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Arts & Culture

Sinking Of An Aircraft Carrier

Airs Sunday, Sept. 24, 2017 at 3 p.m. on KPBS TV

The film follows a demolition team's mission to sink the USS Oriskany, a 900-foot long aircraft carrier, the most complex and best built ship in naval warfare, and to create the largest artificial reef in the world.

Battling through four-inch-thick steel plating and hazardous waste, the team discovers the secret of sinking an aircraft carrier, and in the process, writes a new chapter in marine demolition.

The USS Oriskany was built not to sink, but to withstand missiles and bomb hits during a war. She operated primarily in the Pacific into the 1970s, in both the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

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The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) underway near Midway Atoll in 1967. Oriskany was deployed with Attack Carrier Air Wing 16 (CVW-16) to the Vietnam from 16 June 1967 to 31 Jan. 1968.
U.S. Navy [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) underway near Midway Atoll in 1967. Oriskany was deployed with Attack Carrier Air Wing 16 (CVW-16) to the Vietnam from 16 June 1967 to 31 Jan. 1968.

The courageous demolition team must go through tight tunnels throughout the ship, making sure everything is removed that could be harmful to the environment, meeting all safety codes.