Oriskany departed on final voyage this morning

After years of preparation, the USS Oriskany is now under tow from Allegheny
Pier at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida to become an underwater
reef and paradise for qualified SCUBA divers.

See the newspaper articles at

http://pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps...#slides-pane-0

and via links read the history of this fine ship.

The Oriskany already has water in many of the compartments and spaces to
make her bottom heavy. She will be anchored fore and aft over the location
where they plan to sink her. When everything is safe they will set off 85
pounds of explosives placed at strategic locations. Because they have
already cleared passages for the air to rise from inside the hull it is
expected that the water will enter and the air will vent to the top. As
such, she will sink evenly on the keel. There are cameras placed in the
ship to record the explosions, the entry of water, etc. The images will be
recorded on equipment now stored in a boat which is sitting on the flight
deck. That boat is supposed to rise to the surface and provide the Navy
with data about the sinking.

There were many old Oriskany hands along the seawall watching their old ship
depart on her final voyage.

I put a photo in the alt.binaries.pictures.aviation newsgroup.