March 20, 2026
Colleen Claggett/For PhillyVoice
The SS United States Conservancy released the trailer for its upcoming documentary about the ship's history and its departure from Philadelphia.
The first trailer for an upcoming documentary on the SS United States, the ship that spent decades docked in Philadelphia, shows multiple scenes of the vessel's departure from the city.
"Superliner: The Enduring Legacy of the SS United States," a film from the ship's conservancy, will be released for global distribution this year. An exact date has not yet been revealed, but officials shared a first look earlier this month.
The trailer shows news clips of the ship's journey under the Walt Whitman Bridge and down the Delaware River in February 2025 from Philadelphia to Mobile, Alabama, as well as interviews with fans who lined the South Philly shore to watch the departure. It also includes historic video of the ship's maiden voyage in 1952, when it set the transatlantic speed record that still stands today. There's also new footage of crews cleaning the ocean liner in preparation for its eventual sinking off the Florida coast.
The documentary was directed by Robert Radler and made in collaboration with the SS United States Conservancy. Radler previously worked on two other docs about the ship, "SS United States: Lady in Waiting," in 2008, and its 2014 follow-up, "SS United States: Made in America." The score will be written by Robby Krieger, the guitarist for the Doors.
Once released, the film will be a key part of a museum about the ship that's being built in Okaloosa County, Florida.
Before leaving last year, the SS United States spent decades docked at Pier 82 in South Philadelphia. Following a lengthy legal battle with its landlord, Penn Warehousing, the conservancy sold the ship to Okaloosa County for $1 million in 2024. County officials planned to spend $10 million to clean the ship and sink it about 20 miles south of Destin-Fort Walton Beach as an artificial reef for fishing and diving.
County officials originally said they planned to sink the ship by the end of 2025, but a new timeline has not yet been announced. The event will be livestreamed with drones and underwater cameras, and some of that footage will likely be used in a separate documentary that Okaloosa County plans to release within two weeks of the sinking.
In addition to its record-setting journey, the SS United States was known for carrying a number of prominent passengers. Four presidents, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton, and celebrities including Walt Disney, Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe and John Wayne all spent time onboard the ocean liner.
Watch the trailer below:
