No sooner had the carrier USS Kennedy departed the Port of Pensacola when the Navy announced that the USS Oriskany, another combat veteran ship, will make its final port call later this year as she is laid to rest to become an artificial reef in the waters of the Gulf, 25 miles southeast of Pensacola. Florida won out over Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina and Georgia in a hotly-contested competition that also pitted Escambia against Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. For a community inextricably associated with naval aviation, the region will feel the bow wave of economic impact as the 27,100-ton "Mighty O," as she was known to her crews, becomes the largest artificial reef in the United States and a boon for the fishing and diving industries.

"With the aircraft carrier as the centerpiece of Naval Aviation, what could be more fitting than to execute this ‘pilot’ aircraft carrier reef program in Escambia County where the roots were established over 89 years ago?" asks Vann Goodloe, Senior Vice President of the Pensacola Chamber of Commerce. "Area artificial reefs currently contribute more than $92 million annually to our local economy, and it is estimated that the Oriskany Reef could more than double that amount. The impact of acquiring the Oriskany will be felt from Mobile to Destin. This effort truly represents a win for the Navy and a win for Northwest Florida."

The Navy used five main factors for determining which locale was the most suitable for the ship: improvement potential to marine habitat and recreation, management of the reef, public support, the area’s Naval heritage, and local cost-sharing. While the Navy has committed $2.1 million of its $2.8 million budget for the Oriskany to prepare the ship for sinking, the rest of the costs will be borne by the region. Escambia County has pledged $1 million, including a $50,000 pledge from Okaloosa County towards the cost of additional cleaning of the ship and preparations for recreational divers. Additional commitments from private donations, grants and Escambia County marine resources bring the total pledged to $370,000.

Robert Turpin of Escambia County Marine Resources has been involved with the effort to get the Oriskany for over a year, since he and Escambia County Commissioner Bill Dickson attended a meeting in Jacksonville and learned that the Oriskany was available as a reef. Turpin notes that much more work will need to be done with the Navy before hard figures are available: " We are awaiting information from the Navy regarding additional work that may need to be done. We will be working with the Navy and federal & state environmental agencies to conclude the work necessary before she is deployed. Our economic analysis from 1999 indicates that our inventory of approximately 95 artificial reefs creates $93 million in generated expenditures, $19 million in generated wages, and employment of 1,941 jobs."

Based on the foregoing estimate, the annual economic impact of the Oriskany as an artificial reef would exceed that of several port visits. While the visit of the USS Kennedy in March injected approximately $1.5 million into the local economy, according to the Pensacola Chamber and US Navy Second Fleet estimates, port visits are irregular and subject to many factors. "These discretionary visits are usually at the request of the ships after coordination with local port operations and taking into account their operational schedules. Criteria include, but are not limited to, the cost of the port, as well as the ship’s limitation with respect to length of port visit, which are usually just a few days," states Lieutenant Gary Ross of the Navy’s Second Fleet Public Affairs office.

In contrast, as an artificial reef - the largest of which has ever been created by scuttling a US Navy vessel - the ripples of economic impact from a naval vessel will be felt as far away as Okaloosa County. Scott Robson is the president of the 90-member Destin Charter Boat Association, the largest charter boat operation in the entire Gulf Coast and worked with Turpin on determining the location of the Oriskany scuttling. He is excited about the reef’s impact: "It will definitely help out. It is another good area to fish and increases bio-mass. The location is beneficial to both counties, a happy medium from the standpoint of distance from both places. I think it’s definitely an economic benefit for both [Escambia and Okaloosa] counties’ charter boat industries and recreational sportsmen."

Tourism and economic development officials are also delighted. Larry Sassano, Executive Director of the Economic Development Council of Okaloosa believes, "The approval to allow the Oriskany to be laid down in the gulf waters between Pensacola Pass and Destin’s East Pass will provide estuaries for fish and other marine life and will create new opportunities for fishing and diving, a win-win situation for our region."

Likewise, Darrel Jones of Okaloosa’s Tourist Development Council is supportive of regional reef projects that appeal to the sportsmen: "The sinking of the Oriskany will be a great asset as it will supplement our efforts along with Okaloosa County in the continuing project of reef building. The county has long seen the need for artificial reefs and has done a marvelous job to place various approved items for the development of off shore fishing reefs for our fishing industry’s growth."

