I see from the web page of MBT Divers the following information: "The Oriskany will be placed on clean white sand bottom approximately 22.5nm SSE of Pensacola Pass (17nm due south of Santa Rosa Island) in 212 feet of water (1.5 nm SE of the Chevron Rig) . The top of the structure is planned to be at 50', and the flight deck around 110'. Visibility in the area is commonly 60-100'+, with water temps ranging from the mid to high 80's in the summer to the upper 60's in the winter. Currents in the area normally range from none to light." The top of the superstructure will be at 50 feet, the flight deck will be at 110 feet (so the superstructure is 60 feet tall), and the bottom will be at 212 feet.
I wrote an email to the Florida Fish and Wildlife about this location. They are really set on placing this ship in 212 feet of water. In my opinion, for what it is worth, this location will result in numberous diver injuries and deaths. With the flight deck at 110 feet, the temptation to plan a dive to that depth will be great. There will even be people going to the bottom. An alternative would be to place the ship so that 10 feet of the superstructure extends out of the water. This places the flight deck at 50 feet and the bottom at about 150 feet. This would be no more of a navigation risk than all the oil rigs in that area. I would appreciate your opinions. There is still time to get the location changed if we get enough people involved.
