The Pensacola News Journal is doing an exceptionally fine job of telling the stories of the ceremony on May 13, speaking
with shipmates, adding photos, and will be keeping us all informed about the actual sinking. I hope you will turn to
their website to read all the latest. The articles are too numerous to copy/paste. I have printed all of the articles
for our scrapbooks at the Oriskany Museum. Thanks, News Journal, for the super reporting!!!
Thanks again to all of the faithful shipmates and friends who send alerts to the latest happenings. These
articles are of great help if you're planning to visit Pensacola during the time of the sinking! In Pensacola starting
May 12 LOOK FOR ORA MEMBERSHIP CHAIRMAN MIKE HAJEK AND THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE WHO WILL BE ON HAND IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS HOPING
TO RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS TO THE USS ORISKANY REUNION ASSOCIATION. The committee will also be available to meet already
registered members, and we all hope you'll find each other!
Karen,
I’ve been getting lots
of calls from folks wondering what activities will be going on in Pensacola
for the weekend of the reception at the National Museum of Naval Aviation on May 13th. To help spread
the word, I would like to pass on some additional Pensacola info for you –
Saturday May 13th
and Sunday May 14th we have arranged for charter boats to offer short trips to view the Oriskany dockside.
This will be the best opportunity to view her up close since access to her on base is very limited. Cost will be $10
per person (just to cover the captains’ expenses). Interested individuals should contact us through the message
board at www.ussoriskanyonline.com or by e-mail at mbtjim@cox.net . Spaces are limited. Trips will take approximately 1 hour, and will run from 2-5pm on the 13th and 2-4pm on the 14th.
On Sunday, May 14th
from 3-7pm, Kooter Browns West End will be hosting the official www.ussoriskanyonline.com happy hour in honor of former crew members. Kooter Browns is an important hangout for the Navy folks here
in Pensacola, and John and Dale Maxwell are eager to show everyone a great time.
This is best described as “the party away from the flagpole”. Former crew members are encouraged to bring
photo albums, cruise books, etc. and help share the stories of the past with each other and the “new guys”.
See www.ussoriskanyonline.com for more details.
Through the weekend, MBT Divers will be hosting an open house which will provide an opportunity for interested individuals
to ask questions and view presentations concerning the future dive operations and her future home. We are really trying
to make her history an integral part of the experience for visiting divers. We encourage all former crew members to
come by to view and provide guidance on our displays dedicated towards this purpose. We will also have the “mini
Oriskany” mardi gras float on display.
We have blocked a large number
of rooms for the weekend at the Suburban Lodge in Pensacola. It’s
a nice place, close to base, with a discounted rate (I believe it’s $69 per night up to 4 people). As of Tuesday
there were still lots of rooms available. For reservations, folks can call (850) 453-4140 – tell them that MBT Divers referred you for the discounted rate. More information about them with pictures can
be found at www.suburbanlodge.com , search “Pensacola”.
All of the dates listed above
are subject to change in the event of another major delay in the project-extremely unlikely at this point. Updates to
all activities can be found on the message board at www.ussoriskanyonline.com
Thanks for all of your hard work,
and please let us know if we can ever be of help!
Jim Phillips
www.ussoriskanyonline.com
www.mbtdivers.com
(850) 455-7702
http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/reefing/oriskanyfaqs.htmThis is an official U.S. Navy Website Last Updated: 13 Apr-2006
ORISKANY Frequently Asked Questions
Q. When will the ex-ORISKANY be sunk?
A. The Navy
has established the notional sink date as May 17, 2006, subject to weather conditions.
Q. Where
will the ex-ORISKANY be sunk?
A. Approximately 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola. The site
is part of the permitted Escambia East Large Area Artificial Reef site, which is 77 square miles. The proposed location is
30* 02' 38" N Lat
87* 00' 25" W Lon
Q. How deep is the water
where the ship will be sunk?
A. Ex-ORISKANY will be sunk at a depth of 212 feet, at mean low water. This
will provide a 61 foot navigational clearance at mean low water above the ship if the ship settles on its keel. A 55-foot
minimum navigational clearance at mean low water is required by the Army Corps of Engineers permit.
