USS Oriskany sunk as aritifical reef, 2006

USS Oriskany (CV-34/CVA-34) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier in service with the US Navy from 1950 to 1976. After decommissioning, Oriskany was laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Facility at Bremerton, WA. The Navy announced on 5 April 2004, that it would transfer the former aircraft carrier to the State of Florida for use as an artificial reef. Towed to Pensacola, Oriskany was sunk with explosive charges on May 17, 2006. She now forms an artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico.

USS Oriskany (CVA 34) laid up at the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Puget Sound, Bremerton in 1990. Moored alongside are USS Hornet (CVS 12), USS Bennington (CVS 20) and USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA 31). VIRIN: DN-SC-90-03975.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) at Pensacola, Florida January 1, 2005. VIRIN: 050111-N-GS507-010.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) is towed out to sea May 15, 2006. VIRIN: 060515-N-JC459-007.

Explosives detonate aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) in the Gulf of Mexico during SINKEX to create an artificial reef on June 17, 2006. VIRIN: 060517-N-JC459-001.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) sinks in the Gulf of Mexico 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida during SINKEX to create an artificial reef, June 17, 2006. VIRIN: 060517-N-JC459-009.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) sinks in the Gulf of Mexico 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida during SINKEX to create an artificial reef, June 17, 2006. VIRIN: 060517-N-GO804-010.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) sinks in the Gulf of Mexico 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida during SINKEX to create an artificial reef, June 17, 2006. VIRIN: 060517-N-GO804-011.

The decommissioned aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA 34) sinks in the Gulf of Mexico 24 miles off the coast of Pensacola, Florida during SINKEX to create an artificial reef, June 17, 2006. VIRIN: 060517-N-JC459-014.

Divers on main deck of sunken aircraft carrier / artificial reef USS Oriskay (CVA 34) in the Gulf of Mexico, 6 July, 2007. Divers are PS1 K. Arnold (USN) and MAJ S. Phelps (US Army). VIRIN: 070706-O-TW583-002.

Veteran US Navy aircraft carrier USS Forrestal sold for scrap… for just 1-cent!

Talk about a bargain! The USS Forrestal has been sold for scrap… for just 1 cent!

The USS Forrestal (CV-59) was the lead vessel of her class and was commissioned into the United States Navy in 1955, serving until 1993. All four Forrestal-class aircraft carriers are slated for scrapping, despite strong campaigns to preserve at least one as a museum ship and to sink one as an artificial reef.

USS Forrestal, Navy’s first ‘supercarrier,’ sold for one cent

The aircraft carrier USS FORRESTAL (CV 59), escorted by a pair of tug boats, passes under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge as it approaches New York City for Fleet Week on April 29, 1989. (U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) — The aircraft carrier USS Forrestal, out of service for 20 years, is being sold to a Brownsville, Texas, scrap company for a penny, the Navy says.

All Star Metals bid $0.01 for the job, the Navy said in a news release Tuesday. The company’s offer was based on its estimate of how much it can net from the sale of metal from the Forrestal.

The Forrestal, the first of the Navy’s “supercarriers,” was launched in December 1954 in Newport News, Va., and commissioned on Sept. 29, 1955. It was named after James V. Forrestal, the last Navy secretary to sit in the cabinet and the first secretary of defense, who committed suicide in 1949.

The carrier was decommissioned in 1993. The Navy offered to donate it as a museum or memorial but no suitable organizations offered to take the vessel.

The Forrestal is currently docked in Philadelphia.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/10/23/USS-Forrestal-Navys-first-supercarrier-sold-for-one-cent/UPI-16381382560484/

VIDEO: “Sinking an Aircraft Carrier” (2008)

Royal Navy hard-pressed to defend Gibraltar

The Royal Navy, stretched thin by budget cuts, ship decommissioning, delayed replacement vessels, and increased operational demands, would be hard-pressed to deploy significant assets to Gibraltar.

Navy ‘can’t do a lot’ about Gibraltar

Defence cuts mean the Royal Navy would struggle to send warships to Gibraltar amid tensions with Spain over the Rock, it was claimed today.

The warning comes amid a dispute with Madrid over Gibraltar’s sovereignty.

Relations between the British territory and Spain have deteriorated in recent months in a row over fishing grounds, with Spanish ministers raising the prospect of imposing a £43 levy on vehicles crossing the border and the possibility of closing airspace.

Mike Critchley, a former naval officer and book publisher from Gosport, told The News: ‘In times past the navy would have had a presence down there, but now the navy is tremendously reduced.

‘The navy can’t meet all its commitments.

‘Ships do go there, submarines go there, and there are some small patrol vessels.

‘But it is a difficult situation, we’re talking about two NATO countries, two EU countries, so obviously the government is just going to be watching what happens at the moment.

‘The navy can’t do a lot about it. This has been going on for a while Someone has got to bang heads together.’

The government has insisted there will be no compromise over the sovereignty of Gibraltar, and foreign secretary William Hague has vowed to stand shoulder to shoulder with its citizens in response to heightened pressure and increasingly belligerent rhetoric from Madrid.

Last night, Mr Hague reiterated the UK’s commitment to the people of Gibraltar after speaking to Gibraltar’s Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo.

He said: ‘I emphasised to Gibraltar’s elected Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, that the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with the people of Gibraltar at this time of increasing Spanish pressure and rhetoric.

‘I also highlighted that we will respect Gibraltar’s 2006 Constitution and the commitments the UK has repeatedly made not to compromise on British sovereignty over Gibraltar.

‘We discussed the need for a political solution to the current tension with Spain, which would be firmly in the interests of communities on both sides of Gibraltar’s border with Spain.

‘I call upon Spain to respect the agreements made at Cordoba and to avoid actions which could increase tension further.

‘We agreed that it was important to respond to actions, not rhetoric, and I confirmed that we would continue to raise our concerns with Spain.’

http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/navy-can-t-do-a-lot-about-gibraltar-1-5358162

What price a guard ship?