(pictures at the link)

http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060517/NEWS01/60517002

Published - May, 17, 2006

Oriskany has sunk
Larry Wheeler

Oriskany has sunk. The last tip of the Oriskany's hurricane bow disappeared
into the Gulf at approximately 11 a.m.

Local officials are hopeful the Oriskany settled on the sea floor in an
upright position. But they won't know for sure until Navy divers check the
vessel later today.

Navy engineers predicted the Oriskany would sink evenly in a process that
would take up to five hours. Instead, the old aircraft carrier went down in
approximately 35 minutes, sinking sharply by the fantail.

"I thought it went down as planned, but it is hard to say," said Bill
Dickson, Escambia County commissioner and retired Navy captain, who watched
Oriskany's sinking from aboard the 85-foot yacht Nyhaven.

As an artificial reef, the Oriskany is more valuable if it settled upright.
That would place its vertical command tower well within the limits of
recreational divers. If the ship is leaning on the bottom, the tower will
be deeper and harder to reach.

"We're all hoping as it settled on the bottom, it flattened out," said
Edwin Roberts, former chairman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission.
"Either way, the wreck will be a huge attraction to sport fisherman,"
Roberts said.

Navy divers are expected to inspect Oriskany this afternoon to determine if
all the explosive charges ignited. Their return to the surface will offer
the first eyewitness account of the carrier's resting position.

The hundreds of spectator boats surrounding the carrier marked the sinking
by sounding their horns.

As the carrier went down, its bow stuck up, straining the heavy metal
anchor lines. The port side bow line appeared broken early in the process.
Clouds of debris could be seen billowing from the hangar deck, and water
churned and bubbled heavily at the submersion point. Towlines strained at
the bow.

The 50-foot boat with the explosive generator and electronics gear appeared
intact on the flight deck surface. The boat was expected to float away from
the carrier after the Oriskany was fully submerged.

--

-Jeff B.
zoomie at fastmail fm