Great Carrier Reef - The largest built reef ever!

Great Carrier Reef - The largest built reef ever!

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No, you haven't read that title wrong.

We've heard of Australia's stunning Great Barrier Reef, but one diver's paradise we haven't heard much about is the Great Carrier Reef.

24 miles from the coast into Pensacola, sitting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, is the USS Oriskany - an 888-foot former US Navy internal carrier.

The world's largest recycled artificial reef.

The Great Carrier Reef was “created” on May 17, 2006, when the US Navy towed the retired aircraft carrier into the ocean, filled it with 500 pounds of strategically placed explosives, then added

After only 37 minutes and decades of serving at sea, the USS Oriskany lay permanently resting under the waves as it strode.

Although this was the end of the USS Oriskany's life, it was also the beginning of its second life cycle.

At the time, it was the largest man-made coral reef in the world, but that title then went to one in the Mexican Caribbean.

However, the one built there was built for the purpose of the occasion, and such as the USS Oriskany - or the Great Carrier Reef as now known by divers regularly visiting - is the nuclear reef.

A layered and colorful history.

Entered service in 1950, shortly after the end of World War II, the USS Oriskany was a revolutionary ship of its time.

Originally designed as a "long body" aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany is known for its enormous size, enormous aircraft payload and ability to travel at much greater speeds than its contemporaries.

She is so strong and fierce that her crew has nicknamed her Mighty O.

A ship famous for its "first time", the USS Oriskany staged an iconic ballet performance on her deck while docking in Manhattan in 1952.

She also starred in a number of different movies during her time.

Deployed primarily in the Pacific, the USS Oriskany faced heavy action during both the Korean War and the Vietnam War - earning two stars for its operations on the previous and five missions.

In 1966, the USS Oriskany suffered one of the biggest naval fires in the world when an amount of magnesium on board caught fire, killing four sailors.

But she has recovered and is able to return to active service.

After an extensive history of operations, the USS Oriskany was decommissioned in 1976 and sold as scrap in 1995.

Although it was withdrawn by the Navy in 1997 due to no ongoing removal work.

In 2004, it was decided that it would be sunk and turned into an artificial reef.

Both a natural and economic boom.

Although the USS Oriskany used to cut through the waves like a hot knife through butter, today, underwater, it stands still as the waves crash over itself.

When underwater currents hit the submerged carrier's superstructure, they form static waves and trap microscopic plankton towards it, otherwise they will be swept away.

The Great Carrier Reef has its very own ecosystem, with small fish following plankton, larger fish species such as sardines and red snapper following small fish, and hammerhead sharks and tigers.

In the interior of the ship live ocean crustaceans.

Just a short week after the sinking, divers reported that the USS Oriskany was occupied by tiny, newborn baby crabs.

The ship's tower is covered with sea urchins and falconry, with barracuda fish patrol in empty windows, and rays of light creeping through holes in the deck eroding.

Artificial reefs are also a major driver of the local economy.

The fishermen who sail in these waters have a steady supply of seafood to catch.

It also attracts many divers to the area;

Occasionally, people who used to serve and live on the USS Oriskany would come to visit her.

Several veterans of the USS Oriskany were buried there, permanently resting beside her under the waves.

A single ecosystem.

The USS Oriskany is the largest ship ever made into an artificial reef, though it is not exactly the only one.

Many naval and civilian ships have sunk to create artificial reefs, including other former Navy ships like the minesweeper USS Scrimmage off the coast of Hawaii.

Home to marine life from urchins to sharks, crabs to rays, these artificial reefs help nature help, have ecosystems grow around them and gradually become part of the lips.

Not only this, but they boost the local towns' economy for them, and attract divers to their adjoining beauty.

Once a powerful weapon of war like the USS Oriskany, the Great Carrier Reef today has become a catalyst and anchor for nature in its second life.