TRAVEL continued in September 1976. The vessel was subsequently sunk in a joint effort between the U.S. Navy, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), and Escambia County in Florida. The top of the ship’s island comes into view at a depth of around 65 feet. An American flag, along with a POW-MIA flag and a United States Marine Corps flag, are tied to the top of the superstructure and waving in the brisk current. After 2 decades of submersion, the wreck is covered in marine growth. Shellfish, corals and algae obscure much of the original metal. Robust schools of tropical fish swirl around the super- structure, evidence that the intention of the artificial reef program has been met. We first explored the upper levels of the island before descending to the next levels in the direction of the stern, an observation bridge at about 110 feet. Here, orange and yellow cup corals adorn the wreckage and delicately frame the entrances of windows, doorways and hatches. The wreck of the USS Oriskany is enormous and most of it lies beneath the range of recreational scuba. The flight deck, for instance, is at around 140 feet, the hangars around 165 feet and the sand is 210 feet or deeper in spots. Most divers visiting this wreck only explore the superstructure of the carrier’s island, but even just this area provides enough adventure for many visits to this grand wreck! There are several dive charter boats in the area as well as dive shops for tanks, weights and other equipment rentals. Divers, or trip organizers, should contact the dive shops in advance to make sure tanks and weights are available for the days you book your dives. In this area, the dive boats do not supply tanks and weights. For our trip to the Oriskany , we worked with Dive Pros, a dive shop in Pensacolajust a PNG and the Niuhi Dive Charter dive boat. After exploring the USS Oriskany , we moved our base of op- erations about 45 miles to the east to the bustling seaside town of Destin, Florida. With unimaginably white beach sands and easy access to the Gulf waters, Destin is fast becoming a popular destination on the Panhandle. With the imminent sinking of the SS United States off Destin, this area is poised to become a diving hotspot. Our objective was to sample some of the existing wrecks that have been inten- tionally sunk off Destin. We wanted to dive shallower, inshore wrecks as well as wrecks further offshore. All these wrecks would make interesting additions to a well-crafted dive itinerary for divers coming to dive the SS United States . Our first dive was to the wreck of the Miss Louise, a sunken push tugboat lying in around 60 feet of water only a few miles out of the Destin Pass. The ship was put down in 1997 and is home to a wide variety of marine life.
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