USS Oriskany
Aircraft Carrier · United States · Lost 2006 · The Gulf of Mexico
The world's largest intentionally sunk artificial reef: an 888-foot Essex-class carrier resting in 212 feet off Pensacola.
The Vessel and Her Loss
USS Oriskany served in the Pacific for 25 years, earning battle stars in both Korea and Vietnam, before being decommissioned in 1976. After sitting in reserve for decades, she was cleaned of hazardous materials and sunk in 2006 to create the largest deliberately built artificial reef in U.S. coastal waters. Nicknamed the "Great Carrier Reef," she is now one of the premier deep wreck dives in the country.
Vessel
- 1950
- CVA-34
- New York Naval Shipyard
- Brooklyn, New York
- Steel
- 911 ft
- 148 ft
- Not established
- Steam turbines, four screws
- United States Navy
Loss
- May 17, 2006
- Intentional sinking
- About 22.5 nautical miles southeast of Pensacola Pass, Gulf of Mexico
- Gulf of Mexico
- Not established
- Not established
- Not established
- 0
- Not established
The Wreck Today
- 80-212
- Intact, sitting upright
- Bow facing south
- Not established
- Managed as a Florida artificial reef site by FWC and Escambia County
Position
- 30.043° N 87.007° W
- Surveyed position
- Pensacola, Florida
Position published by Florida's Panhandle Shipwreck Trail.
Evidence
Overall confidence: Well documented (95/100)
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Sinking date, depth, dimensions, program partners.
Florida Panhandle Shipwreck Trail
Coordinates, depth profile, dive notes.
Sinking day narrative.
