Designed by William Francis Gibbs for the United States Lines, the SS America was once a symbol of luxury and American pride. It first launched in 1939, and in the decades that followed, the ship served many roles, including as a soldier transport during World War II, and a ferry after that. (During that time, it also went by several other names, including the USS West Point and the SS Australis, Italis, Noga, Alferdoss, and American Star.) Just before it was set to be converted into a hotel and restaurant, tragedy struck and instead this ship became a wreck off the coast of the Canary Islands.
During its time on the water, SS America went by several other names, including USS West Point, SS Australis, and SS Italis. In 1993, the ship was in Greece, and going by the name American Star. After over 50 years of service, it had been sold, stripped down, and painted, and was going to be used as a floating hotel in Thailand. Because of its age and size, the ship was not allowed in the Suez Canal, and had to take the long way from Greece to Thailand, traveling around the Cape of Good Hope. But it never made it that far.
While traveling through the Atlantic Ocean, the American Star and the smaller boat towing it hit a storm. The tow lines broke, and attempts to reattach them failed. The luxury liner drifted away and eventually ran aground on the sandy cliffs of Fuerteventura. The waves managed to break it in half in less than 48 hours, making it impossible to move.
The ship has remained at that spot ever since. It was visible to tourists until 2008, at which point it completely fell apart and sank to the bottom of the sea, where it is now an artificial reef.
There are ways to see a part of this ship without going underwater though, thanks to a Canarian artist who secured and displayed one of the ship’s propeller hubs on the walkway to the beach in El Medano. It offers a great story known by only very few, as it is not even displayed on the island that it crashed near.
