CHRIS WILLS (1935-A/LIFE-1991) is in the US Coast Guard and his first shipboard duty when he was in the USN was aboard this flattop. CHRIS tells us that she was towed into the jetties at Port Aransas, Texas. He said that his heart broke when he saw her. She was just a rusted old hulk, not the proud lady he remembered from some thirty years ago. She will have all the environmental hazardous material removed over the next six months and she will be towed off shore off either Florida or Texas and sunk as a reef to attract fish and scuba divers.

HARRY and CHRIS agreed that USS ORISKANY will have a better memory than USS CABOT, the baby flattop that we tried to save from the breaker’s torch…..unsuccessfully. CHRIS will send us some photos for the files of his old ship but we are cure that the memories will be much better than the photos of the ship in her condition today. We will keep our Members informed when we know if she is coming to Florida or Texas.