Oriskany Redux

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You can get married underwater during a dive at the USS Oriskany off the coast of Pensacola.

Photo Credit: Pensacola Dive Company

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A diver swims at the U.S.S. Oriskany reef dive site

Photo Credit: Pensacola Dive Company

Dive or fish this aircraft carrier-turned artificial reef, the largest in the world.

I’m standing near Pensacola Pass, a deep-water artery allowing large ships to travel from the Gulf of Mexico into Pensacola Bay. The bay swirls before me, heavy and gray. Raindrops large enough to make a “plonk” sound fall.

These iron-fist images fit with my work today, writing about the decommissioned USS Oriskany. The aircraft carrier rests roughly 22 miles southeast of the pass, in waters 212 feet deep. She’s now the planet’s largest artificial reef. Those in the know call her the “Mighty O.” To the wags at CNN, she’s the “great carrier reef.”

This is her history.

The ship was named for a pivotal Revolutionary War battle, staged in Oriskany, N.Y. Commissioned at the tail end of World War II, the Essex Class carrier saw no action until Korea. She undertook innumerable operations off the coast of that nation, and off Vietnam. At 910 feet, she was capable of traveling 33 knots, and displacing 30,080 tons of water. Her complement? 3,460 persons.

In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy boarded Oriskany (then stationed in San Diego), to witness military-preparedness operations. A decade before Kennedy’s visit, the William Holden/ Grace Kelly classic The Bridges at Toko-Ri was filmed aboard the Mighty O’s decks.

Oriskany is accessible to a variety of divers, including both the recreational type and technical divers.

Sunk

Decommissioned in the mid 1970s, Oriskany was, on May 17, 2006, sunk. (The event was part of a Navy program that can best be described as recycling for old ships.) The sinking entailed several controlled explosions. Oriskany did not give up easily: it took her 38 minutes to go down. She now rests on the soft, sandy bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Oriskany is accessible to a variety of divers, including both the recreational type (typically those who employ only one tank, and who reach a maximum depth of 130 feet), and technical divers (those trained to go deeper). Whatever your abilities, you should know that the Mighty O has quickly become a must-dive, drawing scuba aficionados from Australia, Japan, Russia, Sweden and, in fact, most of Europe.

Pensacola-area charters running dives to the Mighty O include the Scuba Shack and MBT Divers. Floating above all 910 feet of the Mighty O is an awe-inspiring sight. Recreational divers can explore the ships “Island,” which sits atop the flight deck and is nearly 200 feet long. The Island contains the ships navigation bridge, from where the captain controlled the ship, the flag bridge, the pilot house, radar and navigation equipment and much more. (Technical divers can, of course, explore deeper into the vessel.) Visibility runs from 75 to 300 feet.

Fish Ahoy!

Those scuba diving the Mighty O these days find themselves in the company of goliath grouper, sunfish, eagle rays, tuna, amberjack and tropical fish. Their variety and number increase from week to week. So, too, do the fishing opportunities.

But you may want to consider waiting a few months before engaging one of Pensacola’s many fishing charters (including Reel Eazy Charter Service) for a trip to the Mighty O. Anglers will eventually be able to reel in hauls of game fish including grouper, snapper and amberjack. However, it takes marine life time to get used to the concept of a new reef, to discover it. Think of it the way you would construction of a new shopping center: it takes the locals a while to find their way over.

As you dive or fish the Mighty O, remember that the ship joins a veritable family of ocean vessels reefed here. USS Massachusetts, sunk more than 50 years ago near Pensacola Pass, sits in just 25 feet of water. Antares, a 400-foot freighter, lies 21 miles southeast of the pass, in 130 feet. You can dive these and other vessels for sights of grouper, nurse sharks, stingrays, sea turtles and king mackerels. And since these vessels have had some time on the ocean floor, the fishing’s not bad, either.