From the Dallas Morning News
Under and out for USS Oriskany
Aircraft carrier leaving Corpus bay to become artificial reef in Florida
08:37 PM CDT on Sunday, July 25, 2004
By SCOTT WILLIAMS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
CORPUS CHRISTI Not far from the decommissioned USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier turned museum, another carrier sits overlooking Corpus Christi Bay. Soon the USS Oriskany will make its final voyage this one to the bottom of the sea more than 20 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
The Oriskany, named for a Revolutionary War battle near Oriskany, N.Y., is undergoing a final cleaning before being towed toward Pensacola in early August. Once there, explosives will be installed and the ship sunk in 212 feet of water. It will become an artificial reef expected to generate more than $90 million a year in spending from recreational divers and anglers.
Texas, Florida and three other states vied for the Oriskany, decommissioned in 1976, said Pat Doland, deputy director for congressional and public affairs for the Naval Sea Systems Command. It is among more than two-dozen the Navy plans to turn over to states for use as artificial reefs.
While in Corpus Christi, the Oriskany is being rid of fuels, oils, asbestos and other toxic materials, loose debris and anything not permanently attached to the ship, Ms. Doland said.
"You obviously don't want things to float up when you sink a vessel," she said.
Texas will get a chance to apply for other inactive ships destined for the bottom of the sea, she said. They range in size from a 437-foot missile cruiser to the 1,086-foot Forrestal-class aircraft carrier.
Paul Hammerschmidt, artificial reef program director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said 13 states are vying for the 24 ships and that he wants as many vessels as possible to augment the artificial reef program.
Workers who built the ships probably never imagined that the Navy would someday sink them. But it's expensive and time-consuming to turn inactive ships into scrap, and sinking them attracts divers, fish and anglers, boosting tourism and turning a useless piece of metal into an economic benefit.
Donald Gossard, president of the Oriskany Reunion Association, made up of veterans who served on the ship, said he and others would have preferred to see the ship become a museum. But it had fallen into disrepair, turning a once gleaming war machine into a decaying hulk.
"She looked like she needed a lot of restoration," said Mr. Gossard, 61, who last saw the ship in 1990. "There was a lot of rust, and she was just going into great disrepair."
Mr. Gossard, who served on the Oriskany from 1962 to 1966, said he and others fondly recall their time aboard. He also credits the Oriskany with playing a role in his 38-year marriage. He met his wife on a blind date while in port in Bremerton, Wash.
The keel of this Essex-class carrier was laid in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard on May 1, 1944. It was launched on Oct. 13, 1945. Because World War II was over, the Oriskany wasn't completed until the Korean conflict. For most of her days, she served in the western Pacific, including extensive tours of duty off Vietnam, where 44 crewmembers died in October 1966 during a fire in the forward compartment.
Pensacola is perfect for the Oriskany's final resting place, said Vann Goodloe, former vice president for the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.
"This is where naval aviation was born," he said, "and the centerpiece of naval aviation is the aircraft carrier."
Ms. Dolan said the Navy reviewed several factors in deciding where the Oriskany should be sunk. Pensacola's historical relationship with naval aviation was among the considerations as was the $1 million in financial incentives the area offered to help pay the costs.
After the explosives are detonated, the ship will rest on its keel with 61 feet of water above it. The flight deck and super structure will be accessible to recreational divers, said Robert Turpin, chief of Escambia County's marine resources division.
"There's a lot of ship down there that should be at the recreational diving depth," he said.
Mr. Turpin said an economic impact study conducted by Florida State University in 1998 found that Pensacola's 95 artificial reefs generate $93 million annually in spending. The Oriskany is expected to have an equivalent impact, he said.
Mr. Hammerschmidt said Texas has 49 sites permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as artificial reef sites. The state uses construction materials, oil and gas platforms, barges and other maritime vessels to create artificial reefs.
That may sound like so much trash being dumped into the ocean, but the reefs attract fish and the divers and anglers who enjoy them. The Gulf of Mexico is flat and featureless, he said, and adding materials to the bottom creates structure that attracts fish.
"When you add materials like concrete or bricks or ships or oil and gas platforms, that creates that structure and a profile that fish like," he said.
Scott Williams is a Corpus Christi free-lance writer.
