On May 17, 2006, the Navy sank an 888-foot aircraft carrier about 24 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, on purpose. It took just 37 minutes for the USS Oriskany to settle onto the floor of the Gulf of Mexico, where it became the largest ship ever sunk as an artificial reef. Divers have a better name for it: the Great Carrier Reef.
The Oriskany had a long career before its second act. It was commissioned in September 1950 and saw combat in Korea and Vietnam, according to the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. It was decommissioned in 1976, NBC News reported.
Turning a warship into a reef was a big job. Preparing the Oriskany took three years and about $20 million, according to Atlas Obscura. In early 2006, the EPA approved leaving about 700 pounds of PCBs in the ship’s cable, gaskets, insulation and paint, on the condition that Florida monitor fish at the site, according to the agency.
The final moment came at 10:25 a.m., according to a Navy news release. About 500 pounds of C-4 explosives went off, and 37 minutes later, “much more quickly than anyone expected,” the ship was on the bottom, per Atlas Obscura. It came to rest upright in about 212 feet of water with its bow pointing south, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“The Navy and Florida team performed flawlessly to execute today’s sinking,” said Glen Clark, deputy program manager of the Navy’s Inactive Ships Program Office, according to a Naval Sea Systems Command release. For some who had served on the ship, it was harder to watch. “I’m a little stunned,” said Vietnam veteran Lloyd Quiter. “It’s a little hard to take.”
The wreck has since become a destination. Divers can reach the ship’s island structure at roughly 80 feet, while the flight deck sits at about 145 feet and calls for advanced training, according to Scuba Diving magazine. Divers are asked to stay out of the interior. “The most common reaction for first-time Oriskany divers is awe,” veteran instructor Kerry Freeland told the magazine.
The sea life moved in quickly. Within a week, one early diver noted the ship “had been almost completely colonized by tiny newborn crabs,” according to Atlas Obscura. These days, divers report barracuda, rays, red snapper, groupers and even tiger sharks and hammerheads around the hull.
The Oriskany isn’t the only retired vehicle that has found a second life on the sea floor. Delaware has sunk more than 700 retired New York City subway cars off its coast to build a reef.
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