US tests advanced torpedoes by sinking its own decommissioned carrier

Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Fluctus channel. United States Navy vessels spend decades at sea carrying out missions, protecting trade routes, projecting power, and supporting military operations around the world. But even the largest warships eventually reach the end of their operational lives, When that happens, they are decommissioned, officially retired from military service, and stripped of weapons, electronics, and other sensitive systems. At that point, the Navy must decide what comes next. Some ships are scrapped, some become museum vessels, and others are given a second life in one of the most unexpected ways possible. They are intentionally sunk, rather than ending as waste. These retired vessels can be transformed into artificial reefs on the ocean floor. In that role, they become hard structures in marine environments that may otherwise lack them, creating habitats for fish, coral, and invertebrates while also attracting divers and researchers. But sinking a ship is not as simple as towing it offshore and sending it under. Before a vessel is intentionally scuttled, it must be extensively cleaned to remove fuels, contaminants, insulation, and other hazardous materials that could damage the marine environment. The site itself must also be chosen carefully. If the ship is placed in the wrong location or if preparation is incomplete, the reefing effort can harm the ecosystem instead of helping it. If done properly, however, the wreck gradually becomes part of the seafloor, increasing biodiversity and creating new underwater habitats. That is why planning, environmental review, engineering and execution are all critical. The goal is not simply to sink a retired warship. The goal is to repurpose it so that it remains useful long after its military career is over. To understand how a decommissioned Navy vessel can be reborn as an artificial reef, the USS Oriskany remains one of the most powerful examples. Originally built during World War II and commissioned in 1950, the Oriskany became one of the great Essex-class aircraft carriers of the US Navy. It served during the Korean War. Later operated in the Vietnam War and remained in active service for 26 years before being decommissioned in 1976. During its prime, it was an enormous floating airbase 911 feet long with a beam of 147.5 feet powered by eight boilers and four Westinghouse steam turbines generating 150,000 horsepower. That was enough to push the ship to 33 knots. It had 10 decks, a crew of roughly 2,600, and an embarked air wing of about 2,100 additional personnel. By the time the ship was retired, it was still an imposing machine, but the cost of modernization was judged too high. Instead of preserving it in reserve, the Navy worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to prepare it for reefing. On the 17th of May 2006, after extensive environmental cleaning, the Oriskany was scuttled approximately 22 miles off Pensacola, Florida. To make sure the carrier would sink in a controlled and stable way, 22 sea connection pipes were installed and around 500 pounds of explosives were used to implode selected compartments and create strategic openings that allowed water to flood the ship properly. In less than 36 minutes, the old carrier settled onto the seabed. Today, it lies in about 212 feet of water, with the top of the flight deck at roughly 145 feet below the surface. Known now as the Great Carrier Reef, the Oriskany has become one of the most famous artificial reef sites in the world. Marine life has colonized the wreck, and the former warship now supports both ecology and tourism. It is one of the clearest demonstrations that a vessel built for war can still serve a useful purpose after retirement. Another example of a ship gaining a second life is the Kraken, a decommissioned vessel adopted as part of an artificial reef program in the Gulf of Mexico. Like the USS Oriskany, the Kraken was selected not simply to be discarded but to become part of a larger effort to improve marine habitat. After preparation and placement, the ship was sunk in about 140 feet of water, roughly 65 miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas. This matters because much of the Gulf sea floor is sandy or muddy, offering relatively little hard structure for marine organisms to attach to. In such places, a large steel wreck can quickly become a productive reef. Within months, the Kraken was hosting giant schools of baitfish, red snapper, and a range of other marine species. For divers, it became a destination. For marine life, it became a shelter. And for fisheries management, it became part of a broader strategy to spread marine activity over more habitat, reducing pressure on natural reefs. Ships are not the only structures used this way. Abandoned offshore oil platforms have also been incorporated into reef programs. One example is High Island A-298A, donated in 1991 and toppled to create a permanent habitat for marine organisms. These platforms, like retired ships, provide the hard vertical surfaces needed for corals and invertebrates to colonize. Once growth begins, fish follow, including economically and recreationally important species like red snapper. This is part of a larger program run by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, which