The SS United States, the former luxury ocean liner that was parked in South Philadelphia for almost 30 years, has reached Mobile, Ala., faster than expected and in one piece, proving the skeptics wrong.

After being docked in Philadelphia for nearly three decades, the SS United States -- once the world's fastest ocean liner -- has arrived in Mobile, Al., ahead of schedule to be prepared to be turned into an artificial reef.

Okaloosa County commissioners voted in October to buy the SS United States for $10 million and use it as an artificial reef. It’s estimated that the economic benefit will be $3 million a