Oriskany Sinking Today (May 17th)

[mike_s]

AP News story released


Navy sinks aircraft carrier to create reef
MELISSA NELSON
Associated Press
IN THE GULF OF MEXICO - 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.

 

[Daylonious]

Flight deck is supposed to be between 110 and 130 feet, with the bottom being around 220.

I understand that there's 96 hour ban on diving... can't wait to see if she sank right. Would love to get a dive in on her this summer!

D.

 

[mike_s]

Published - May, 17, 2006

UPDATE 11:50 a.m.: Oriskany has sunk
Larry Wheeler

Oriskany has sunk. The last tip of the Oriskany's hurricane bow disappeared into the Gulf at approximately 11 a.m.

Local officials are hopeful the Oriskany settled on the sea floor in an upright position. But they won't know for sure until Navy divers check the vessel later today.

Navy engineers predicted the Oriskany would sink evenly in a process that would take up to five hours. Instead, the old aircraft carrier went down in approximately 35 minutes, sinking sharply by the fantail.

"I thought it went down as planned, but it is hard to say," said Bill Dickson, Escambia County commissioner and retired Navy captain, who watched Oriskany's sinking from aboard the 85-foot yacht Nyhaven.

As an artificial reef, the Oriskany is more valuable if it settled upright. That would place its vertical command tower well within the limits of recreational divers. If the ship is leaning on the bottom, the tower will be deeper and harder to reach.

"We're all hoping as it settled on the bottom, it flattened out," said Edwin Roberts, former chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. "Either way, the wreck will be a huge attraction to sport fisherman," Roberts said.

Navy divers are expected to inspect Oriskany this afternoon to determine if all the explosive charges ignited. Their return to the surface will offer the first eyewitness account of the carrier's resting position.

The hundreds of spectator boats surrounding the carrier marked the sinking by sounding their horns.

As the carrier went down, its bow stuck up, straining the heavy metal anchor lines. The port side bow line appeared broken early in the process. Clouds of debris could be seen billowing from the hangar deck, and water churned and bubbled heavily at the submersion point. Towlines strained at the bow.

The 50-foot boat with the explosive generator and electronics gear appeared intact on the flight deck surface. The boat was expected to float away from the carrier after the Oriskany was fully submerged.

 

[MtnDiver]

I can't wait to see this video.

4 cameras mounted to Oriskany during sinking to document it for a Discovery Channel documentary.

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS01/605170330/1006'

 

[Carolina_Mike]

Does anyone know where there is a newsfeed of the sinking? There seems to be nothing compared to the S.G. Time to pack the doubles and come back to Florida for a tour. Just a bit closer than the Saratoga.

 

[mike_s]

Here are three more pics of the sinking.

1. pic of the charges blowing smoke
2. the ship listing to starboard
3. just the bow barely sticking up out of the water.

 

[H2Andy]

well, not to state the obvious, but the sinking didn't go according to plan

the sinking was supposed to be slow and controlled, and last up to 5 hours

instead, it was fast and furious, and lasted about 40 minutes

how likely do you guys think it is that the ship didn't end up flat on the bottom
as planned?

 

[mike_s]

I talked to someone a few minutes ago who was out at the site during the sinking. It was listing to starboard as it was sinking but "appaeared" to right itself as the drag of the flight deck got to the waterline.... so they are hopefull it's upright.

We won't know for sure until the Navy announces what it's divers found.

 

[ReefHound]

well, not to state the obvious, but the sinking didn't go according to plan

the sinking was supposed to be slow and controlled, and last up to 5 hours

instead, it was fast and furious, and lasted about 40 minutes

how likely do you guys think it is that the ship didn't end up flat on the bottom
as planned?

I wouldn't bet money on it, but then I had a hard time seeing how it would settle upright even if it went down slow and even. It just looks so top heavy.

But even if all the prayers are answered and she settles in as hoped, this will surely be a setback to further projects as something (I can think of a lot of things but too soon to speculate) went terribly wrong.

I hope we get lucky as I've already booked two dives on it next month.

 

[lamont]

that picture of the bow going under looks hopeful. considering how big of a ship it is, the stern at the point would have been sitting basically upright on the bottom.