Pictures of what once was the USS Oriskany, taken from the pier at the
port of Pensacola. These are pictures of the Oriskany, currently
at the Port of Pensacola, being prepared for her ultimate fate as an artificial
reef. Just below the sponson where the port-side fore 3-in. guns
used to be located, you can see a large rectangular hole cut in the hull,
not far above where the natural (pre-stripping) waterline used to be.
I assume this is to allow for quicker and more even flooding. It
appears just above the safety railing in oriskany-reef3.jpg. These
pictures provide a good study of the port side of an SCB-125 conversion,
detailed pictures of which can be hard to come by. I am using them
to assist me in scratch-building the SCB-125 conversion onto an old WWII
configuration Essex kit I have laying around that was broken in a move.
The pictures might be rather sad looking, but I prefer this to scrapping.
