PENSACOLA - The retired aircraft carrier USS Oriskany should be resting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico by late August or early September to create an artificial reef off the Florida Panhandle.
That timetable for sinking the 888-foot ship emerged at a meeting of officials from several agencies Wednesday at the National Museum of Naval Aviation here. It will be the largest ship ever purposely sunk to create an artificial reef.
The sinking in 200 feet of water about 25 miles southeast of Pensacola Pass could take seven hours after explosives are detonated aboard the ship, said Naval Sea Systems Command spokeswoman Patricia Dolan.
She said the public will be allowed to watch. It hasn't been decided how close private vessels will be allowed.
The carrier, now being cleaned of contaminants in Corpus Christi, Texas, is scheduled to be to towed across the gulf during three or four days in mid July. It will be tied up at the Port of Pensacola until the sinking.
The Oriskany was launched in 1945 at the New York Naval Shipyard and saw extensive action during the Korean and Vietnam wars. Many aviators who trained at Pensacola's Naval Air Station flew off the ship.
Former Oriskany crew members may be allowed to tour the vessel while it's in port, but it will be closed to the public, said Escambia spokeswoman Sonya Smith.
A memorial service will be held at the Museum of Naval Aviation before the sinking to honor those who served aboard the Oriskany, including pilots captured or killed in combat and 44 crew members who died in a 1966 fire off Vietnam.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., took off from the Oriskany on his last combat mission that ended when he was shot down over Vietnam and captured.
