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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Carrier Will Sink to Serve |
| 2006-05-11 |
| ...no, it's not the DeGaulle.EFL. The Oriskany will be submerged in the Gulf of Mexico to fulfill the Navy's cost-cutting aims and the dreams of anglers and divers. PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. — After more than half a century of wartime valor, maritime tragedy and cinematic triumph, the aircraft carrier Oriskany is preparing for its final mission: sinking into an afterlife as an artificial reef. But being transformed into an attraction for anglers and divers in the Gulf of Mexico is proving one of the more challenging assignments for the storied and long-retired ship. Tons of toxic materials have had to be stripped from its rusted carcass and the Navy's civilian salvagers have prepared its warren of compartments to take on water in strict martial order. "The Navy builds carriers to float, not to sink," Capt. Lawrence M. Jones, inactive ships manager, says of the difficulty in scuttling a vessel designed to withstand torpedoes and air strikes. But sink it must, to fulfill the cost-cutting aims of the Navy and the recreational dreams of those claiming the vessel for its last tour of duty. Although thousands of artificial reefs have been created along U.S. coastlines, the 900-foot-long Oriskany is the largest vessel ever designated for sea-bottom service. Weather permitting, the now-corroded carrier that was home to 3,460 sailors — including a future Sen. John McCain — and 80 aircraft during the wars in Korea and Vietnam will be towed 24 miles offshore on Tuesday and sunk a day later. To minimize the risk of storms or tidal action affecting its position, it will be aligned north to south, bow out and stern to the distant shoreline. Early on sinking day, the Navy and its civilian scrappers, Resolve Marine Group of Port Everglades, Fla., will detonate preset charges to punch the last crucial holes in the hull to allow the carrier to take on seawater at a strategic pace and pattern so that it sinks "even keel, even trim." The slow-motion belly flop is expected to last at least five hours. "You're not going to see anything on the outside of the ship," Denise Johnston, Resolve Marine's vice president, warned would-be onlookers who might be expecting the wham-bam results of a high-rise building demolition. The Navy will establish a cordon around the Oriskany, but curious locals, visitors and veterans still plan to watch the planned sunrise sinking from boats a mile away. Named for the New York state battleground where the tide of the Revolutionary War turned in 1777, the Oriskany was authorized for construction by Congress in the heat of World War II, launched two months after that war ended and commissioned almost five years later on Sept. 25, 1950, when the Korean War was already in progress. Early in its active duty career, the Oriskany became a Hollywood backdrop. Scenes were shot aboard the carrier for "The Bridges of Toko-Ri," a 1955 Korean War drama starring William Holden and Grace Kelly. The ship was still rolling up film credits eight years ago when it appeared in "What Dreams May Come," a fantasy afterlife drama starring Robin Williams. Decommissioned in 1976 and maintained for possible reactivation until it was stricken from the naval registry 13 years later, the Oriskany was sold for scrap in 1994 but the contractor went bankrupt and the Navy repossessed the ship in 1997. A marine contractor towed the rusting hulk from Mare Island Navy Yard in Vallejo, Calif., around Cape Horn to Beaumont, Texas, in 1999, where it languished for four years in the Port Neches River. Faced with costly maintenance for an ever-growing fleet of inactive ships, the Navy began exploring alternatives. One possibility was working with maritime communities to incorporate vessels in their waterfront attractions. The Navy designated the Oriskany for the reefing project in 2003, when Pensacola civic boosters and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission expressed interest in developing a place where sea life could congregate and multiply, and thousands of visitors could come to catch or observe them. The ship was towed to Corpus Christi, Texas, for pre-sinking preparations, then here for its final port call on March 22. Before being towed here from Texas, the Oriskany was shorn of its mast and other protrusions that could snag nets or endanger divers. Some parts of its intricate innards were welded shut to prevent overly ambitious explorers from getting trapped. Despite what they contend are the best-laid plans, those orchestrating the carrier's sinking concede fate could literally upend their project's culmination. Unexpected winds, incomplete