AN OCEAN liner that is longer than the Titanic and was once the fastest on the seas is headed to a final home on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico as the world’s largest artificial reef. The SS United States is scheduled to be sunk off the coast of the Florida Panhandle, fulfilling a long-planned USD 13.5 million project aimed at attracting more divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area while creating a home for tuna, marlin and swordfish. The project will keep what had been a technological marvel when it made its maiden voyage in 1952 from becoming scrap metal. The SS United States crossed the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying old Hollywood stars like Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor. Other passengers have included President John F Kennedy and Britain’s former King Edward VIII. In 1968, a young Bill Clinton took it when he went to Oxford University, decades before he was elected president. In preparation for the sinking, organisers removed the 65-foot (20-metre) smokestacks and plan to have them anchor a new museum that celebrates the ship. Once aboard, passengers were treated to dinners that included caviar, roast duckling, smoked ox tongue and Calf’s Head en Tortue.