uses ships, rigs, and other large structures to expand reef habitat. These efforts show how retired industrial and military assets can continue serving a purpose. They benefit marine life. create recreational opportunities, and support more sustainable pressure on existing reef systems. In that sense, the usefulness of a Navy ship does not necessarily end when it stops sailing. It can simply move into a different role. Alongside environmental reefing, the U.S. Navy also uses decommissioned and sunken ships as part of its diving and salvage training program. These vessels are not only ecological assets, They are also practical underwater classrooms. Much of that work is centered at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida, the world's largest diving training facility. There, Navy divers receive specialized instruction in underwater ship repair, salvage, demolition, search operations, and emergency response. Training begins in controlled conditions, such as classrooms and pools, But eventually expands into real open water environments where divers face depth, currents, limited visibility, and large submerged structures. Decommissioned ships like the Kraken and the Oriskany provide ideal scenarios for this kind of practical experience. On these wrecks, divers learn how to navigate large steel hulls underwater, cut metal, attach rigging, conduct assessments, and work in the kinds of environments they may encounter in real-world missions. Their training includes mixed-gas deep dives, underwater welding, damage control, hull penetration techniques, and salvage preparation. This is mission-critical work. Navy divers may later be called on to conduct search and rescue, recover aircraft or vessels, perform emergency underwater repairs, Or respond to maritime accidents and wartime damage. Training on real decommissioned ships allows them to develop these skills in realistic settings that no simulator can fully replicate. In that way, the afterlife of an old warship can support both marine ecosystems and future Navy operations at the same time. After looking at how old warships can become reefs and training sites, another wreck tells a different but equally important story. The Coimbra. Unlike the Oriskany, the Coimbra was not intentionally sunk to become a reef. It was a British-flagged oil tanker built in 1937, and in January 1942 it was torpedoed by the German U-boat U-123 off Long Island, New York, during the Battle of the Atlantic. At the time, the tanker was carrying 64,000 barrels of oil and sailing toward Britain when two torpedoes struck it. causing an enormous explosion that split the vessel into three pieces. 36 of the 46 crew members were killed. The wreck came to rest about 30 miles off Shinnecock, New York, in roughly 180 feet of water. For decades, it remained there, a wartime grave and a forgotten hazard. In recent years, however, it became a major environmental concern because oil began leaking from the wreck. In 2019, the U.S. Coast Guard, working with Resolve Marine Group, launched a large-scale salvage and oil removal operation. Over the course of three months, the team removed more than 450,000 gallons of oil from the wreck, making it one of the largest fuel removal efforts ever carried out on a World War II wreck in U.S. The work involved divers and remotely operated vehicles, or ROVs, which were used to inspect the wreck, drill into tanks, test oil conditions, and connect pumping systems. The recovered oil was brought to the surface, treated, and disposed of in an environmentally responsible way. Divers descended to 180 feet to work directly on the wreck, guided by real-time data from the ROVs. Peace. Across 193 dives, they recovered more than 476,000 gallons of oil over 90 days. The operation prevented a significant environmental disaster and demonstrated how modern salvage combines diving expertise, engineering, and remote technology to deal with hazards left behind by sunken ships. It also showed that wrecks do not stop affecting the ocean once they go under. Some become reefs. Some become training grounds. Others remain environmental threats until someone intervenes. That is what makes the Navy's relationship with retired or sunken ships so complex. A decommissioned aircraft carrier may be cleaned and reefed to support marine life. A wreck may be used to train future Navy divers. A sunken tanker may require a major recovery operation decades after the war that sank it. In each case, the ship continues to matter long after its original mission ends. Its role changes, but its impact remains. What was once built for combat can become habitat, training, infrastructure, or the focus of a high-risk environmental operation. These outcomes require planning, specialized equipment, and highly trained people, whether the objective is controlled reefing, diver readiness, or oil removal. So when people ask why the U.S., Navy is sinking gigantic ships into the ocean. The answer is far more complicated than destruction for its own sake. Sometimes the goal is ecological restoration. Sometimes it is training. Sometimes it is environmental protection. Beneath the surface, these retired giants can still serve the nation, the ocean, and the people who depend on both. That's the end of the video. I hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss any of our new content. See you next time.