A Brooklyn businessman wants to save a historic ship with ties to Southampton that is set to be sunk to create the world’s biggest artificial reef.

The historic SS United States is set to be sunk of the coast of Florida.

This comes after years of debating between the SS United States Conservancy, who wanted to restore the ship, and the Okaloosa County, who wanted to transform the ship into a coral reef.

The fastest ship in the world when it was built in 1951, she was met crowds of almost 70,000 when she first came to Hampshire a year later.

For 17 years the liner powered through the Atlantic making regular journeys between Southampton and New York.

Despite plans being in place for the sinking of the ship, the owner of the Gowanus Bay Terminal, a dock in Brooklyn, New York, has relayed dreams of saving the iconic 990-foot vessel.

Dock owner, John Quadrozzi Jr, told American media outlets the SS United States could be reimagined and feature residences and commercial spaces.

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Dan McSweeney, co-founder of the shipping" target="_blank">ships prior owner, the SS United States Conservancy, has backed Quadrozzi’s idea – although McSweeney is no longer associated with the Conservancy.

Quadrozzi and McSweeney have now joined forces to create the New York Coalition to Save the SS United States – a board made of 10 people with experience in engineering, architecture, non-profit and other sectors.

The SS United States Conservancy said in a statement: “Efforts to push unrealistic proposals in the press are both disappointing and irresponsible and will do nothing more than sully the legacy of America’s Flagship.

“Mr Quadrozzi has never offered any financial commitment and, despite several recent attempts by the Conservancy to engage with him by phone or email, no substantive discussions took place.”

Also added its voice to the debate was the ship's current owner, Okaloosa County, who said in a statement: “Okaloosa County fully intends to deploy the SS United States as the World’s Largest Artificial Reef.”