Sink Her, Already ! Part Trois

When last we left our heroine, she was moored at the Port Of Pensacola, waiting a move back to Texass. She’s not gone yet, you ask? Sigh. Nothing but nothing is as simple as it seems.

But, in the latest twist, it turns out that it’s going to take extra time to prepare the vessel for the trek to Texas.
The wooden flight deck, various hatches and doors were removed to ensure diver safety once the boat is sunk. But that work must be temporarily undone so the Mighty O does not become bogged down with rain on the way to Beaumont and during its stay there


And your tax dollars? Still hard at work.

Meanwhile, the Navy is paying $90,000 per month in docking fees to the Port of Pensacola. It’s also paying $221,000 per month to Resolve Marine Group to ready the Oriskany for its trek to Beaumont.
Walker said the port will miss the docking fees paid since the Oriskany’s arrival from Corpus Christi, Texas, last December.
Dolan said the cost of the tow has not been settled.
As of early May, the Navy had spent $12.3 million on the Oriskany reef project, the first of its kind and expected to be a model for disposing of decommissioned Navy ships in the future. By contrast, Dolan said, one estimate to dismantle and scrap the ship was $24 million.

categories Military Thingies | | datetime May 31, 2005 12:35 pm

3 Responses to “Sink Her, Already ! Part Trois”

  1. Mr. Bingley says:
    May 31, 2005 at 1:18 pm

    expected to be a model for disposing of decommissioned Navy ships in the future
    Sadly, this is probably still true.

  2. Crusader says:
    May 31, 2005 at 2:20 pm

    Sad. they could prolly ship her her to Lake Norman as an amusement park for less than what it is going to end up costing… Heck, sell her to Argentina or some other nation with wishes for a carrier.

  3. tree hugging sister says:
    May 31, 2005 at 2:31 pm

    I liked Bingley’s original idea of using it for gub’ment housing and a senior citizens’ dance hall.

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