perforations or too much residual buoyancy in the vessel could keep the plummeting behemoth from its intended keel landing. When private diving groups brought the retired Navy landing ship Spiegel Grove to Key Largo in 2002, they had intended a similar upright landing but the vessel sank prematurely and landed on its side. After costly efforts to right it failed, Hurricane Dennis blew through the Keys last July and the storm's wave action rolled the ship into the position its sponsors had intended. "Something could happen, but we've put a lot of effort in for it to go down the way we want it," said Jones, who is hoping to use the Oriskany scuttling plan as a model — if all goes right — for trimming his fleet of 70 inactive ships by at least 20 over the next few years. The Coast Guard has signed off on the project as no threat to navigation. The topmost part of the submerged carrier, even if it sits up ramrod straight, will be 61 feet below the surface at mean low tide, allowing even the largest ships traveling in that part of the gulf to pass without hazard. "We expect fisheries to improve as a result of the reef,'' said Michael Bailey of the recreational fisheries commission for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's southeast region. Disputing claims of some environmentalists that artificial reefs concentrate fish in a way that makes them more vulnerable to anglers, he said such reefs in the Florida Keys had proved to create new habitats, expand fish stocks and take pressure off the natural seafloor formations. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission plans considerable post-scuttling inspections and will deploy helicopters ahead of the sinking to ensure there are no sea turtles or dolphins nearby, said Lee Schlesinger of the Artificial Reef Administration. A community replete with retired sailors and already a popular fishing and diving destination, the choice of Pensacola for the first inactive ship reef was championed by the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. A 2004 Florida State University study predicted surrounding Escambia County can expect $92 million a year in economic benefits from an artificial reef, said bureau spokeswoman Stacy Hopper. Said Jones of the ship's new role: "Oriskany will be performing one final service to the nation, even when it's sunk." |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #8 they sunk a Canadian ship off Mission Beach in San diego - great dive spot, except a couple have ventured in offlimits and paid the price, including Master Divers |
| Posted by: Frank G 2006-05-11 22:55 |
| #7 OMG- I *so* want to dive this thing!! SMN- this is IMO a much better use for the fine lady than breaking her up and selling the metal for scrap. She should be even more popular than the Spiegel Grove (a big troopship (I think) that was sunk as a reef off the Keys.) If they can get her down correctly, she will be a queen of the (not so) deep... Divers from the world over will take care of her and her memory. |
| Posted by: Chinter Flarong9283 2006-05-11 22:38 |
| #6 Weird, JoeM was just quoting from Drums Along the Mowhawk last night..... |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-11 16:42 |
| #5 But for Gawd's sake no drilling rigs. That's different. |
| Posted by: 6 2006-05-11 16:41 |
| #4 This would make for killer Discovery Channel fare, but I doubt a camera crew could get the clearance, or the life insurance, to make it happen. Fare well, Oriskany. Thank you for your service. |
| Posted by: matt from ill 2006-05-11 15:44 |
| #3 smn: Be at ease. This ship in its honorable end will serve the US in a noble manner. It will bring a profusion of wildlife to a big part of the Gulf, which in turn will improve the quality of life for those on the coast. Such quality inspires the young, some of whom will in turn grow up to become US Navy sailors. A dozen smaller craft meeting the same fate will restore much of our "arable ocean", which in past was destroyed through lack of foresight. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2006-05-11 14:45 |
| #2 I used to love diving wrecks. They very quickly become home to lots of marine life, and at the right latitude are a fabulous base for new coral reefs. I always find it interesting how much our Armed Forces are a support for the nature world, what with the wild areas around shooting ranges, sunken ships and so forth. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-05-11 14:32 |
| #1 Although a noble deed of intent; the thought of any carrier being sunk turns my stomach! I equate such majestic creations on par with any US city!! We saw how we felt when New Orleans sunk into the Gulf; I'll turn my head on this one...proceed! |
| Posted by: smn 2006-05-11 14:25 |