US - Dubbed by some as the ‘Great Carrier Reef’ the 32,000 ton, 271m (888ft)-long, 60m

(197ft)-wide Aircraft Carrier USS Oriskany CV/CVA-34 was sunk in 65m (212ft) of water, 39km (24 miles) southeast of Pensacola, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The date was May 17, 2006.

Known as the ‘Mighty O’, the keel of this last Essex-class carrier was laid in the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard on May 1, 1944 and she was launched on Oct. 13, 1945. Completing 25 cruises and launching more sorties than any other carrier, the vessel was a combat veteran of the Korean and Vietnam wars. She will not only be the largest vessel purposely sunk as a reef, but the largest artificial reef in the world. Decommissioned in 1973 the Oriskany was sold for scrap in 1994 but the buyer reneged on payment and the navy repossessed the vessel in 1997. In 2003 it was decided to make her an artificial reef.

The ‘Mighty O’ was the first ship sunk under a US Navy programme to dispose of old warships by turning them into artificial reefs. Other ships have been turned into artificial reefs, including the USS Spiegel Grove that was scuttled in 2002 off Key Largo, but that was a civilian project.