After months of multiple delays, the SS United States finally left its longtime home of Philadelphia just before 1 p.m. ET Wednesday. The storied ocean liner’s next stop is Mobile, Alabama, where it will be prepared for its final mission – to become an artificial reef off the coast of the Florida Panhandle.

The SS United States sat in South Philadelphia for 30 years before finally leaving its dock after several setbacks and weather delays. Tug boats moved the ship from its pier into the river, where it waited for the changing tides to carry it further down the river, and into the Atlantic Ocean.

The luxury liner SS United States departed South Philadelphia Wednesday afternoon to begin a two-week journey to its eventual destination as the world's largest artificial reef off Florida's Gulf Coast.