Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Something you don't see every day

You can check out some video here of an aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany, being detonated and sunk in the Gulf of Mexico to form the "the world's largest deliberately created artificial reef." It's kind of cool, seeing a ship that big going under (without being sunk by an enemy, I should add).

Some interesting facts about the ship, from the article linked above:
The Oriskany, commissioned in 1950 and named after an American Revolutionary War battle, saw duty during the Korean War and was home to John McCain when the Navy pilot and future senator served in Vietnam. It was also among the ships used by President Kennedy in a show of force during the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. It was decommissioned in 1976.

McCain was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 after taking off from the Oriskany and was held as a prisoner of war for five years.
It's also the first ship to be sunk as part of a new Navy program to create reefs out of old ships, which area officials hope will attract divers and fishermen.

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