Dive USS Oriskany (The MightyO)

Oriskany sinking as expected

2006-05-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

Its been a very busy week so here is an attempt to catch-up some.
Oriskany is down, the first photos came from cameras on shore feeding near realtime pictures, then we got off-shore pictures with a more stunning view of how she went down. This is one of the last pictures that suggest that she might have rolled over to starboard and have about a 30 degree list. (source Navy)
Then we got the news that she was sitting up right but the flight deck at 150ft, did not make sense, is she listing after all? Finally direct sources came back with the news that she is up right and the flight deck at 130ft, facing south, as planned. Then some underwater pictures came to confirm all this. (source AUE)
As of Friday noon the government agencies are letting go of the security zone and she is free to dive. However she is still burping air and rust sediments and the visibility both inside of her and down towards bottom on the outside is very poor due to these rust and paint sediments.

ex-USS Oriskany is down and is now a reef

2006-05-17T11:47:00.000-05:00

Approximately 11 am CST this morning the Oriskany sunk and made the transition from being a ship to being a reef.

This is one the last images of her, the bow lifting up out of the water as she sinks.

One last hurdle for ex-USS Oriskany

2006-05-16T23:40:00.000-05:00

The ex-USS Oriskany Monday got towed out to her sinking site and Tuesday final preparations were done to secure her for the sinking. There are no reports of any problems and we are all crossing our fingers.
The weather service say that also mother nature seem to on be our side:

WEDNESDAY
NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 KNOTS BECOMING WEST IN THE
AFTERNOON. SEAS 2 TO 4 FEET.
(More at: COASTAL WATERS FORECAST )

2-4 feet is ok for any decent boat but might be a little rough ride for smaller private boats. But again for the sinking work it is quite okay.

Seems that it is only one hurdle left, get her down up right. We have faith in the Navy guys and on Thursday we will now for sure what we have for the future.

The Navy will conduct dives on her on Thursday to make sure she is stable and also to retrive cameras that are placed on her to document her sinking. A less know fact is that they have to check that all charges are exploded including the backup charges on timers, and if they are not they have to be retrived or set off.

Trip to Sinking of Oriskany

2006-05-12T09:58:00.000-05:00

The sinking of ex-USS Oriskany on May 17th still seem to be on schedule. We are getting requests to make a trip out there for the event. We have chosen not to.
It seems like it is going to be a non-event. The Navy is going to set off some small explosives inside her to blow open the ballast water intakes in her bottom and let water start to flow in. Then it is estimated that she will sink slowly for the next 5 to 8 hours. This means there will be no "fire works" and she will sink so slowly that it is hardly noticeable.
On top of this the coast guard will see to that any non-military crafts are at least 1 mile from her.
They are also starting at first light which is 6.35 am (sun rise) which will make this to a very long day for those that want to hang-out there. We have opted to not spend the day out there.

Two weeks to the sinking of ex-USS Oriskany

2006-05-03T18:45:00.000-05:00

Today, early this morning, it is two weeks left to the sinking of ex-USS Oriskany as an artifical reef. The Navy has scheduled her sinking to begin at first light May 17th, that is 6.35 am (sun rise) local time at the coordinates that she will be sunk.
That day at this time of day we should know if she made it down ok, or if she did something last minute to make life less good for all of us.
Did you know! That May 17th is Norway's National Day, like their 4th of July, and they party and celebrate hard that day.
I hope we join them in the party this year.

www.MightyO.com up running and ex-Oriskany

2006-04-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

What a great day! We got our Website up running, www.diveMightyO.com and the Priority Sign-up list is working. Everyday we get closer to May 17 and we don't hear anything bad from the sinking crew of the ex-Oriskany is a wonderful day.
The Navy guys has told me she is not the USS Oriskany or Oriskany anymore, she is 'ex', like in ex-Oriskany, I guess I can try to remembers that. She will always be the MightyO though, no 'ex' there.