The life of the USS Oriskany was far from straight forward. Originally laid down on the first of May 1944, and being launched eighteen months later on the 13^th October 1945, her construction was held up until 1950. She was initaily designed as a Ticonderoga class carrier, but the continuation of her construstion included a major redesign to the Essex class. She was finally commissioned on the 25^th September 1950.

The USS Oriskany was the carrier with the longest association with VF-191. As part of CVG-19, VF-191, flying F9F Panthers were first deployed with her from September 1953 to April 1954, followed by two more western Pacific deployments, March 1955 to September 1955, and February 1956 to June 1956.

Then in January 1957, she was once again subject to a major refit and was recommissioned in March 1959. Because she was now so different, she was reclassed as Oriskany class, making her a carrier in a class of her own. Her modernization inlcuded an angled flight deck, steam catapults, an enclosed hurricane bow and many other improvements that permitted safer operation of high-performance aircraft. In 1961, she became the first aircraft carrier to be fitted with the revolutionary Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS).

She entered the fray again in 1965, being deployed to the western Pacific, when her planes hit targets in North and South Vietnam. On the 26^th of October 1966 the Oriskany suffered a tragic fire - a magnesium parachute flare exploded in the forward flare locker of Hanger Bay 1, beneath the carrier's flight deck. She lost 44 officers and men. After being repaired, she returned to the war zone in mid-1967.

April of 1969, as part of CVW-19, VF-191 began a decade long association with her, and four deployments to Vietnam, until June 1974. A final more peaceful deployment the west Pacific was made September 1975 to March 1976. This last deployment was also a milestone in VF-191's history as it their last one with the F8 Crusader, ending another ten-year association.

The ending of her service was as fraught as her construction. In September 1976, the Oriskany was decommissioned. Although she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in July 1989 and was sold for scrapping in 1994. However, due to economic and environmental concerns, she was never broken. After a decade of waiting, she was finally repossessed by the U.S. Government and on the 17^th of May 2006, following careful preparations, the USS Oriskany was deliberately sunk off Pensacola, Florida, to serve as an artificial reef and sport diving attraction.

Displacement:	Length:	Beam:	Draft:	Speed:	Complement:	Armament:	Aircraft:	Class:
27,100 tons	911 ft	147 ft 6 in	31 feet	33 knots	3,460 crew	eight 5 in guns, fourteen 3 in guns	80	Oriskany