Has the Oriskany settled deeper since sinking?

[mike_s]

Some parts of the flight deck are at 150 feet already.

The ship is almost 900 feet long and about 150 feet wide (if memory serves me right).

A 5 or 10 degree list in any direction will definately make one side of the ship higher and lower by that many feet.


Oh... and I think most folks fully expected a 46,000 ton shipwreck to settle just "a little"

 

[Drewski]

I don't get it, even for fisherman it is out to far and to deep.

Huh? 22 miles is "too far" out? Our "good" local dives are between 30 and 45 miles, some even 60 miles! Try THAT ride in 4 to 6 FT waves on a cold day in a 12 Knot lobster boat.

Besides, if they sunk it shallow, it would be an obstruction to navigation. And what's with that "dumping ground" and "junk" observation? Seems a little "harsh," Nemrod...

I'd predict that the Oriskany will soon become one of the hottest dive destinations on the planet, I already know BSAC guys that are booking trips...

JMO

 

[MichaelBaranows]

If Texas woudl have gotten the Oriskany they were going to cut off about 30' of the super structure so it could be put in shallower water and more people could dive the flight deck.

 

[Super]

Thanks for the feedback everybody. Hopefully, someone who has dived it recently can check their computers and verify the flight deck delpth.

Or maybe someone who will be diving it soon will make a note of the depth and post it here on the boards.

I can't wait to dive the Mighty O but don't want to be surprised after I get there about the depth issue.

Dive safely and have fun!

 

[mike_s]

If Texas woudl have gotten the Oriskany they were going to cut off about 30' of the super structure so it could be put in shallower water and more people could dive the flight deck.

They actually cut more than that off to sink it in a spot as "shallow" as they did.


They cut off the mast and antenna domes and a lot of the structure above the main part of the island.

It was discussed removing more of the island so that it could be put in shallower water, however, the width of the flight deck was the issue. It had to be that deep in case a storm or shifting sand (or improper sinking) caused the ship to lean to it's side. The width of the flight deck being tilted would have exceeded the max clearance depth from the surface for the permit issued by the Corp of Engineers for the sinking. Otherwise the "uphill" side of the flight deck would have been too close to the surface as required by the permit.

So cutting more island off might have seemed like a way to sink it shallower, but in reality it would have required removing huge sections of the flight deck also. Both of those combined is what didn't make it feasable to sink it shallower.

 

[Guba]

One of our CDOT members submitted a dive report only this month and said he stood flatfooted on the dive deck. His depth gauge read 137 feet.
I followed the application procedures pretty closely, and I know of no plans for Texas to cut off any more of the superstructure than was actually done for the Florida sinking. It's a big ship, subject to currents and storms. It simply had to be deep to stay where it was planted.

 

[Nemrod]

Drewski, I am semi native to "your" area. I know it well.

Thing is that most dive shops there hardly will leave site of shore. I have tried to get trips to various such places as you describe and all they weant to do is go to the bridge rubble or some close in rock or wreck. I think nothing of going 22 miles but the shops there apparently do.

THey have this thing called navigation and charts and maybe they could sink the next garbage disposal a bit more shallow so it could be useful to more divers. It does not have to be in 300 feet of water to prevent it being a hazard to navigation.

Harsh is not the word, they could have set it in 180 feet to allow for settling, they could do many things but THEY set it so deep it is hardly diveable and it will settle further yet. If they are going to pollute the ocean with PCBs at least do it were we can get good use from the thing.

N

 

[Nemrod]

The tilting thing is not true and you can prove it to yourself. The ship is nearly as deep as it is wide, take a bow or stern view of the Oriskany and then draw a circle around it --leaving the tower out of the view--and you will see that on it's side or upside down or on it's side, they could have set it more shallow than 220 plus feet.

The ship is going to slowly settle, rock with storms, settle, rock, settle etc until it sits at least 15 to 30 feet deeper than the original depth which ws still over 130 feet.

It is still a good thing but it could have been better, realizing that in fact, it was done for fishing and not diving.

N

 

[Carribeandiver]

I have not done an Oriskany dive and I dont plan on it because I see no point in diving deeper than the deepest ocean to view a rustbucket that has little or no coral on it, yet.
Because water temps in the pennsacola area tend to get rather chilly in winter (50-55F), their wont be any hard coral on it regardless of how long it stays down. I saw the show "sinking of the Oriskany" and thought that it looked like a tired old rust bucket.
Maybe for some tech divers it would be interesting but unless you do some penetration, I cant see the point.
BUT< I do not agree with Nemrod as I do not feel it is a dumped piece of garbage. It will serve as a safe refuge for many fish and it will promote the area by forming a nice reef.
Plus, because of its massive size, it will offer some protection against storms for the Pennsacola coastline. Small, but still some protection is better than no protection.
I recall there was a huge competition to get the ship and Pennsacola won out. Surely you can see some benefit, right?
I just think I would enjoy diving in other places more so I put Oriskany very low on my list of dive options. However, there seems to be no shortage of divers wishing to take the plunge and as time goes by, (long time) it will be something worth seeing, if you can get down that deep.

 

[MichaelBaranows]

Guba,
I am not sure about how much of the super structure was going to be removed. That is just something I was told a few years ago.