Goodbye Big O

The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany was sunk by the US Navy in order to create a new coral reef. The Oriskany saw active duty in the Korean and Vietnam wars.

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.

The Oriskany was one of the last of the Essex class carriers to be decommissioned in 1976 (the USS Lexington was decommissioned in 1991 and is now a museum in Corpus Christi, Texas). It was launched in October 1945, just after World War II came to a close.

See here for more information about the final resting place of the Oriskany and a history of the ship.