Pictures were found on the web.


The following newspaper article was from Gannett News Service on February 10, 2008 and was written by Michael Stewart.

SUNKEN USS ORISKANY REELING IN THE DIVERS

     The Oriskany is living up to its hype.
     The decommissioned aircraft carrier, promised as a worldwide dive destination when it was sunk May 17, 2006, is pumping millions of dollars into the economy around Pensacola FL, and creating dozens of jobs.  Dive shops report visitors from all over the continental U.S. and as far away as Australia.
     A study by the University of West Florida reports a $3.6 million annual economic impact from scuba divers visiting the Oriskany, the world's largest artificial reef sunk in 212 feet of water, 22.5 nautical miles from Pensacola Pass.
     The ship generated more than 4,200 dive trips in its first full year and was responsible for creating 37 new jobs that generated $740,000 in salaries in Escambia County, the study by the Haas Center for Business Research and Economic Development reports.
     Getting the word out hasn't been hard.  International press coverage has been extensive for the ship, dubbed by former crewmembers the "Mighty O".
     "It has generated millions of dollars in media coverage, not just here but overseas, and put Pensacola on the map as an international dive site," said Laura Lee, spokeswoman for the Pensacola Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.  "Divers from Japan, Australia and Russia have come here because of the stories they have seen."
     Pensacola-based Scuba Shack's business has tripled since the Oriskany was scuttled, co-owner Gene Ferguson said.
     "The dive business has definitely increased with the sinking of the Oriskany," said Douglas Hammock, captain of the H2O Below, which specializes in dive trips to the carrier.  "We ran every day during the busy summer season."
     Several new dive shops have opened.  Among them is Bay Breeze Dive Center in Gulf Breeze FL, where dive master Steve Johnson said the shop was doing brisk business with three or four charter boats during the summer peak.
     Marine life - including amberjack, octopi and barracudas - is increasing around the Oriskany.  But most divers come mainly to see the "Mighty O", which played roles in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.
     The carrier is perhaps best known as the launch site of presidential hopeful John McCain's ill-fated flight in 1967 when his A4E "Skyhawk" was shot down, leading to his capture and five-year imprisonment in North Vietnam.
     History aside, the carrier is impressive.  At 888 feet it is nearly three football fields long and juts more than 14 stories up from the ocean floor.
     Dive instructor John Landress said he has dived around the carrier 60 times and has "only seen about an eighteenth of the wreck."
     The upper reaches are accessible to recreational divers, and the deeper portions of the wreck are good training grounds for "technical divers" with deep-water equipment and experience.
     The carrier even was the site of an underwater wedding last year.
     "On their first dive of the Oriskany, everybody, almost to a person, is breathless with awe when they come up," Scuba Shack dive instructor Gary Schnurer said.  "The second dive is even better because they know the wreck better and can take their time."
     It's that experience that has many first-time divers planning their second trip before they leave.  And it's not just out-of-towners hooked on the experience.
     Cantonment FL resident Rhonda Dollas began diving in July, and her first major underwater excursion was at the Oriskany.
     Down about 90 feet, Dollas, 43, swam through open areas of the control tower, then emerged to "stand" on a small landing.
     "Here I was surrounded by schools of amberjack and I looked up and there was the stars and stripes and  a POW/MIA flag and they were just taut in the current," she said.  "I simply stopped and stared in awe."