Q. Will
the Navy make other ships available to be sunk? When? What ships? How does the process work?
A. Yes, the
Navy has identified additional inactive ships that potentially can be donated for sinking and use as artificial reefs. These
ships are designated for disposal and may be utilized for artificial reefing, Navy deep-water sink exercises or domestic dismantling
based on the needs of the Navy to further reduce the size of its inactive ship inventory.
Additional ships may be added to this list as active ships are decommissioned and designated for disposal, and as
other inactive ships currently held in a retention status are redesignated for disposal. The Navy is currently working with
the Atlantic States and Gulf
States Marine Fisheries Commissions on an improved process for transfer of ships to states once all efforts to sink ex-ORISKANY
are completed and lessons learned are incorporated in the transfer process. It is the Navy’s intent to start making
some of these ships available for application in the fall of 2006.
Q. How will the ship be sunk? What types of explosives
will be used?
A. The sinking will be conducted in accordance with an engineered sink plan. Main sea chest
piping within eight machinery spaces will be breached by simultaneous detonations of small C4 explosive charges in 22 locations
internal to the ship. Progressive flooding will sink the ship. A one-mile stand-off zone will be established around the ship
during the sinking for the protection of public observers.
Q. Will the public be able to see the sinking?
A.
A stand-off zone will be established around the perimeter of the ship during the sinking. The public may witness the sinking
of the ship outside of this stand-off zone, but because the explosives are internal to the ship and will not cause damage
to the hull, it is not likely that there will be anything to see except the ship slowly settling into the water over a five-hour
period.
Q. How long will it take to sink the vessel?
A. From the time of the explosive
charges until the vessel is no longer visible will take about 5 hours.
Q. Will the ship be open to the public at any time
prior to the sinking?
A. The ship is not being prepared for general public tours. While the ship is currently
accessible by a trained workforce conducting environmental and scuttling preparations, several fall and trip hazards exist
which make the ship unsuitable for touring by the general public.
Q. Where will the vessel berthed in Pensacola ?
A. The ship will be berthed at Allegheny
Pier, on Pensacola Naval Air Station.
Q. Will a memorial be held? If so, when and where?
A. The
Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation are making plans to conduct a memorial service
at the National Museum of Naval Aviation on May 13. ORISKANY veterans can register at the website www.Oriskanymemorial.com. The point of contact for this event is Debi Panyko, who
can be reached at 850-438-4081.
Q. How
soon after sinking can people dive on the vessel?
A. This will be determined by the State of Florida’s
Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Due to the possibility of air venting after sinking, the State is anticipating
to restrict diving for at least two days after the ship is sunk.
Q. Have there been any modifications for diver safety?
A. Yes, FWC requested several modifications of the superstructure area that will be accessible to recreational
divers. These modifications included removal of protrusions on bulkheads and the removal of glass from windows. No safety
modifications were made below the flight deck.
Q. Will the Navy/State put mooring points on the
ship to provide tie ups for diving?
A. This was considered by the State of Florida during its
inspections of ex-ORISKANY. The state determined that there were adequate existing features of the ship that will facilitate
anchoring points for dive boats.
Q. What is special about the process to prepare the ex-ORISKANY as an artificial
reef?
A. The reefing of the ex-ORISKANY is the start of a completely new program for the Navy. It is the
first vessel that the Navy will sink intentionally to form an artificial reef. The authority was recently granted in the FY
04 National Defense Authorization Bill (HR 1588 Sec 1013), which permits decommissioned ships stricken from the Naval Vessel
Register to be transferred to States for use as artificial reefs. This was also the first time the Navy was using the Draft
National Guidance to prepare a vessel for reefing and the first time the Navy was seeking, for the reefing of the vessel,
a risk based disposal approval under 40 CFR 761.62(c).
Q. How did the Navy clean the vessel?
A.
