@LewZ
Lew, IMHO Roy said it quite eloquently; use as a marine life reef & potential attraction for scuba diving is a much more appropriate outcome than dismantling.
In my admittedly limited experience in offshore fishing in the Gulf, any structure that encourages marine life growth is a welcome addition to the Gulf’s flat sea floor topography.

Love these beautiful works by Robert G. Lloyd.

Being sunk and then becoming a reef for fish and no doubt a diving spot is a very glorious end. The option many ships have had is to be dismantled and the way it is done now on a far east shore is more a kin to being molested.
Her bones will rest and the memory lived on and many fish will have a nursery and sanctuary.
The ships we see now are blocks of flats with a minimal drive engine that would not be allowed to cross the Atlantic in winter. I have had one cruise in a Cunard ship the corridors are long the cabins rather small. The food is good but also a performance, for me the best thing was the ballroom dancing but I believe even that is being curtailed. I felt a captive in a gilded cage!
Roy

@LewZYes so sad to see the state of her now,my first sight of this ship was as a young 12 year old Boy Scout in 1953 ,we were sumer camping in a farmers field in Marchwood that went right down to the Southampton Waters edge,and opposite the old Ocean Terminal across the water ,in the night we could hear loud band music in the distance,so we all gradualy left our tents ,and , looking across the water was the SS United States she was all lit up like a Chrismas tree and playing loud band music we all stood watching in awe ,this was the first and only time I saw her,the icing on the cake was a couple od days later was passing the Queen Elizabeth while on the ferry over to Southampton,that was a week I'll never forget.