Fort Walton Beach Mayor Glenda Glover and the nine mayors in Okaloosa County jumped on board early to support the initiative. "We are very proud that it is going to be resting in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola," says Glover "We support it 100%, and I think all of us feel that it will make a good economic impact."

For Destin’s Mayor Craig Barker the scope, gravity, and importance of the USS Oriskany on Destin’s charter fishing industry is measured by the bottom line. "Destin’s commercial, sport fishing fleet serves between 250,000 and 300,000 people on an annual basis, with the average charter boat in use 200 days or more per year," Barker emphasizes. "As a result, Destin’s charter fleet employs approximately 400 people on a full or part-time basis and contributes nearly $60 million to the local economy each year. Artificial reefs like the USS Oriskany are absolutely critical to sustaining that level of production."

"This is going to be one of the greatest things for our diving and fishing communities," boasts Okaloosa Commissioner Jackie Burkett. However, getting the Oriskany was a hard-fought campaign that faced a strong lobby from South Florida interests, according to Burkett, who traveled to St Petersburg several times to make presentations to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Burkett recalled that, initially, the commission had selected Escambia as the number one choice with Okaloosa as the second choice. But, in the wake of a strong lobby by South Florida, the two counties joined forces to provide a stronger case and prevailed. "We pooled our efforts, added money and whatever we could in support and Escambia moved their deployment site over to the eastern part of their permitted area, " says Burkett. It puts only a four-mile difference between a trip from the Pensacola Pass to the site and Destin’s East Pass.

Retired Vice Admiral Jack Fetterman, CEO of the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, was at the forefront of the federal lobbying and one of the first to receive the news of the win from Congressman Jeff Miller. "I started well over a year ago on this whole thing," he says. "There was a lot of behind-the-scenes effort. I knew it would go political. I was calling daily to the Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command and to the Governor’s office."

Before a fixed date can be set for the scuttling of the Oriskany, the Navy must conduct a thorough review of the preparations. According to Fetterman, "Naval Sea Systems Command is sending a delegation in May down to the Oriskany’s present location in Corpus Christi. When they finish that they will be able to give me a ball park figure as to when it would be, but certainly not before June." Fetterman adds that a scuttling of this nature is unprecedented: "Naval Sea Systems Command went out with requests for proposals from companies that have the expertise to sink things. Nobody has ever sunk a U.S. carrier before except the Japanese."

Indeed, sinking a vessel this large will have the Navy’s attention, according to Fetterman. "The Navy is going to be very much involved with this one because the Spiegel Grove was a public relations disaster off Key Largo when she was put down," Fetterman recalls. The 510-foot USS Spiegel Grove is presently the largest Navy ship sunk to become an artificial reef and has generated approximately $14 million in revenue and has been visited by 35,000 divers in the last two years. But, getting her to the bottom was not easy. "She popped up by the bow and stayed there for a long time," Fetterman remembers. "It is very important that this one goes down on the keel for both the SCUBA divers and the fishermen."

The location for the Oriskany’s sinking is in waters 212 feet deep. If the ship does come down on its keel, its appeal to SCUBA divers will be enhanced. "It’s going to be a boon for diving," says Lori Schmitz, co-owner of Emerald Coast Scuba in Destin. Assuming it comes on its keel, dive instructor Tim Norkus notes: "The conning tower should be at about 50 feet with the flight deck at about 100ft, well within recreational dive limits."

Fetterman believes that the scuttling of the Oriskany will garner national news coverage and draw many to witness the event. But, he is not sure what to expect. "I am going to be very interested to know what the expectation is from the initiation of the first detonation until she goes below the water," he wonders. "Is that a four hour venture or is it a two day venture? That is information we need to put forth for those that want to go out 25 miles to watch this."

Clearly, the economic impact of a carrier is considerable, if not staggering, whether it’s an active combat vessel like the USS Kennedy, or a retired and battle-weary veteran that created history in its wake like the USS Oriskany. While Fetterman is not optimistic about a carrier being home-ported in Pensacola short of declared war, he knows with absolute certainty that Naval carrier aviation heritage is anchored here and that is why the Oriskany will come to rest in our waters.

Fetterman doesn’t equivocate. "That carrier belongs here. She deserves to have a proper burial."

Scott Jackson
Mindlace Media & Photo
850-217-7994