The new national cleanup guidance identifies materials of concern that may be found aboard vessels, likely areas where they
may be found, and cleanup goals. Using survey information, the Navy removed oil and fuel, asbestos, certain paints, and loose
debris as recommended by the guidance. We also identified and removed all liquid
Q. What sort of remediation
has been done to the vessel?
A. The environmental remediation actions are defined in the EPA’s BMP
document. The Navy’s contract with Resolve Marine Group/ESCO Marine Joint Venture, awarded in Sep 03, was based on the
draft EPA BMP document. The scope of work to prepare ex-ORISKANY for sinking as an artificial reef included removal/disposal
of liquid hydrocarbons (fuels and oils) throughout the ship so that the ship is essentially petroleum free; removal/disposal
of any loose or detached friable asbestos containing material; removal/ disposal of all capacitors, transformers or other
liquid PCB containing components; removal and disposal of all loose paint accumulated on deck surfaces, bulkheads and overhead
areas; removal/disposal of trash, loose debris, cleaning materials, and any floatable materials not permanently attached to
the ship or that could be transported in the water column during sinking; removal/disposal of batteries, halon, mercury, antifreeze,
coolants, fire extinguishing agents, black and gray water, and chromated ballast water. Most of this work was completed in
December 2004, with final cleaning completed in Beaumont, TX,
while
the ship awaited tow in February and March 2006.
Q. How was the ex-ORISKANY reefing preparation plan
developed?
A. The ex-ORISKANY reefing preparation plan was developed using the Draft National Guidance:
Best Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs. It was the first application of the Draft National Guidance to a vessel being prepared as a reef.
Q. What
documentation did Navy have available to support the environmental cleaning associated with the reefing preparation of the
ex-ORISKANY in accordance with the Draft National Guidance?
A. Navy, as a part of its inactivation process
for every vessel, performs many types of surveys. For the ex-ORISKANY, these surveys included documentation on the liquids (oils, fuels, water), asbestos, PCBs, Freon, mercury,
and radiological materials that had been onboard and removed from the vessel. These documents provided a valuable baseline
for the Navy as the statement of work was developed and for the Navy contractor performing the work. Navy personnel worked
closely with the contractor to inspect for any materials not on the inventories, which required management. When there was
a question about proper management for a material, appropriate sampling and analysis was completed. The results of that analytical
work were coordinated with the appropriate regulatory authority.
Q. Is there any concern about debris or oil on the
water surface after the ship goes down?
A. Some debris is expected to be released from the ship due to the
force of rising water within the hull. To prepare for this, the same contractor that has completed environmental remediation
of the ship will also be on site for two days after the sinking with clean-up vessels equipped with skimmers.
Q. What
will happen to the equipment that is onboard the ex-ORISKANY during the sinking?
A. There will be a small
“float-off” package remaining after the ship goes down. This is a small boat that contains the monitoring equipment
used by the operations team, a small generator used to power this equipment and support the team that will be onboard during
the tow, and the fuel bladder for the generator. This boat will be retrieved immediately after the sinking by an operations
support vessel. The use of this float-off package will prevent contamination of the ship during the sinking.
Q. What
are the plans to protect the ship if bad weather (e.g. Hurricane) occurs while it is berthed in Pensacola?
A. The 2006 hurricane season does
not begin until June 1, 2006. NAS Pensacola will assist with
heavy weather mooring as necessary during the month of May
Q. Why did the ex-ORISKANY require special approval
from the EPA to sink the vessel?
A. There are solid PCB containing materials onboard the ex-ORISKANY, typical
of virtually all other ships built before the 1980s. After cleaning, some of these solid PCB containing materials still remain
onboard the ex-ORISKANY. EPA has granted a risk-based disposal approval to allow solid PCB containing materials to remain
onboard, based on the Navy’s demonstration that the risks to people using the reef, and plants and animals living and
feeding on the reef, are acceptable.
Navy was issued the risk-based Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) disposal approval
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IV on February 15, 2006. The risk-based
PCB disposal approval was issued pursuant to EPA regulations and is based on EPA’s findings that the disposal action
will not pose an unreasonable risk of injury to health or the environment.
