近30年，后被拖往 Mobile 做沉放前的环保处理。本次沉放因预计恶劣天气提前一天举行，保存团体提出的叫停申请已于11月6日被联邦法官 M. Casey Rodgers 驳回。本站此前已报道该船注水下沉作业启动与最后下沉开始的消息，本篇为同一事件的完成进展。
关联：跟进：合众国号全部阀门打开、船员撤离，最后下沉已经开始
Follow-Up: SS United States Sinks Off Florida to Become the World's Largest Artificial Reef
The deliberate sinking of the SS United States off Florida is complete, according to live on-scene reporting by the Pensacola News Journal on the night of November 11: the 990-foot liner, deployed by Florida's Okaloosa County, sank at 9 p.m. CT on November 11 in the Gulf about 22 nautical miles southwest of Destin-Fort Walton Beach, becoming the world's largest artificial reef.
The live record shows crews first opened two valves to flood the hull, with the county confirming at 3:50 p.m. CT that the final descent process had started; all valves were then opened and personnel left the ship. The descent was slower than expected, and Reuters reported from the scene that most of the hull was still above the surface at sunset. In an update timestamped 10:05 p.m. ET, reporter Lisa Nellessen Savage wrote that the ship sank at 9 p.m. CT, leaning to one side in her final moments before going down within minutes.
The site is about 32 nautical miles southeast of Pensacola Pass, at proposed coordinates of 30°07.148′ N, 86°46.755′ W, with the actual resting position to be fixed by a post-deployment survey. The water is about 180 feet deep and the upper decks are expected to sit about 60 feet below the surface. Dive teams associated with Destin-Fort Walton Beach and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will make the first survey dive, with the findings provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; if the survey goes as planned, recreational divers are expected to be able to visit from dawn on November 12, and officials advised waiting for an official announcement.
Preparing the liner as a reef took months of work in Mobile, Alabama: her two 65-foot red, white and blue smokestacks were lifted off and preserved for a future land-based museum, hazardous materials were stripped out, all 128 fuel tanks were scrubbed clean, hundreds of portholes and interior doors were removed so divers can explore safely, and openings were cut in the hull to let air escape as water entered, keeping the descent level.
The SS United States set the transatlantic speed record on her 1952 maiden voyage, a record that still stands, and at 990 feet she is more than 100 feet longer than the RMS Titanic. Okaloosa County bought the ship in October 2024 for $10.1 million; she had been moored in Philadelphia for nearly 30 years before being towed to Mobile for environmental remediation. The sinking was moved up a day because of expected bad weather, and a federal judge, M. Casey Rodgers, denied a preservation group's bid to halt it on November 6. GSM reported the start of flooding operations and the beginning of the final descent earlier in the day; this story covers the completion of the same event.
来源：Okaloosa County
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：合众国号邮轮停泊期间的船首航拍照片（资料照片）。照片：Chuck Homler d/b/a FocusOnWildlife，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / File photo: Aerial view of the bow of SS United States while moored. Photo: Chuck Homler d/b/a FocusOnWildlife, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
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- 2026-11-11 19:45跟进：合众国号在佛罗里达外海沉没，成为世界最大人工鱼礁本篇
