Question: In 2006, the Navy sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier off Pensacola, creating the “Great Carrier Reef.” What is the ship’s name?
Answer: The USS Oriskany. The Essex-class carrier, nicknamed “the Mighty O,” was commissioned in 1950, earned battle stars in Korea and Vietnam, and was decommissioned in 1976. On May 17, 2006, the Navy sent her down about 22 miles off Pensacola Pass, where she rests upright in 212 feet of water. She was the first ship sunk under a Navy program to turn retired warships into reefs, and she remains the largest vessel ever put down for that purpose.