TwoBit
Under and out for USS Oriskany
Aircraft carrier leaving Corpus bay to become artificial reef in Florida
08:37 PM CDT on Sunday, July 25, 2004
By SCOTT WILLIAMS / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News
CORPUS CHRISTI Not far from the decommissioned USS Lexington, an aircraft carrier turned museum, another carrier sits overlooking Corpus Christi Bay. Soon the USS Oriskany will make its final voyage this one to the bottom of the sea more than 20 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Fla.
The Oriskany, named for a Revolutionary War battle near Oriskany, N.Y., is undergoing a final cleaning before being towed toward Pensacola in early August. Once there, explosives will be installed and the ship sunk in 212 feet of water. It will become an artificial reef expected to generate more than $90 million a year in spending from recreational divers and anglers.
Texas, Florida and three other states vied for the Oriskany, decommissioned in 1976, said Pat Doland, deputy director for congressional and public affairs for the Naval Sea Systems Command. It is among more than two-dozen the Navy plans to turn over to states for use as artificial reefs.
While in Corpus Christi, the Oriskany is being rid of fuels, oils, asbestos and other toxic materials, loose debris and anything not permanently attached to the ship, Ms. Doland said.
"You obviously don't want things to float up when you sink a vessel," she said.
Texas will get a chance to apply for other inactive ships destined for the bottom of the sea, she said. They range in size from a 437-foot missile cruiser to the 1,086-foot Forrestal-class aircraft carrier.
Paul Hammerschmidt, artificial reef program director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, said 13 states are vying for the 24 ships and that he wants as many vessels as possible to augment the artificial reef program.
Workers who built the ships probably never imagined that the Navy would someday sink them. But it's expensive and time-consuming to turn inactive ships into scrap, and sinking them attracts divers, fish and anglers, boosting tourism and turning a useless piece of metal into an economic benefit.
Donald Gossard, president of the Oriskany Reunion Association, made up of veterans who served on the ship, said he and others would have preferred to see the ship become a museum. But it had fallen into disrepair, turning a once gleaming war machine into a decaying hulk.
"She looked like she needed a lot of restoration," said Mr. Gossard, 61, who last saw the ship in 1990. "There was a lot of rust, and she was just going into great disrepair."
Mr. Gossard, who served on the Oriskany from 1962 to 1966, said he and others fondly recall their time aboard. He also credits the Oriskany with playing a role in his 38-year marriage. He met his wife on a blind date while in port in Bremerton, Wash.
The keel of this Essex-class carrier was laid in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard on May 1, 1944. It was launched on Oct. 13, 1945. Because World War II was over, the Oriskany wasn't completed until the Korean conflict. For most of her days, she served in the western Pacific, including extensive tours of duty off Vietnam, where 44 crewmembers died in October 1966 during a fire in the forward compartment.
Pensacola is perfect for the Oriskany's final resting place, said Vann Goodloe, former vice president for the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce.
"This is where naval aviation was born," he said, "and the centerpiece of naval aviation is the aircraft carrier."
Ms. Dolan said the Navy reviewed several factors in deciding where the Oriskany should be sunk. Pensacola's historical relationship with naval aviation was among the considerations as was the $1 million in financial incentives the area offered to help pay the costs.
After the explosives are detonated, the ship will rest on its keel with 61 feet of water above it. The flight deck and super structure will be accessible to recreational divers, said Robert Turpin, chief of Escambia County's marine resources division.
"There's a lot of ship down there that should be at the recreational diving depth," he said.
Mr. Turpin said an economic impact study conducted by Florida State University in 1998 found that Pensacola's 95 artificial reefs generate $93 million annually in spending. The Oriskany is expected to have an equivalent impact, he said.
Mr. Hammerschmidt said Texas has 49 sites permitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as artificial reef sites. The state uses construction materials, oil and gas platforms, barges and other maritime vessels to create artificial reefs.
That may sound like so much trash being dumped into the ocean, but the reefs attract fish and the divers and anglers who enjoy them. The Gulf of Mexico is flat and featureless, he said, and adding materials to the bottom creates structure that attracts fish.
"When you add materials like concrete or bricks or ships or oil and gas platforms, that creates that structure and a profile that fish like," he said.
Scott Williams is a Corpus Christi free-lance writer.
TwoBit