Q. What happens to the vessel
now that remediation is complete?
A. The ship was towed to Pensacola, Florida where final preparations
for the sinking are continuing, including dogging manholes and hatches open or shut and cutting bulkhead openings in accordance
with sink plan requirements to ensure proper flooding. Explosive charges will be placed at each designated location and detonation
cords will be run to the main deck in preparation for the final demolition priming at the sink site.
Q. How
has EPA been involved in the development of the Prospective Risk Assessment Model (PRAM)?
A. From the very
initiation of PRAM in 2001, the Navy has involved EPA in the design of model in periodic working group meetings throughout
its development. In August 2004, EPA assigned personnel from their Office of Research and Development to review the current
version of PRAM.
From this, EPA ORD identified changes to increase the conservatism of the model, and to expand the
capacity of the model to include ecological risk assessments, and to develop and integrate a time delay model to assess the
effects over the initial one to two years after sinking of a ship with some solid PCB containing materials onboard.
Upon
delivery of PRAM and the ex-ORISKANY risk assessments to EPA in mid-June 2005, EPA Region 4 conducted an internal peer review
of PRAM and the ex-ORISKANY risk assessments while an external peer review was conducted by the EPA Science Advisory Board
(www.epa.gov/sab). The SAB completed their review on October 12, 2005.
Q. How
much money has the Navy spent on ex-ORISKANY with all the delays? Isn’t this effort becoming unaffordable? Wouldn’t
it have just been cheaper to scrap her after all?
A. Upon completion of the project, the Navy will have
spent $ 13.29M on ex-ORISKANY to complete the environmental preparations for reefing in conformance with EPA guidance, to
accomplish the sink preparations to allow internal flooding of the ship and to execute the scuttling event, $3.07M on towing
and berthing, and $ 4.1M on the development and updating of the Prospective Risk Assessment Model to assess the risks associated
with sinking ships as artificial reefs and ex-ORISKANY risk assessments. Of this amount, $ 1.0M is to be reimbursed by Escambia County as provided
in the State of Florida’s November 2003 application for the ship.
The
$ 13.29 M expended on the environmental preparations in conformance with EPA’s draft Best Management Practices guidance
document, accomplishing the sink preparations and executing the sink event is still less than the cost of dismantling this
ship. The sink event includes maintaining a stand-off perimeter from the ship at the reef site before sinking, securing the
ship in the 4-point mooring, conducting the event, and picking up any debris on the water surface resulting from the sinking.
This is still less than the cost of ship dismantling.
Based on the Navy’s actual cost experience of domestically
dismantling and recycling 36 frigates, destroyers, and cruisers over the past five years, dismantling of the 32,000 ton ex-ORISKANY
would cost approximately $ 24M. The cost of development of the Prospective Risk Assessment Model (PRAM) is an investment in
the future. It will enable the Navy to assess the risks of solid PCB containing materials on any ship to be sunk as an artificial
reef, in order to ensure that the vessel will not present an unacceptable risk to the environment or human health.
Validation
of the PRAM through the peer reviews conducted by EPA will facilitate a streamlined and efficient process for subsequent ships.
The Navy is working on a national permit based on PRAM that will give Navy artificial reefing authority to efficiently transfer
additional ships to States for sinking as artificial reefs.
The PRAM could also be utilized to assess the risks of
solid PCB containing materials on MARAD ships to be sunk as an artificial reef. Overall, a RAND Corp report in 2001 estimated
that reefing obsolete Navy and Maritime Administration (MARAD) ships could save taxpayers as much as $1.5 billion compared
to having a total dependence on domestic ship dismantling as a method of reducing the Navy and MARAD's inactive ship inventories.
Q. Who
will pay for berthing the ship in Pensacola ? How much will this cost?
A. Navy Inactive Ships will be responsible for the cost berthing the
ship and will reimburse the Naval Air Station Pensacola $200K for the cost of berthing the ship during it final sink preparations.
Q. What challenges did the Navy and its contractors face to seek this approval?
A.
