The USS Oriskany

As our group from Texas headed out on the H2O Below for 2 dives on the USS Oriskany, we were all discussing what condition the aircraft carrier might be in and what marine life might now call this once floating bohemeth home.  We had just been given the boat safety briefing from Captain Douglas Hammock, and were ready to hit the water.  We had to cool our heels however because there was still an hour and a half boat ride before we reached the moorings.  I had arranged this trip for Tom’s Dive and Swim through MBT Divers out of Pensacola, FL. but MBT charters with the H2O Below to get divers out to the site.  It seems a very convenient and equable relationship.

The H2O Below is a 36' Newton dive boat, and is certified for 24 divers.  Even though they limit the number to 16 the boat can feel a little cramped when everyone is gearing up and moving around the deck.  The H20 Below also caters to tech divers but this was our first trip out using MBT Divers and the H2O Below so we were sticking to recreational limits.  Just so you know though, they limit the number of divers to 11 if tech diving and limit the number of dives to 1 with a total run time of 1 hour 45 minutes.

While researching this trip, I was continually warned to avoid so-called "cattle boat" operators.  These charters put large groups of divers on the site making the experience more like an amusment park ride than a wreck dive.  As I found out, another important issue is how many dive boats will be on the site at the same time.  Still, it seems that many of the charters frequenting the Oriskany have an unspoken arrangement of when they leave the docks so as to stagger entries and exits on the site.  Some boats leave at 6:00 am while others go out at 8:00 am.  Once we arrived at 9:30 am, 2 earlier boats were pulling anchor leaving us an open mooring.  The bigger unknown is the number or arrival times of private boats which can appear at any time of the day to put more divers on the wreck. 

Once on site, a boat dive masters quickly hit the water and tied us off.  He then gave us a short briefing regarding conditions and we were ready to go.  There were already 5 dive boats onsite with roughly 20 divers in the water.  Fortunately most were ending their dive so it was not that crowded.  Still, upon descending there were divers everywhere.  Slowly though, as divers from other boats ascended, we were left on the wreck almost completely alone.  By the end of my first dive, my buddy was the only other diver around.  {mospagebreak}

The top of the smoke stack is at almost 70 ft and keeping within recreational limits of 130 ft we were left 60 ft of the conning tower to explore almost down to the flight deck (137 ft).  There were several doors leading to passage ways we could enter and exit but there were several others that had been welded shut or were simply not accessible.  Most of the ship’s equipment has been removed but there was plenty of memorabilia still present providing an opportunity to envision the workings of a US aircraft carrier.  One of the most disgusting events witnessed was a man and woman found prying off some piece of junk from one of the Oriskany’s inner walls.  Even though it was worthless, they had to have it.  They obviously weren’t thinking about the hundreds of other divers who will come to dive this wreck. If each diver who visits the site does the same, there will be little left for anyone else to see – “Can you say China Fever?”