PENSACOLA, Fla. – Hundreds of Navy veterans plan to see the USS Oriskany off on her final voyage, a trip to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where the rusted aircraft carrier will become a massive artificial reef.
Many plan to rent boats and watch as the Oriskany is sunk 24 miles off Pensacola Beach on Wednesday.
The ship will become the world’s largest intentionally created artificial reef. It will be the first sunk under a pilot program to dispose of old warships. City leaders hope it will turn the area into a destination for scuba divers and sport fishermen from around the world.
The Oriskany was commissioned in 1950, served through the Korean and Vietnam wars, and was decommissioned in 1976. The ship was among those used by President John F. Kennedy as a show of force in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis.
Twelve Oriskany pilots, including U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., became North Vietnamese prisoners of war.
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