Since the ex-ORISKANY reef is not yet established, sampling the water or fish at the proposed site would not tell us anything
about the safety of the future artificial reef. Because of this, the Navy had to develop a highly sophisticated computer model
to predict conditions on the future ex-ORISKANY reef.
The Navy prepared an innovative Predictive Risk Assessment Model (PRAM), as well as other supporting documentation, which depended on reef site specific information as well as information related to the type, quantity, and concentration
of solid PCB containing materials onboard the vessel.
The PCB concentrations predicted by the computer models were
then used to complete a human health risk assessment and an ecological risk assessment. Quality assurance and data validation
at each step in the process was Navy’s highest priority to ensure that the new reef would be truly protective of human
health and the environment.
This is an official U.S. Navy Website
Last Updated: 13-Apr-2006
http://peoships.crane.navy.mil/reefing/oriskanyfaqs.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contributed,
YNCS Don Harribine,
USN(ret)
Published - March, 26, 2006
Fetterman's passing leaves void in area
A
few days after retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman underwent surgery last fall, his friend and Community Maritime Park associate
Quint Studer stopped by Sacred Heart Hospital for a visit.
"When I got to the room, he was asleep," Studer recalled.
"After a few minutes, he woke up suddenly, saw me, and the very first words out of his mouth were, 'I think I've found another
$12 million.' "
Studer wasn't surprised by the admiral awakening with thoughts of $12 million for a maritime museum,
which is to be a key element of the park, on his mind.
Adm. Fetterman, who died Friday at the age of 73, was that type
of man, Studer said. He was a tireless civic leader who dreamed big, never stopped working for Pensacola and always was thinking
of how to make it a better place to live.
"He never, ever bragged about his accomplishments," Studer said. "What drove
him was that he had tremendous empathy for others. He was short in stature, but a giant in heart. I think God gave him an
extra dose of optimism."
Adm. Fetterman's death leaves a huge hole in the ranks of Pensacola Bay Area civic leadership.
"I
don't think that anybody else can come close to matching his involvement in this community," said Pensacola banker and community
activist Buzz Ritchie. "He's had a huge impact on our area, and his death leaves a major void."
The former Navy fighter
pilot and chief of Naval Education and Training enjoyed invaluable connections to the power brokers in Washington, D.C., and
at the Pentagon.
Along with University of West Florida President John Cavanaugh and Studer, Adm. Fetterman was one
of the three principal proponents for the proposed Community Maritime Park. Approval for the park is expected Monday when
the Pensacola City Council meets on the issue.
And Adm. Fetterman largely was responsible for bringing the Oriskany,
a decommissioned aircraft carrier, to Pensacola to be sunk in May in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef. After more
than a year of political wrangling, the Oriskany arrived in Pensacola last week.
Adm. Fetterman had planned to visit
the ship, temporarily moored at Pensacola Naval Air Station, on Saturday. He had planned to speak about the park before the
City Council on Monday.
"We knew he had health challenges, and we have been preparing to carry on," said Mort O'Sullivan,
a Pensacola accountant and financial adviser for the Community Maritime Park. "I think because of his death, everyone is more
energized and more motivated than ever to see this project through."
Adm. Fetterman's death also comes at a critical
time for the Military Regional Oversight Committee, a group of about 20 leaders from Escambia and Santa Rosa counties that
lobbies to keep area bases open. It was co-founded by Adm. Fetterman in 1995.
The committee had some key wins during
last year's round of the Base Realignment and Closure process when the area was able to keep 800 jobs the Department of Defense
initially recommended be eliminated or sent elsewhere. Adm. Fetterman had argued at a regional hearing to keep those jobs.
With
thousands of military and civilian jobs coming to Eglin and Hurlburt Air Force bases in the near future, the committee is
planning to expand to include Okaloosa and Walton counties' leaders in the group.
"I have grave concern. No one will
ever replace Adm. Fetterman," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, who has served on the committee since it started.
"I
just hope within the region we can find someone who will step up and provide similar regional leadership. Otherwise, we stand
a chance of seeing that regional leadership go away without Jack Fetterman."
