Aircraft Carrier USS Oriskany To Become Artificial Reef

[hatrack]

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- "The Navy announced April 5 that it will transfer the former aircraft carrier ex-USS Oriskany (CV 34) to the State of Florida for use as an artificial reef.

The Navy was granted authority to transfer obsolete warships to states for artificial reefing purposes under the fiscal 2004 National Defense Authorization Act (Public Law 108-136).

“This selection represents another step forward in the Navy’s efforts to safely reduce its inventory of obsolete ships by cost-effective means that also have proven benefits to the marine environment,” commented Rear Adm. Charles S. Hamilton, the Navy’s program executive officer, ships.

EDIT

Before transfer of ex-Oriskany can occur, the Navy’s contractor will perform work necessary to environmentally prepare the ship for sinking as an artificial reef. Once this work and other details are complete, the Navy will execute a transfer agreement with the State of Florida and expects the ship to be sunk for use as an artificial reef before the end of the summer 2004."

EDIT

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=12680

[happyslug]

1. Last of the Essex Class WWII era Carriers

At one time we had 24 of them, Sailing the seas, now down to four operating as museums:

CV-10 USS Yorktown
Fate: Museum Ship Hunter's Point SC.

CV-11 USS Intrepid
Fate: Museum Ship New York City NY

CV-12 USS Hornet
Fate: Museum Ship San Francisco CA

CV-16 USS Lexington
Fate: Museum Corpus Christi Texas





http://www.navyhistory.com/CV34Oriskany.html

http://www.ussoriskany.com/

http://smmlonline.com/reference/walkabouts/oriskany/oriskany.html

http://www.steelnavy.com/essex_data.htm