Posted on 05/17/2006 5:20:46 PM PDT by SandRat
From Naval Sea Systems Command Public Affairs
PENSACOLA, Fla. (NNS) -- The ex-Oriskany, a decommissioned aircraft carrier, became the largest ship intentionally sunk as an artificial reef May 17 when it was sunk approximately 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
After 25 years of service to the Navy in operations in Korea, Vietnam and the Mediterranean, ex-Oriskany will now benefit marine life, sport fishing and recreation diving off the coast of the Florida panhandle.
The 888-foot ship took about 37 minutes to sink below the surface after strategically placed explosives were detonated at 10:25 a.m. CDT. The Navy developed an engineered sink plan to place the 32,000 ton ship upright on the ocean floor in a north-south orientation at an existing artificial reef site at a depth of approximately 212 feet, as requested by the state of Florida.
“The Navy and Florida team performed flawlessly to execute today’s sinking. The Navy is thrilled that ex-Oriskany will continue to serve the United States as a tourist and diving attraction off the coast of Florida,” said Glen Clark, deputy program manager of the Navy’s Inactive Ships Program Office. “This is a fitting new beginning for this illustrious ship, and we are proud of the information she has provided us for the reefing of future Navy ships as artificial reefs."
The Navy has been working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Escambia County Marine Resources Division and the local Pensacola area community since 2003 and has conducted several scientific studies that demonstrated that ex-Oriskany would create an environmentally safe artificial reef.
The ex-Oriskany was the first ship to be environmentally prepared using the EPA’s “Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels for Use as Artificial Reefs,” and is also the first ship to receive a risk-based Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) disposal approval from the EPA based on the agency’s findings that the reefing would not pose an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.
A few days before the scuttling event, a Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team placed explosives and detonation equipment on 22 sea chest pipes and valves inside the ship, which were armed the morning of the sinking.
Ownership of the vessel transferred to the state of Florida as the ship landed on the ocean floor. A 2004 Florida State University study estimated Escambia County would see $92 million a year in economic benefits from an artificial reef.
The Navy will start to offer additional ships for artificial reefs later this year.
For more information about ex-Oriskany and the Navy’s Inactive Ships Program, visit http://peos.crane.navy.mil/reefing/oriskany.htm.
For more news from around the fleet, visit www.navy.mil.
They had video at CNN.com
I never sailed on her, but spent time on the Kennedy, Nimitz, Eisenhower, Roosevelt and Lexington.
I got a lump in my throat watching her settle, keeping her bow out of the water to the end.
God. I never sailed on her, and some would say She is a piece of metal. If that is the case, why does watching her go down affect me so?
sounds like a beautiful place to visit in a few years
She's still America, even now. Nobody else on earth can do what we did with those ships. And still do.
Has anyone seen any mention of the fact that She was one of the ships that Adm. Stockdale was associated with during the time that he was an eyewitness to the Gulf of Tonkin Hoax?
“Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels for Use as Artificial Reefs,”
They actually have such a document?
You said it. I am glad she is down there, a nice reward for those years of service.
Much better than being broken up.
I also thought it was great what they did with the USS America. What a great way to serve her country once again, to study her and find ways to make these fantastic vessels even more powerful and survivable.
IMO one of the biggest crimes of Post WW2 was the demolition of the USS Enterprise. If any ship deserved to be saved it was the Enterprise.
I agree. THAT was a crime.
Navy Vets will tell you that between BUSHIPS and BUPER there's a manual/regulation for everything.
Because you happen to know that an Aircraft Carrier is a living breathing animal, not a hunk of metal. A sum greater than her parts, a sanctuary in the middle of the ocean, a life saving, ass kicking, testimonial to the American can-do spirit.
I saw a book once, and it was a photo book of US Navy ships being stored, sunk or chopped up.
It was awful.
There was one picture in particular that had an effect on me. It was a beautiful, WWII era heavy cruiser (don't remember which one) in the process of being chopped up.
They had just cut the entire bow off forward of the #1 gun turret.
It just reminded me so much of a human face with the nose removed. Just awful. And such a beautiful vessel.
marking
Well put, PD.
There are some people who just do not get that.
The Turner Joy is in Bremerton still, I believe.
I love the way you put this. The greatest spirit the world has ever known, and unfortunately dying.
LOL! Not a laughing matter, but...AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!
I remember seeing a documentary about chopping up B-52's, long before I was a Republican or there was a Free Republic. I remember thinking then that it was such a waste to destroy such beautiful birds, and stupid to get rid of them if they were still functional.
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