The group also stands to lose Adm. Fetterman's
political and military connections.
His connections gave the group an edge over other communities that were lobbying
to get the jobs away from Pensacola, Salter said.
"He could get us to the top, and other communities did not have that
luxury," Salter said.
Committee Chairman Pete Gandy, CEO of Santa Rosa Medical Center, also said Adm. Fetterman's access
was unmatched.
"He had access to anyone in the Pentagon, the Navy and congressional leaders," he said. "He was recognized
by all as the expert."
But Gandy is confident the committee will carry on.
"There's an awful lot of good folks
in the military community here," he said.
Adm. Fetterman became president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation
in 1993. He retired Wednesday.
A search committee for the admiral's replacement was formed before his retirement. A
new CEO is expected to be announced by May.
"There's a big void, no question about it," said retired Navy Capt. Bob
Rasmussen, the museum's director. "He set the tone, the character and direction of the foundation."
Published - March,
17, 2006
Oriskany leaves Texas, should be at NAS on Monday or Tuesday
From staff reports
The
decommissioned aircraft carrier Oriskany left Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday
at 9:55 a.m. and should arrive at Pensacola Naval Air Station on Monday or Tuesday.
The long-awaited departure of the veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars was delayed last week because of high winds in Texas. However, by Thursday, seas were calm and tow boats began pulling the rusting aircraft
carrier on its 600-mile journey.
The ship will be cleaned at Pensacola Naval Air Station,
then towed 22.5 miles offshore, where it will be sunk as an artificial reef and diving spot. The U.S. Navy said the Oriskany
could be sunk May 17 if weather permits.
The ship is expected to draw hundreds of divers
and could generate more than $90 million in economic benefits for the Pensacola area every
year, a Florida State
University study has suggested.
Published - March,
21, 2006
Oriskany's arrival delayed until Wednesday at the earliest
From staff reports
The
Oriskany, which was expected to arrive at the Pensacola Naval Air Station on Sunday or Monday, will not arrive until Wednesday,
at the earliest, said Harry White, a spokesman for Pensacola NAS.
The decommissioned aircraft carrier, which left Texas last Thursday on the 600-mile trip, was delayed because of high winds, he said.
Once the "Mighty O" arrives, it will be cleaned and prepared to be sunk in May to become an artificial
reef more than 20 miles south of Pensacola.
Published - March,
23, 2006
Oriskany is back
Ship scheduled to be sunk in area on May 17
William Rabb
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com
It
was almost three years in the making, but the rusting hulk of the warship once known as ''the Mighty O" has arrived at Pensacola
for its final shakedown.
With
tugboats guiding the powerless ship through calm seas at less than 2 mph, the decommissioned USS Oriskany took all afternoon
Wednesday to dock at Allegheny Pier at the southeastern tip of the Pensacola Naval Air Station.
The
aircraft carrier will become the largest ship ever to be sunk as an artificial reef and scuba-diving attraction, and diving
enthusiasts lauded its long-delayed arrival Wednesday.
"This is a dream come true,"
said Robert Turpin, Escambia County's marine
resources chief who is credited with getting the ball rolling on the multi-govermental effort that allowed the Oriskany to
be reefed off Pensacola.
Although
the arrival of the 56-year-old ship from its temporary berth in Beaumont,
Texas, was delayed by more than a week because of rough seas, that should not
postpone the ship's planned May 17 sinking date, said Harry White, public affairs officer for the Naval Air Station.
By May 17, the 880-foot ship should be ready for its final resting place, about 24 miles offshore.
Resolve Marine Co. of Fort Lauderdale and Esco Marine Co. of Brownsville,
Texas, are set to begin work today on cleaning contaminants
from the decommissioned aircraft carrier and cutting holes in the hull.
No visitors
will be allowed at the pier while crews ready the ship for sinking, officials said. Once the ship is sunk, divers and anglers
should be allowed within 48 hours.
"A lot of people said it wasn't coming back," said
Gary Toms, owner of Dive Pros scuba shop in Pensacola. "But
now we're kind of going, 'I told you so.' People will be coming from all over the world to dive this thing."
