Sinking of an Aircraft Carrier

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Technology Documentary hosted by Corey White, published by PBS in 2006 - English narration

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A 30,000-tonne aircraft carrier is designed to function in the heat of battle and built to be capable of withstanding a great deal of punishment. This documentary follows the efforts of a team of engineers and demolition experts to sink one. Commissioned in 1950, the USS Oriskany was one of the flagships of the Pacific fleet, deployed in action during both the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Even such a leviathan of the seas has only a finite life-span, however, and the carrier was decommissioned in 1976. The ship lay berthed for almost 30 years, before a decision was taken to sink the hulk for use as an artificial reef off the coast of Florida. The operation involved the most explosives ever used in a controlled marine demolition. The film follows the process and some of the principal characters involved, including project manager Don Herring, part of whose job was to ensure that all hazardous material was stripped off the carrier in time for the sinking. Millions of dollars were invested in the project and time was of the essence, for the sinking had to be carried out before the onset of the hurricane season. The ship was eventually sunk on May 17, 2006, after an operation that required not only a precise combination of science and engineering but also an element of luck, for its outcome was never going to be totally predictable.