Oriskany departed on final voyage this morning

After years of preparation, the USS Oriskany is now under tow from Allegheny
Pier at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida to become an underwater
reef and paradise for qualified SCUBA divers.

See the newspaper articles at

http://pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps...#slides-pane-0

and via links read the history of this fine ship.

The Oriskany already has water in many of the compartments and spaces to
make her bottom heavy. She will be anchored fore and aft over the location
where they plan to sink her. When everything is safe they will set off 85
pounds of explosives placed at strategic locations. Because they have
already cleared passages for the air to rise from inside the hull it is
expected that the water will enter and the air will vent to the top. As
such, she will sink evenly on the keel. There are cameras placed in the
ship to record the explosions, the entry of water, etc. The images will be
recorded on equipment now stored in a boat which is sitting on the flight
deck. That boat is supposed to rise to the surface and provide the Navy
with data about the sinking.

There were many old Oriskany hands along the seawall watching their old ship
depart on her final voyage.

I put a photo in the alt.binaries.pictures.aviation newsgroup.

Tom Callahan wrote
After years of preparation, the USS Oriskany is now under tow from
Allegheny Pier at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida to become
an underwater reef and paradise for qualified SCUBA divers.

Are there Underwater Police to keep me away if I an not "qualified"?
Are "Hooka" rigs not allowed? Or...did you just make that part up?

Bob Moore

Not being SCUBA qualified I can't really answer. I think if a person is not
qualified, and goes as deep as the Oriskany is supposed to settle, then that
person may end up qualified for the Darwin Award. I do know that the
hospitals here have invested in equipment and training to handle more people
with the bends than normally seen in any given year.
Don't know what a "Hooka" rig is but I'll Google it to see.

Oh, there are police. They are there for the interim period. Once the ship
is down and considered stable, it's everyone for himself. I guess they
expect tour operators and scuba school operators to control who they take
out there.

I guess I'll just go back to being a lurker in this group.


"Bob Moore" wrote in message
. 121...
Tom Callahan wrote
After years of preparation, the USS Oriskany is now under tow from
Allegheny Pier at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida to become
an underwater reef and paradise for qualified SCUBA divers.

Are there Underwater Police to keep me away if I an not "qualified"?
Are "Hooka" rigs not allowed? Or...did you just make that part up?

Bob Moore

Tom Callahan wrote:
Not being SCUBA qualified I can't really answer. I think if a person is not
qualified, and goes as deep as the Oriskany is supposed to settle, then that
person may end up qualified for the Darwin Award. I do know that the
hospitals here have invested in equipment and training to handle more people
with the bends than normally seen in any given year.

Quite right. Diving to the depths where Oriskany will settle without
the proper training tends to be a self-correcting problem. The flight
deck is supposed to be around 130 feet, which is right at the limits of
recreational SCUBA. An investment in hyperbaric chambers seems prudent.

--
Tom Schoene lid
To email me, replace "invalid" with "net"

On Mon, 15 May 2006 19:25:38 GMT, Bob Moore
wrote:

Are there Underwater Police to keep me away if I an not "qualified"?

No, but I'm sure the coroner will eventually deal with your remains.
Scuba diving, like flying, tends to be self-policing.


--
Andrew Toppan --- --- "I speak only for myself"
"Haze Gray & Underway" - Naval History, DANFS, World Navies Today,
Photo Features, Military FAQs, and more - http://www.hazegray.org/

Thanks for the info, Tom. A glorious end for the old girl.

v/r
Gordon

Bob Moore wrote:
Tom Callahan wrote

After years of preparation, the USS Oriskany is now under tow from
Allegheny Pier at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida to become
an underwater reef and paradise for qualified SCUBA divers.


Are there Underwater Police to keep me away if I an not "qualified"?
Are "Hooka" rigs not allowed? Or...did you just make that part up?

Bob Moore

I have never heard of SCUBA police before, however the local dive boat
operators won't let you dive period without a proper certification card.

ALV

"Thomas Schoene" wrote in message
.net...
Tom Callahan wrote:
Not being SCUBA qualified I can't really answer. I think if a person is
not
qualified, and goes as deep as the Oriskany is supposed to settle, then
that
person may end up qualified for the Darwin Award. I do know that the
hospitals here have invested in equipment and training to handle more
people
with the bends than normally seen in any given year.

Quite right. Diving to the depths where Oriskany will settle without
the proper training tends to be a self-correcting problem. The flight
deck is supposed to be around 130 feet, which is right at the limits of
recreational SCUBA. An investment in hyperbaric chambers seems prudent.

We used to dive the "Mahi" on the west side of Oahu and it was right at
100'. Our bottom time was pretty limited. I don't like going that deep- your
margin of safety decreases real fast. Without my dive table in front of me
I'd guess the bottom time at 130' is no more than 5 minutes.

Andrew C. Toppan actoppan@nospam wrote:

Why's the wreck in such deep water? If one of the goals is to attract divers to the wreck, then why sink her in water that most rec divers would find too deep? Or was this the EPA and the tree- and fish-huggers at work? However, I do concur that anyone who dives the wreck who is not qualified should get a Darwin Award. Either the lack of proper dive skills, or hungry local fauna, will see to that.

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On Tue, 16 May 2006 01:16:18 -0500, "Matt Wiser"
wrote:

Andrew C. Toppan actoppan@nospam wrote:

Why's the wreck in such deep water? If one of the goals is to attract divers to the wreck, then why sink her in water that most rec divers would find too deep? Or was this the EPA and the tree- and fish-huggers at work? However, I do concur that anyone who dives the wreck who is not qualified should get a Darwin Award. Either the lack of proper dive skills, or hungry local fauna, will see to that.

If the flight deck is 100 ft., where is the top of the island?
How much depth has to be allowed for marine traffic?

Peter Skelton