Sylvia Olvera, who helped prepare for the arrival of the retired aircraft carrier the Oriskany,
waves to other workers on Wednesday. The decommissioned ship will be cleaned in preparation to be sunk in May, when it is
to become an artificial reef more than 20 miles south of Pensacola.
Ben Twingley
The Oriskany is tied up at the Pensacola NAS pier Wednesday after making a 600 mile trip from
Texas.
Ben Twingley
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The Oriskany U.S.S. Oriskany CV/CVA 34 1945-1976
The retired aircraft carrier Oriskany departed from Beaumont, Texas on March 16, 2006 (on a 3-4 day tow, weather permitting)
heading for Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, where the Navy's contractor will accomplish the final reef preparations. The
vessel will be reefed in May 2006 at an existing artificial reef site selected by the State of Florida, approximately 24 miles
off the coast of Pensacola.
The reefing will be accomplished with controlled charges in 212 feet of water 22.5 miles southeast of Pensacola. The final
date of the event will be established after the Environmental Protection Agency issues a permit for the reefing.
Prior to the event, a memorial service will be conducted at the National Museum of Naval Aviation to pay tribute to the crew
and the ship that has provided exemplary service to our Navy and country.
The carrier, built at the New York Naval Shipyard in 1945 and a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars would not
only be the largest vessel purposely sunk as a reef, but become the largest artificial reef in the world!
At 888 feet in length, the"Mighty O” will become a fishing hot spot and an exceptional destination for divers year-round.
Divers will have the opportunity to swim with Goliath grouper, ocean sunfish and eagle rays. Anglers will be able to reel
in popular game fish such as grouper, snapper and amberjack.
For more information about the Oriskany, visit one of the following links below:
Media Contact Information:
Stacy Hopper, Pensacola Bay Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Media Relations, (850) 434-1234 or (800) 874-1234.
Harry White, Pensacola Naval Air Station Public Affairs Officer, (850) 452-3100.
Tom Roush, Film Liaison, (850) 434-0700 or (800) 874-1234. |
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March 17, 2006, 10:12AM
Aircraft carrier to become largest manmade reef
Associated Press
BEAUMONT - A 55-year-old aircraft carrier that saw action in Korea and Vietnam began its final voyage
Thursday, headed for burial at sea.
The former USS Oriskany left the Beaumont Ready Reserve Fleet for Pensacola, Fla., where it will become
the world's largest manmade reef, the Beaumont Enterprise reported Thursday.
The 888-foot-long ship, known as the "Mighty O," was home base to U.S. Sen. John McCain in Vietnam
and was featured in war movies of the 1950s.
Manmade reefs provide a safe way to dispose of old vessels that also fosters a rich marine habitat
and opportunities for sport fishing and deep-sea diving, Navy authorities said.
The ex-Oriskany's final resting place will be 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola and 212 feet under
water. The sinking is planned for May 17.
News item written by Robert Turpin March 2006:
To all interested in viewing the USS Oriskany in Pensacola in May 2006, please read.....
Although there is a target date for 15-17 May, I'd wait until the ship
arrives in Pensacola before I made any reservations.
I don't mean to
sound cynical, but I have seen this project take some weird turns, and I
wouldn't want to see any Oriskany
vets lose a reservation deposit. It
should get here in the next week or so, and I doubt that would make much
difference
in ability to make plans.
Also, I am waiting on a firm price quote for a large charterboat out of
Destin. I spoke to
the Captain the other day & he said he'd send
something this week. My County bosses are telling me they are not making
arrangements
to charter any boats, and the Navy is saying the same thing.
I will forward you the info I get on the big Destin
boat, and if the
Oriskany Association has enough people to charter it, they can fit over a
hundred people on it for
probably around $50/person. I haven't seen any
advertisements from other charterboats, but I imagine that will be a
pretty
good deal.
