Uss Oriskany

Oriskany

Reef Divers .com

Place a link to your web site here.

Click to request rates.

The USS Oriskany Sank In 37 Minutes. The Aircraft Carrier "Mighty O" Plunged To The Bottom Of The Gulf Of Mexico Off Pensacola Florida For Use As A Diving and Fishing Reef.

U.S. Navy photos by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Jeffrey P. Kraus

Everything went according to plan on May 17, 2006 as the USS Oriskany aircraft carrier sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico in 37 minutes. The Oriskany is lying perfectly erect on the sea floor pointing due south, 24 miles off Pensacola Florida.

Navy ordnance technicians aboard the Powhatan sent a signal to a ordnance control box on the Oriskany's flight deck that detonated 500 pounds of C4 explosives, rupturing the ship's hull at the intake valves and initiating the sinking of the Oriskany.
The 888-foot aircraft carrier was sent to its grave as hundreds of spectators watched from a distance. Coast Guard vessels and smaller craft from the sheriff and police departments of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa counties and Pensacola patrolled a one mile safety perimeter around the vessel.

It is the first time a ship this size has been sunk deliberately to become a reef. The ship was docked at the Pensacola Naval Air Station after arriving from Texas, where it rode out the 2005 hurricane season. A special ceremony for former crew members and invited guests was conducted a couple days before the sinking at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola NAS.

National Geographic filmmakers documented the entire preparation and scuttling process.

The USS Oriskany Reef is visited by fishing and scuba diving charters. The "Mighty O" was one of the Navy's most heavily used aircraft carriers during the Vietnam War. Dozens of Oriskany pilots, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., were shot down and held as prisoners of war. Pensacola's rich history in Naval aviation played a major role in the decision to sink the ship off its coast line. Pensacola is known as the Cradle of Naval Aviation and home of the Naval Aviation Museum.

The Oriskany Reef will be a major habitat for marine life. Scuba divers and fishermen are expected to flock to the site.

The ship is approximately 150 feet tall and is a fantastic fishing and diving venue, making the Mighty "O" a world-class artificial reef. The artificial reef attracts a quantity and diversity of marine life that is rarely seen in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

The sinking of the Oriskany is the first in a new Navy program to dispose of surplus vessels by turning them into artificial reefs.

Oriskany Reef Information

The following is the official Escambia County media release concerning the Oriskany Reef, including coordinates and safety advice. Escambia County Web site: http://www.myescambia.com/departments/public_info_commun/documents/06-0523-Oriskany.doc

Links To Pensacola News Journal Articles About The USS Oriskany History & Sinking:

Place a link to your web site here.

Click to request rates.