Navy may sink carrier Forrestal

[Freds@Aquanauts]

And when they do the hunt will be on I'm quite sure for people to try and find them and dive them, regardless of depth I'm sure one day we or our children may see them again!

Freds

 

[DiverDuane]

The Oriskany was in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA before it was towed to Beaumont, TX. I do understand it was a bit smaller and it fit through the canal, but when has spending more money stopped the government from doing something? Still, I'm sure the California "Tree Huggers" will do their best to stop any reefing here.

DiverDuane

I don't see them towing it from the NorthEast US to California.

That's a LONG and EXPENSIVE tow, even if it fit through the Panama Canal, which it won't due to it's size. I surely don't see the Navy towing it around South America to sink it. The Oriskany cost over $1 million to tow on it's recent trip back to Texas for hurricane mooring the year before they sank it.

 

[james croft]

If Enterprise ever gets deco'd (2014 /sigh.. at least that gets me the time I need to get trained properly) and sunk I'll hire myself as a tour guide. I know that ship like the back of my hand.

I'd showcase the spaces/voids we fermented a bunch of home made wine.

The brig - yes, I spent some time there.

The starboard missile deck - where I caught a H.U.G.E. shark (less than 2' long ) while anchored off the coast of the Phillipines.

The elevator where I tried to throw a gym-bag with a monkey inside it from the pier. The bag fell in and the poor monkey drown.

My own personal shower stall I was able to keep for myself because I pissed in it all the time.

The cage to the Special Weapons area where some Marine busted my jaw with the butt end of a pump action shotgun for 'crossing the orange tape'. Didn't help at all I was a mouthy punk. Maybe that sign about 'prosecute with extreme prejudice' is still there. (Kinda reminds me of the Grim Reaper signs)

How cool would that be, to visit all these places again, only this time underwater?

Steele,
As I kid I lived in the Phillippines (1967-69).My old man was a Commander stationed at Sangley Point. The Enterprise anchored in Manila Bay and we were invited to dine aboard the ship. Being an avid fisherman I took my fishing gear with me. Man was I PO'd when my line would not even hit the water from the flight deck. No one can imagine how BIG that ship was! The Captain heard about my plight during dinner and arranged to lower one of the aircraft elevators down so I could wet a line. I caught 5-6 large fish the locals called Lapu Lapu that were pretty good eating. They cooked them up as I caught them. Not sure if any got down to the brig but if they did I hope you enjoyed them.

 

[aue-mike]

The Oriskany was in the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, Vallejo, CA before it was towed to Beaumont, TX. I do understand it was a bit smaller and it fit through the canal, but when has spending more money stopped the government from doing something? Still, I'm sure the California "Tree Huggers" will do their best to stop any reefing here.

DiverDuane

The ORISKANY was towed around South America to get to Texas -- she did not go thru the canal. It was a record length tow, btw...

 

[DiverDuane]

The ORISKANY was towed around South America to get to Texas -- she did not go thru the canal. It was a record length tow, btw...

Thanks AUE-Mike!

DiverDuane

 

[Jorbar1551]

California. I Will Enlist If They Tow It To Cali

 

[amaze]

Was at a reef management meeting where sinking this one was discussed, it will be at least 600 feet deep...that's going to be a serious technical dive.

 

[archman]

At those depths, I'd be surprised if any state maintains interest, unless the Navy pays them to dispose of the ships. What's the economic or ecological benefit of sinking a ship in 600 feet of water?

I'm sure a lot of state agencies are ticked off, after the work they've put in towards securing these ships as fishing and/or diving resources.

 

[mike_s]

At those depths, I'd be surprised if any state maintains interest, unless the Navy pays them to dispose of the ships.

I think you're right. If it's out past 3 miles then it's out of state waters anyway. Many a location in states to get 600 feet deep, you'll definately have to go out past 3 miles.

Example, the Oriskany is over almost 20 miles directly off the shore (22 from P'cola pass). It took that far to get to 210 feet to the sand.

What's the economic or ecological benefit of sinking a ship in 600 feet of water?

.

The benefit of sinking them that deep (or deeper) is that they don't have to do as much work removing toxins if it's sunk in "really really deep water". (this according to some statement the Navy made on sinking some ships in the middle of the Atlantic a few years back).

Here's another theory though. The reason the Navy is sinking this deep, or chose this ship which requires a deep sinking, is to get our far to see and test a new weapon on the ship, or series of weapons, without a lot of public fanfare like what the Oriskany got when it sunk.

 

[archman]

Hee hee, Texas' territorial sea runs out to 9 miles. But that's beside the point. Even though most of these ships would be sunk in federal waters offshore of a particular state, the state that won the *bid* for a particular ship would pay at least part of the cost, or at least continuing maintenance costs (i.e. buoys).

Of course, that bidding was contingent upon a state's interest in using said ship as an artificial reef for fishing, scuba diving, or fishery enhancement purposes. After all, the major users of that wreck would be people from the closest coastal town.

With these so-called "classified" restrictions belatedly making an appearance for the supercarriers, there's now far less *in it* for the states. Many agencies are undoubtedly feeling pretty betrayed right now.

I wonder if the unforseen cleanup costs incurred for the Oriskany had anything to do with the Navy's new position. As I recall, one of the primary motivating forces for sinking these ships in the first place was that it would be much cheaper than scrapping. This classified business might be nothing more than a cop-out by DoD penny pinchers looking for the cheapest possible disposal option.