Posted on 12/11/2004 8:16:05 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
Korean War-era ship to be sunk off coast of Florida.
The USS Oriskany is scheduled to slip out of the Port of Corpus Christi at first light Monday, headed for Pensacola, Fla., where it will be sunk and made into an artificial reef.
The Korean War-era aircraft carrier arrived in January at the port, where it was stripped of hazardous materials in preparation for its sinking. The ship had hundreds of compartments that were filled with oily substances, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and asbestos.
The company that stripped the almost 900-foot long ship, Resolve Marine Services of Port Everglades, Fla., initially had planned to take the ship to Pensacola in late July or early August. That plan was postponed until September, and then to December, because there were more contaminants than expected on the ship.
However, the work went well, said Denise Johnston, who manages government contracts for Resolve.
"It's all done and ready to go," she said.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department's artificial reef program had hoped to bring the Oriskany to be sunk off the coast of Corpus Christi. That plan was foiled, in part because Pensacola is the birthplace of Naval aviation and several crew members lobbied to have it sunk off the coast of Pensacola.
The Texas Parks & Wildlife Department is actively trying to get other retired ships and aircraft carriers to be sunk off the coast, and those decisions likely will be made next year.
Paul Hammerschmidt, who oversees the state artificial reef program, said Texas' chance of getting a ship won't be clear until next month.
"They're not turning anything loose until they're done with the Oriskany," Hammerschmidt said.
Contact Matthew Sturdevant _at 886-3778_or sturdevantm@caller.com.
The USS Oriskany, shown moored at the Port of Corpus Christi, is scheduled to leave the port on Monday and head for Florida, where it will be intentionally sunk off of the coast at Pensacola to serve as an artificial reef.
Man I can't wait to dive this one!!!!!!!!!
USS Oriskany CVA34 Memorial Reef
Flight Deck Forward from atop Island Tower (63ft.)
Island Tower from Flight Deck 
Port Bow
I went aboard the Oriskany with Cub Scouts in Yokosuka back in the 1950s. We all thought the elevators were cool.
At least it's not being made into razor blades.
As I write this I am in Oriskany, NY. One of the ships anchors and one of it's A-4s are sitting in the town park about two miles away.
I was with the Oriskany when she caught fire off of the coast of Vietnam, I was on a escort, went alongside and helped. Fine old fighting ship with a great history and very Brave Crews. This will be a great dive!!
isn't this the incident that was caused by McCain crashing on the deck?
No, this was before that carrier fire. This was in 1967 I believe. I was on my first trip to West PAC and duty in Vietnam. McCain was on the Forrestal. He did'nt crash land. I believe he was in the cocpit and they were coming into the wind for launching.
I happened to be near the Forrestal when she went up, Very Terrible fire. I was also on a escort when the USS Enterprise caught fire and blew up off the coast of Hawaii in 1969. That one I still sleep with. The bulkheads of the sides of the carrier would expand outwards from the explosions in the hanger deck.
I was on the USS Rogers DD 876, about, well it seemd like 200 feet away. At times the tail sections of the burning planes on the flight deck were directly above us. That was a day filled with tears and Bravery you cannot even imagine.
Rest easy old girl you served us well.
Err,The Clemenceau was taken out of service in the late 90s while it's sister the 'Foch' was sold to Brazil.I think you are referring to the Charles De Gaulle ,their rather poorly planned nuclear powered carrier.While it has had more than it's fair share of mishaps,it does carry pretty potent systems like the Rafale fighter-bomber & the Aster-15 SAM.Besides having learned from their experience with the CDG,they have opted for conventional propulsion in their next carrier,which they are building in cooperation with Britain.The French are helping India,Australia & South Korea in building their own carriers(India) & amphibious assault ships)-so their tech is probably not too bad.
Can we get some green peace folks to start an ondeck protest of something or other before we sink it ?
for lurkers/posters...the namesake battle for the ship:
http://www.ussoriskany.com/id5.html
Now where did I put Nader's email address...
hmmmm...
The link below will take you to an excellent and scary site re the Forrestal's fire and how McCain's plane was struck by a rocket.
http://www.sailorstotheend.com/gallery2.html
Lord this thing will attract a bunch of fish; definately would have the GPS coordinates for this one if I lived in the area. We tried to get it here in La. but no joy. We still have our active oil rigs and the "rigs to reefs" though, but this would have been a great catch.
Does the Rafale come with pontoons?
Only those who have served and lived on a ship can know how much it means to say goodbye forever to a hunk of steel.
By the time I got there it was late in her career. She had a 30 foot gash in her outer hull and close to 300 damage control plugs in her inner hull.
All of us who sailed on her, Sailors and Marines, called her the "Iron Pig". It was said both lovingly and jokingly, but woe betied anyone not of her crew who said the least little critisicm of her! Sailors and Marines would join in together to punish the blasphemer!
I last saw her as she was being sailed back to the states, to be scrapped.
I would say that tears filled my eyes, except for the Army types that would make fun of that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.