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Going ... Going ... Gone!

Posted on: Thursday, 18 May 2006, 15:06 CDT

By Mladen Rudman, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

May 18--Three men from Santa Rosa Beach were among the hundreds of people on Wednesday morning to witness an 888-foot-long warship become the world's largest artificial reef.

The aircraft carrier Oriskany was sunk 24 miles off Pensacola Beach after Navy demolition experts blew open pipes with more than 500 pounds of plastic explosives.

"I didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be a spectacular sight," said Barry De Long. "It just went boom, boom, boom and, of course, all that smoke was trapped in the ship and it came out from everywhere."

He added that hundreds of boats of all sizes rimmed the safety zone around the Oriskany. To ensure no one got hurt, the Navy and Coast Guard allowed boats no closer than one mile. "It was fascinating to see and it went down the way they wanted it to," De Long added. The carrier sank in 37 minutes. Many expected it would take as long as five hours. De Long was aboard a 33-foot cabin cruiser with boat owner Jack Peebles and friend Tom Fillingim. The Walton County men were floating next to a vessel with a History Channel crew aboard to tape the event.

Fillingim said the first 20 minutes after the charges were detonated provided little excitement. The last 17 minutes were mostly thrilling.

The Oriskany "began to list and, as it listed, the carrier deck was exposed to us," he said.

The warship was sinking stern first. As water entered it, geysers spouted into the air. The aircraft carrier slipped beneath the waves with its bow raised.

"It was quite an experience," Fillingim said. "We came away really impressed with how they did it."

Scuttling Oriskany -- it was delayed two years by hurricanes and environmental permitting woes -- will cost $20 million.

Oriskany, which saw action in the Korean and Vietnam wars, was the first ship sunk under a Navy program to dispose of old warships by turning them into reefs.

The aircraft carrier will be used by scuba divers and fishermen. The site won't be open to divers until Friday or later to give Navy divers a chance to survey the ship for hazards.

Tim Broom at Destin's Half Hitch Tackle said the Oriskany will draw fish and fishermen. He imagines the aircraft carrier as the centerpiece of a large artificial reef city planted by anglers and local governments.

"With all the damage that has been done to the (smaller) reef systems by hurricanes recently, we need a big structure," said Broom.

He figured it will be three or four months before fish such as red and vermilion snapper, triggerfish and rockfish begin calling the aircraft carrier home.

Greater amberjack like big metal structures in the spring, while species such as king mackerel, blackfin tuna and bonito will come cruising just as soon as baitfish show up, Broom added.

The one thing that disappoints Broom is that the 32,000-ton Ticonderoga-class warship was sunk in water that's too shallow. Even at 212 feet, the vice president of Half Hitch Tackle worries that a big storm could push it around.

That said, Broom hopes that someday there's a sunken Navy aircraft carrier off Destin, but in about 300 feet of water.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Northwest Florida Daily News, Fort Walton Beach

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Source: Northwest Florida Daily News

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