Aircraft Carrier to become artificial reef

[Cavern Junkie]

I can't wait to dive it!

Retired aircraft carrier to be sunk off Pensacola coast

The Associated Press
Posted April 5 2004, 4:14 PM EDT

PENSACOLA -- The retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars, will be sunk in the Gulf of Mexico off Pensacola's coast to serve as an artificial reef, the Navy announced Monday.

Pensacola, known as the "Cradle of Naval Aviation," was selected from among four sites proposed by five states as the watery grave of what will be the largest vessel deliberately sunk for that purpose in the United States.

"This is a quantum leap in terms of fishing and diving and economic opportunities for Northwest Florida,'' said Escambia County marine resources director Bob Turpin. The 888-foot Oriskany is the first vessel in a new program designed to rid the Navy of obsolete warships by sinking them as a cheaper alternative to the scrap yard. Escambia, in the Florida Panhandle, last year won an endorsement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in competition with a South Florida group.

South Carolina and Georgia proposed a joint site in the Atlantic Ocean off their shared border, while Texas and Mississippi submitted individual applications.


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