The biggest problem I see for this (and one of the reasons the County
doesn't want to take responsibility
for arranging boat rides) is the
possibility of a weather delay. Boat Captains could have a different
cancellation policy
than the "go/no-go" decision to reef the Oriskany (or
there could be other delays), and those boat captains will want to
be
paid. I doubt they'd give anybody a free trip a day or two later, and
they County doesn't want to get tangled up
in that mess! Also, there is
the chance the reefing might have to go sooner if the weather forecast
gave reason to do
so.
As you can see, there are a lot of uncertainties. However, there will (if
the ship arrives as scheduled) be a ceremony
at the National Museum of
Naval Aviation (NAS Pensacola) on 13 May. It is indoors, and not subject
to all of the uncertainties
mentioned above. That is going to be a
wonderful chance for those who served on the Mighty O to get together &
celebrate
her next 'tour of duty'.
Please forward this to your shipmates & other interested parties.
Robert Turpin, Chief
Escambia
County Marine Resources Division
Diver paradise: Ship to be sunk for man-made reef
PENSACOLA, Florida (AP) -- The "Mighty O" saw action in Korea and Vietnam and was home base
of U.S. Sen. John McCain before he was taken captive by the North Vietnamese, but the aircraft carrier's greatest fame could
come when it's on the ocean floor.
If all goes according to plan, explosives will be placed throughout the largely hollowed-out shell of the USS Oriskany
in May and it will plummet 210 feet to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
The ship, featured in the films "The Bridges of Toko Ri" and "The Men of the Fighting Lady," will become the world's largest
intentionally created man-made reef, drawing divers and sport fisherman worldwide.
Eileen Beard, who owns the Scuba Shack, a local dive shop, said she and many other divers are making plans to explore the
Oriskany underwater this year.
"From the moment she goes down, she'll create sounds in the water and the sandstorm that she will cause will draw fish
that want to see what it is. It will begin to attract life immediately," Beard said. "We have had calls from England, Germany,
Japan, Thailand. They are all ready to dive the Oriskany."
After nearly two years of delays since the Navy first announced Pensacola as the site of a pilot program to reef old warships,
the Environmental Protection Agency gave final approval in February to sink the ship.
Local leaders are counting on the sinking to bring their city's tourism industry out of a hurricane-induced slump.
"In the long haul you are looking at the rebirth of one of the historically successful industries of Pensacola, that's
the fishing and diving industry. The Oriskany puts Pensacola on the plans for virtually any diver and fisherman in the country,"
said Ed Schroeder, tourism director for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.
More than 2,500 Oriskany veterans made plans to come to Pensacola for the first scheduled sinking of the Oriskany in the
summer of 2004. The group was courting McCain as their keynote speaker.
But the sinking never took place. The Oriskany was not towed to Pensacola until December 2004; it was then towed back to
Texas in June to ride out the 2005 hurricane season.
Now the Navy plans to tow the Oriskany from Beaumont, Texas, back to Pensacola in March to begin the three-month process
of preparing the ship for sinking.
Retired Vice Adm. Jack Fetterman, president and CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation and a longtime advocate for
the Oriskany project, said the ship could be sunk May 15, but that date could change.
Regardless of the exact date the ship goes down, a celebration will soon be in order.
"Now that we have the permit and we are all set with the tentative date .... this is a big feat for Pensacola," Fetterman
said.
If the Oriskany goes down as planned, 23 ships that are part of the Navy's inactive fleet could become eligible for sinking.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. |
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Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/03/03/manmade.reef.ap/index.html
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PLANNING FOR A CHARTER BOAT TO WATCH SINKING
To all those interested, I spoke to Phil Cartwright (President, Oriskany Reunion Assoc.) this
afternoon.
Apparently they are planning to sink the Oriskany on Wednesday the 17th of May, would have been
nicer on a weekend, but oh well. Phil is setting up a tour boat to go out and watch the sinking, from what I understand
this will pretty much be an all day affair. He can take 30 souls total at $100.00 each, Deposit of $50.00 each for a total
of $1500.00 must be paid by 10 March to guarantee the boat will be available. I am certainly going to try and go, but
I am between jobs right now and won't be able to confirm for a few days yet.
I am inc
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