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| Science & Technology |
| Goodbye To The Oriskany |
| 2006-05-18 |
| Navy divers detonated explosives Wednesday aboard the USS Oriskany, sending the retired aircraft carrier on a 212-foot plunge to bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to create the world's largest intentional reef. Hundreds of Korean and Vietnam War veterans on charter boats watched as the carrier slowly sank about 24 miles off Pensacola Beach. The 888-foot-long ship, known as the "Mighty O," was commissioned in 1950 and was home to Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., when he served in Vietnam. It was also among the ships used by President John F. Kennedy as a show of force during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. The Oriskany was decommissioned in 1976 and now becomes the first ship sunk for reefing under a new Navy program to dispose of old warships. Clouds of brown and gray smoke rose in the sky after more than 500 pounds of plastic explosives went off about 11:30 a.m. EDT. The ship took about 45 minutes to go down. The Environmental Protection Agency in February approved the sinking of the ship with chemical toxins in electrical cables, insulation and paint still aboard. EPA officials said the toxins will slowly leach out over the estimated 100 years it will take the carrier to rust away and should pose no danger to marine life. Local leaders hope the carrier reef will bring a long-awaited economic infusion from sport divers and fishermen. A 2004 Florida State University study estimated Escambia County would see $92 million a year in economic benefits from an artificial reef. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #9 Unbelievable - I still can't believe the "Mighty O" could not had been saved as per a floating museum, not even by the town or city of Oriskany itself, nor by any of surrounding areas or by the State of New York. This was one of the best-known, near-legendary FIGHTING SHIPS in the US Navy, movie TOP GUN notwithstanding! |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2006-05-18 22:39 |
| #8 "...best use for old warships that you are otherwise going to scrap is as hard targets for weapons development or training." Sure. No argument there. But the America? The nations namesake. She should have been turned into a museum. Sink some other rust bucket...like, say, the Oriskany, Independence or the Kennedy. I guess I just have a soft spot for CV-66 because I served on her for three years. That's all. -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-05-18 21:02 |
| #7 Re: #4 I was incensed over the way they did the USS America. Easy, Manolo-- CV-66 died so that later ships and their crews might live. Having real-world battle damage data to study for design improvements is hard to beat. Anyway, FWIW, I've always thought for sentimental reasons that the best use for old warships that you are otherwise going to scrap is as hard targets for weapons development or training. It just seems proper, or completing a circle somehow...and they still wind up as reef structures if sited right. A winner all around, in my little world. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-05-18 18:10 |
| #6 Photos on strategypage. Click here |
| Posted by: 3dc 2006-05-18 17:23 |
| #5 They said they won't know for sure if she settled upright until later today, but they think she did: Link. |
| Posted by: Chinter Flarong9283 2006-05-18 15:02 |
| #4 I understand they were hoping she'd settle flat, keel even. Doesn't appear that they achieved this. I don't much care about the scuttling of the Oriskany, but I was incensed over the way they did the USS America. I served aboard her. R.I.P CV-66! -M |
| Posted by: Manolo 2006-05-18 14:15 |
| #3 Murdoc Online has a bunch of photos here. |
| Posted by: Chinter Flarong9283 2006-05-18 13:32 |
| #2 ABC calls it a sunken "battleship". I also think they mispronounced the name. Ore-es-karny? I thought it was Or-risk-anee. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2006-05-18 13:29 |
| #1 Tomorrow's headline: NAVY SINKS OWN SHIP, BUSH APPROVES" |
| Posted by: mcsegeek1 2006-05-18 13:13 |